Old Fashioned Cake Donuts

With a crisp brown edge and soft inside, these Old Fashioned Cake Donuts are quick and easy to make and just like the ones you get at the donut shop!

What is the difference between a cake donut and a regular donut?

Cake donuts use baking powder and sometimes a bit of baking soda. Whereas a regular donut uses yeast to rise. Cake donuts have more of a tender soft crumb and are a little more dense whereas regular donuts are more like a light and fluffy bread.

Can you make cake donuts in advance?

You can however, they lose their outer crispness if you store them for a bit. That being said, you can make the dough the day before and store it in the fridge overnight. Cake donuts can also sit for a couple hours at room temperature and still taste delicious!

Can you bake cake donuts?

There are certain cake donut recipes that are meant to be baked. However, this is not one of them. Baked cake donuts have a softer, looser batter more like cake that will puff in the oven. This donut recipe is best fried, if you bake them you will be left with dense bricks.

Sour Cream vs. Buttermilk Old Fashioned Donuts

Traditionally old fashioned cake donuts are made with a sour cream or a buttermilk base. I tested both for this recipe and 100% both work, so if you only have one or the other available, use whichever one you have! That being said I slightly prefer working with the sour cream dough and SLIGHTLY prefer the finished product. If you choose to use buttermilk, replace the sour cream with 100 grams of buttermilk – do not use a milk and lemon juice substitute, it is too runny!

Additional Recipes to try:

• Chocolate Cake Donuts
• Pink Sprinkle Donuts
• Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls

Tips for making Old Fashioned Cake Donuts

• Make sure all dough ingredients are at room temperature. This will help the batter come together more easily and give you a lighter fluffier donut. You don’t want the ingredients warm, just a cool room temperature.
• Sift the dry ingredients! Cocoa powder and cornstarch have a tendency to clump and you don’t want to have to over mix the dough to get rid of them.
• Don’t be tempted to add more flour to the dough. It should be very sticky but thick, think like chocolate chip cookie dough but even a little stickier.
• I use a heavy cast iron dutch oven for frying because the dense material helps the oil heat evenly and the tall sides keep oil from splattering. A thermometer is also key when frying to make sure the oil is at the right temperature.
• I like to use a combination of a well floured work surface and parchment paper to roll out the dough and prevent it from sticking.
• It is important to fry the cake donuts hot, between 375 F and 380 F. To keep the oil at the temperature be sure to keep a thermometer in the oil and I recommend heating it to 380 F. Then, add in the donuts and the temperature will drop to around 375F.
• Dunk the donuts in the glaze while still warm (not hot) if doing a milk or buttermilk glaze. Allow the donuts to cool to just lukewarm before glazing with a chocolate glaze.

Ingredients

Dough

• Butter: Unsalted or salted butter will work but if you use salted, cut the additional salt in half. Just be sure the butter is at room temperature.
• Orange Zest & Nutmeg: Both of these add flavor to the donuts to balance out all of the richness. I recommend freshly grating both the orange zest and nutmeg for the best flavor.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens and aids the texture of these donuts.
• Fine Sea Salt: Salt is key to balancing sweetness and enhancing the flavor of the dough.
• Vanilla extract: A teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste enhances the flavors and sweetness of the doughnuts.
• Egg: One standard large egg is used for the batter of these donuts to hold the dough together and give them a bit of lift.
• All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for these! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch gives these a lighter texture because when mixed with flour it acts as cake flour.
• Baking Powder: Ultimately the baking powder is the key to making the donuts puff so make sure it hasn’t expired/is still active.
• Sour Cream: I prefer sour cream for these donuts but if you want to use buttermilk, cut the amount to 100 grams.
• Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil or Canola oil are used to fry the doughnuts, I believe avocado oil may work as well but I haven’t tested it.

Buttermilk Glaze

• Buttermilk: I like to use buttermilk as the base for a white glaze because the slight tang gets cut with the powdered sugar and balances the sweetness of the donuts.
• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar will thicken and sweeten the buttermilk glaze.

Chocolate Malt Glaze

• Dark Chocolate: Dark or semi sweet chocolate should be used for the base of the chocolate glaze. Use a high quality baking or chocolate bar, not chocolate chips for the best consistency!
• Butter: A bit of butter thins out and softens the chocolate for the glaze. Salted or unsalted will work.
• Malted Milk powder: To get that delicious malty flavor. A bit of malted milk powder should be dissolved into warm water and then added into the chocolate.

How to make Classic Cake donuts

Make the dough

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, orange zest, and nutmeg. Beat for about a minute or two until it gets a little light and fluffy.
• Add in the egg and beat until smooth. Finally add in the sour cream (or buttermilk) and beat again until smooth.
• Place a sieve over the bowl and add in the flour, corn starch, and baking powder. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and beat until just combined.
• Scoop the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap it into a square or circle that is between one and two inches thick.
• Place the dough in the fridge to chill for at least an hour or up to overnight. If you want to make them for breakfast I love to prep the dough the night before and then fry and glaze in about 30 minutes in the morning.

Make the glaze

• For the chocolate malt glaze, melt the chocolate in a shallow wide bowl in the microwave. Stir every 30 seconds until melted. Add in the butter and stir again until the butter has melted in. In a heat safe bowl or glass add in 75 grams of hot water and 3 tablespoons of malted milk powder, whisk to dissolve. Pour the malted milk mixture into the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. It will thicken as it cools but if needed you can put it in the fridge to thicken and cool faster, just don’t forget about it.
• For the buttermilk glaze, simply whisk buttermilk and powdered sugar together in a bowl until it reaches a thick honey like consistency.

Shape the Donuts

• While the dough is chilling or about 20 minutes before you plan to cut out the donuts, pour the oil into a large dutch oven and place a candy thermometer on the side of the pot.
• Place the pot over medium low heat.
• Place a wire rack into a baking sheet with a single layer of paper towels on top and set it next to the stove for the fried donuts to sit on.
• Keep an eye on the oil temp but let it heat up to 380 F.
• Once the dough has chilled, and the oil is at 350 F -360F, roll it out on a well floured surface. Be sure to scoot the dough around and use enough flour on the counter between rolls to keep it from sticking.
• Roll the dough out so that it is 1/2″-3/4″ thick.
• Use a biscuit cutter or a glass that is 4″ inches in diameter and cut out 4-5 donuts. Use a smaller circle that’s about 1″ in diameter to cut out the donut holes. Pick up the dough scraps and quickly need them together until it becomes a smooth dough again. Re-wrap and place back in the fridge to stay cold.

Fry the Donuts

• Once the oil has reached 380 F. Carefully place two of the donuts in the oil, dropping them away from you. Set a timer for 2 minutes and keep an eye on the oil temperature. It should stay between 375 and 380. *If your home is warm, place the extra donuts on a flour dusted baking tray into the fridge.
• At first the donuts will sink, and then they’ll float, and then they will start to puff and get that classic crack around the top.
• Once the two minutes are up and the tops have cracked, use a fork in the center of the donut to carefully flip them over, away from you so the oil doesn’t splash on to you.
• Fry for another 1 minute and 30 seconds.
• Use the same fork to scoop the donuts out one at a time and place them on the paper towel wire rack to allow excess oil to drip off.
• Let the oil come back to 380 before adding in the second round of donuts. Then repeat the frying steps above.
• When you’re frying the last two of the first round, re-roll the remaining dough and cut out 2-3 more donuts.
• Fry the last batch and donut holes!

Glaze

• While the donuts are still warm, I usually do this between batches, dunk the donuts, crack side down, into the glaze.
• Carefully lift the glazed donut up with a fork in the center and let any excess glaze drip off.
• Place the glazed donuts on a second wire rack and leave them to cool for at least ten minutes.
• These are best eaten day of!

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