Old Time Cake Doughnuts with Chocolate or Maple Frosting

Tyler's birthday was a little while ago and, well, let's just say he's an odd child. He doesn't like cake. Mainly the frosting, but the kid doesn't like cake. If he does eat it and there is ice cream around, the ice cream has to be separate. No sharing bowls at this house. That trait he inherited from his dad's side of the family. Weirdos (and I say that with love!). So anyway, back to his birthday. Given the fact that he's not a huge fan of cake, birthdays are always interesting. We try to find an alternative solution that will make everyone happy. This year, it was doughnuts.

Now, yes, we could have taken the easy (and cheaper) way and just bought some from the shop across the street, but where's the fun in that? We made homemade doughnuts and the kids got to decorate their own. We had requests for powdered sugar, chocolate, maple, sprinkles, and oddly enough, peanut butter. Below, I will include the instructions for the doughnuts and then some of the toppings we tried. 

Doughnuts

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 3 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 3 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• oil for deep fat frying

In a large bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours.

Turn onto a heavily floured surface; pat dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a floured 3 1/2 inch doughnut cutter. In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides (it does not take long). Drain on paper towels. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; roll warm doughnuts in mixture or top with other toppings. Best if served immediately.

NOTES: The dough is pretty thick by the end so make sure you don't strain your mixer too much. Mine was starting to whine a bit at the end so I did some mixing by hand. We do not own a doughnut cutter (who does?) so we used a biscuit cutter (you can just use a circle cookie cutter) and then a sanitized piece of PVC pipe for the hole. No comments on that one, we were experimenting and it actually worked really well.

Serves about 1 1/2 dozen

Prep Time: 30 min plus chilling
Total Time: 40 min plus chilling

Recipe from Taste of Home

Chocolate Glaze

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp light corn syrup
• 2 tsp water

Combine ingredients in microwave safe bowl. Melt in 20 second increments, stirring after each time until completely melted and smooth. Dip doughnut tops in chocolate and then in a bowl with sprinkles. 

Maple Glaze

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and maple syrup together, whisking occasionally. Once the butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted confectioners' sugar. Taste the glaze; if you want a stronger maple flavor, add maple extract. Set glaze aside and allow to cool and thicken. 

NOTES: The short bursts on the chocolate is important. If you've never melted chocolate before, learn from my mistakes. The chips tend to hold their form unless you stir them and you will keep reheating and reheating, not realizing you're really burning your chocolate. The small bursts allow you to keep a close eye on things. 

You will want to double dip the maple doughnuts. One dip just doesn't seem to be thick enough. Let it cool a bit in between dips. Also, I am cheap and didn't want to spend tons of money on real maple syrup. The fake stuff worked just fine. 

Recipes from sallysbakingaddiction.com