A Dozen Chocolate Cake Donuts
A Dozen Chocolate Cake Donuts celebrates National Donut Day on June 5 this year. Cake Donuts are so easy to make - no yeast, no rolling out and almost no work. These deeply chocolate, soft and moist donuts are finished with 12 different toppings - one or two are sure to please.
Equipment
- 2 6 well donut pan or regular size muffin pans
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (140 grams)
- ½ cup Dutch cocoa (45 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup brown sugar (100 grams)
- ¾ cup sour cream (170 grams)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (60 grams or 4 tablespoons)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee*
- ½ teaspoon espresso
Glazes and Toppings - the amounts given are to finish and top 12 donuts. if choosing more than one, adjust the recipe depending upon how many of each you are finishing.
Chocolate Ganache
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup, honey or golden syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (15 grams)
- 5 ounces semisweet chocolate (140 grams)
Powdered Sugar Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar (200 grams)
- 4 to 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ ounces semisweet chocolate, optional
Peanut Butter Glaze
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 to 6 tablespoons milk
Strawberry Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup freeze dried strawberries (1.2 ounce pkg)
- 3 to 5 tablespoons milk
Hello Dollie topping
- ¼ cup butterscotch chips
- ¼ cup coconut, sweetened
- ¼ cup mini or regular size chocolate chips
- ¼ cup toasted pecans
Mocha Glaze
- Powdered Sugar Glaze above
- 1 to 2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 2 teaspoons water
Caramel
- My caramel: https://pastrieslikeapro.com/caramel-building-block-pastry/
- OR
- 24 to 30 Werther caramels
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2 6 well donut or muffin pans lightly with a non-stick baking release. Set aside.
- Over a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl.
- Sift the cocoa into the bowl on top of the flour. If there are lumps, push them through wit a spoon.
- Add the brown sugar to the dry ingredients and mix with a paddle attachment to blend.
- Add the coffee to the vanilla and stir to mix. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, melted butter, sour cream and vanilla/coffee mixture. Whisk to combine and pour over the dry ingredients.
- Mix on low to combine (it will be very thick). Raise the speed to high and mix until completely combine, scraping down as necessary.
- Fit a piping bag with a ½" plain tip. Pipe the batter ⅔ up the way of the wells. Smooth the top so it touches the edges of the wells and is flat. Alternatively, double a plastic bag, fill it with batter and cut ½" off the tip. Use this to pipe the batter into the cups.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Check at 10 minutes with a cake tester which should come out clean or touch the center of one of the donuts to see if it springs back. Do not over bake. Cool on racks.
Topping the Donuts - Have whatever toppings you are using ready before you make the ganache or glazes.
- Chocolate Ganache - Place all of the ingredient in a microwave proof bowl or in a bowl place over simmering water. Microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes until the chocolate starts to melt. Stir to combine. I needed microwave slightly more to melt everything. Heating over simmering water may take a bit longer. Cool to warm before using.
- Powdered Sugar Glaze - Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add the milk a bit at a time until a thick glaze is made. If it is too thin, it will just run right off making it difficult to top.
- Peanut Butter Glaze - Combine the creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and the smallest amount of milk. Stir to combine. Add additional milk to make a thick glaze.
- Strawberry Glaze - Place the powdered sugar and freeze dried strawberries in the bowl of a of a processor. Process until the strawberries are powdered and the powdered sugar is pink. Stop and scrape down as necessary and process again. Be sure to cover the feed tube with your hand or the plunger as the powdered mixture will go everywhere. Remove from the processor and place in a bowl. Add the milk a bit at a time to make a thick mixture
- Mocha Glaze - Combine the water and coffee. Let it sit for a few minutes then stir to make sure no crystals are present. Add to the Powdered sugar glaze. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar a little at a time.
- Hello Dollie Topping - chop the chips and pecans finely and combine everything with the coconut.
The following specialty donuts are as follows. They are all dipped in the Chocolate Ganache or the Chocolate Powdered Sugar Glaze as you chose.
- Base Chocolate Donut - dipped in and left plain.Chocolate Coconut - omit coffee and vanilla and add 1 teaspoon coconut extract to the batter. Add ½ teaspoon coconut extract to the chocolate glaze. Top with shredded, sweetened coconut.Peppermint - omit coffee and vanilla and add 1 teaspoon peppermint extract to the batter. Add ½ teaspoon peppermint to the chocolate glaze. Top with Andes pieces or crushed starlight mints.Mexican - Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon to the batter. Top with small cinnamon chips. If using Hershey's or another larger chip chop them up a bit so they aren't so large.Turtle - Dipped in caramel and topped with finely chopped toasted pecans. Mocha - add 2 teaspoons instant coffee to batter and ½ to 1 teaspoon to the glaze.English Toffee Bits or Brickle - sprinkle on top of the chocolate ganache Nonpareils or sprinkles - sprinkle on top of the chocolate ganache
Assembly Using the Plain Powdered Sugar Glaze
- Hello Dollie Donut - After dipping, immediately apply the mix to the top of the donut.
- Strawberry - Dip the donut into the glaze. Allow to dry.
- Mocha - Dip the donut into the glaze. Allow to dry.
- Peanut Butter - Dip the donut into the glaze. Allow to dry. An afterthought was to top the glaze with finely chopped honey roasted peanuts.
Notes
There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.
As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.
Unless otherwise noted, salt refers to table salt.
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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- The most important tip here is not to over bake the donuts. They don't take very long so use a cake tester or your finger to touch them lightly and if they spring back they are done.
- When filling the wells of the donut pan, be sure to smooth the batter out so it is flat and touches the sides of the pan.
- If you don't own a donut pan, these work well in a regular size muffin pan. No hole - same donut. There may be 10 or 11 donuts because the muffin pans are a bit bigger.
