Classic cake doughnuts

Discover just how good a fresh, homemade doughnut can be!

Credit: Mary Makes It Easy

• makes

  12

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Doughnuts

• 2¾ cups (357 g) flour
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
• ½ tsp (2 g) salt
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Canola oil, for frying

Glaze

• 1¾ cup (227 g) icing sugar
• 30-45 ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Food colouring, if desired
• Sprinkles, if desired

Makes about 12 doughnuts and 12 doughnut holes. 

Chilling time: 1 hour.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Heat about 2-inches of oil in a high sided sauté pan or heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until 182°C (360°F) or bubbles form around a wooden spoon when gently dipped into the oil.
3. While the oil heats, retrieve the dough from the fridge and dust a work surface with flour. Transfer the dough onto the floured work surface and roll or pat out to a 1 cm (½ inch) thickness. Using a doughnut cutter, or a 7.5 cm (3 inch)  and a 2.5 cm (1 inch)  round biscuit (cookie) cutter, cut out as many doughnuts and doughnut holes as possible. Gather and reroll the dough and continue cutting doughnuts.
4. Before frying, prepare a draining station for your doughnuts by lining a sheet pan with paper towel and a cooling rack.
5. Using a slotted spoon, gently lower four doughnuts and four doughnut holes into the hot oil and cook, flipping once, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to the prepared pan to cool and continue frying the remaining doughnuts.
6. Once fried, make the glaze by whisking together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla. Colour with food colouring, if desired, and dunk one side of the cooled doughnuts into the glaze. Add sprinkles immediately, if using, and transfer back to the rack lined pan to allow the glaze to set.
7. Store the doughnuts at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.