Chocolate Cake Doughnuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

 

 

To be honest, my idea of a "real" doughnut is deep fried and yeasted. Anything other than that, is a cupcake dressed up as a doughnut. Don't get me wrong, these little doughnut-shaped cakes are delicious in their own right. On days when frying dough is out of the question, they are just the thing to trick your doughnut-loving brain into being satisfied with the mere suggestion of a doughnut ... and on days like that, I'll take whatever I can get.




Chocolate Cake Doughnuts with Peanut Butter Glaze
Makes 12 small doughnuts

For the Doughnuts:
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
30g unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg


For the Glaze:
1/2 icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Make the Doughnuts:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Spray a 12-hole doughnut pan with cooking oil spray. Set aside.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, caster sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, nutmeg and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the butter, buttermilk, vanilla and egg together until combined.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir, gradually incorporating the flour mixture.

Spoon the batter into a disposable piping bag, snip a 1 cm hole in the tip and squeeze the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes, or until the doughnuts are baked through. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before glazing.

Make the Glaze:
Put all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add more or less buttermilk to give you a dipping consistency. Dip the tops of each doughnut into the glaze, allowing it to drip down the sides. Place them back on the wire rack to set.