Baked Cake Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

Could I possibly love a donut that wasn’t fried? IS a donut a REAL donut if it isn’t fried in oil? I am like almost every other person that walks on this planet: I adore DONUTS!

But fried donuts don’t like my hips too much. Plus all that fried stuff  is bad for my porcelain complexion. I’d been searching high and low for a donut pan. I looked everywhere! How silly did I feel when I realized there was a Sur la Table store 20 minutes from my house! And it has been there for the past few years! Luckily, I stumbled into a few Sundays ago and grabbed a donut pan! I will be back soon to grab another one because these donuts were delicious!

My daughter was a little skeptical, “Mommy, how could they be REAL donuts if they aren’t fried?” A true donut connoisseur at such a young age. And then she caught a glimpse of the shiny glaze and pretty sprinkles. She had one. Luca had a powdered sugar one. Then they fought over sharing a glazed one. Donut chaos ensued! It was loud and obnoxious; sprinkles and powdered sugar everywhere. Fabrizio and I shared a powdered one with an espresso.

We all liked them. I meant to say, we all LOVED THEM!

Don’t think you are getting the same texture as a fried donut. It’s not the same thing, but a really close second without all the artery clogging fried goodness. The texture is cake like-light and fluffy.

I promise I’m not steering you in the wrong direction…you should really try them.

Baked Cake Donuts
slightly adapted from Wilton
yields one dozen

2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk*
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted

* I used 3/4 cup whole milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar. I let it sit for a minute and then it magically turns into buttermilk.

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Spray your donut pan with non-stick baking (or cooking) spray.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk and beaten eggs.


In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined.

Carefully spoon the batter into about 2/3 full. A cleaner way to add the mixture is to pipe the batter into the pan.

Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the tops of the donuts spring back when lightly touched. (I should’ve baked this 2 minutes less. They still ROCKED)

Allow to cool in the pan for a couple minutes. Remove the donuts onto a rack to finish cooling before you glaze them.

You get to decide how you like your donuts! Do you like a rich chocolate glaze?

Chocolate Glaze1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon water

You could make this glaze in your microwave or with a double boiler. I did the double boiler method because I don’t own a microwave.

If you want to microwave, here is how you can do it:
Microwave on 50 % power for about 1 minute, stirring in-between, until melted.
Stir in the 1 teaspoon hot water until the glaze has thickened. You can add another teaspoon hot water if the glaze is too thick.

Are you ready for the best part? Chocolate dipping!

Then set these gorgeous chocolate gems on the rack to dry. But first add your sprinkles!!

Or how about shaking them in a bag full of powdered sugar? I think you will be like us and like BOTH ways!

Confectioner’s Sugar Donuts
In a plastic zipped lock bag, add 2/3 cups confectioner’s sugar. Add a your donuts one at a time and shake until they are nicely coated.

We’ll be making these again and again. It’s hard not to when the recipe is just a cinch and the results are so good!

If you have a minute, stop by over here at Babble and click that you “Like” meplease! I am so grateful to have been nominated for a Top 100 Food Mom Blog! Click the alphabetical order option. Much easier to find me that way. Here’s the link:
http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/dinner/top-100-food-mom-blog-2011-nominate-a-food-blog/

Thank you so much!

Hope you’re having a wonderful week! My kids are on Spring break. We plan on playing a little in the sand.

Thanks for stopping by!!