Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts

I will never say no to a doughnut. I just love them, and you would be hard pressed to find a doughnut flavour that I don’t like. That said, If you were to ask me what my favourite doughnut is, I would hands down have to say cake doughnuts. Now I have nothing against a good yeast doughnut; but given the choice between yeast or cake doughnuts, I will always go for the cake doughnut.

Who else is with me on this one? I don’t know there is just something about the crisp golden exterior and cakey inside of a cake doughnut that gets me every time. I find myself day dreaming about them and the different flavour combinations I should try next.

I have a basic cake doughnut recipe that I tweek here and there anytime I am craving something specific. In this case, because it is Fall and my “PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING” switch has officially been turned on, I figured some Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts were in order.

These doughnuts were everything I hoped they would be. Cakey, spicy, pumpkiny… (okay so that’s not a word) so let’s just say they were just downright amazing.

I glazed half with an apple cider glaze and the other half with an espresso glaze. Both were heavenly but my favourite at the moment has to be the espresso glaze. It made the doughnuts taste like a Pumpkin Spice Latte… in doughnut form… seriously need I say more? I don’t think so. Here’s the recipes lovelies and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Happy doughnut making…

KP xoxo

Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts Two Ways

Pumpkin Cake Donuts
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Canola oil for frying

Apple Cider Glaze
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup apple cider

Espresso Glaze
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp espresso powder
1/3 cup water

How to make…

Pumpkin Doughnuts

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until pale and thick. Slowly add in melted butter and beat until combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree and sour cream and beat until smooth and completely combined.

Pour wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.

Spoon dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, and wrap up tight. Refrigerate the donut dough for at least one hour or over night.

When you are ready to cook your donuts, heat a heavy bottomed pot of about 2 inches of oil over medium heat to 350 degrees, no hotter and no lower.

While your oil is heating up, lightly flour a cool work surface and turn your donut dough out. Dust the top with flour and roll your dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Using a donut cutter {if you have one} cut out your 12 donuts and set the donut holes aside.

**Tip: To create the rustic look on the tops of your doughnuts, simply take a sharp knife and use the tip to slice a circle around the centre of the doughnut, just inserting halfway through the dough so as not to pierce all the way through the doughnut.

**Note: You will most likely have some scraps, I usually just cut these into more little donut holes rather than re-rolling them. 

Once your oil is heated, gently place 2 -3 donuts at a time into the oil to cook. Once your donuts float nicely to the top, allow them to cook for about 1 more minute before flipping and frying for an additional one minute on the other side. You can always look to see the colour before flipping to check that your donuts are a nice light golden brown before flipping them.

Once cooked, use a slotted spoon and allow the donus to drip off any excess oil into the pot. Place the cooked donuts onto a wire rack with some paper towel underneath to cool and drip off anymore excess oil. They will be extremely hot, so please take care not to burn yourself.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before dipping in the glaze.

Glazes

Add in your icing sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, liquid (apple cider or water, depending on the glaze you decide to make) and espresso if making espresso glaze to a bowl. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. If your glaze is too thick, add in your additional liquid 1 tbsp at a time. You want the glaze to be a pour-able consistency but not too runny.

Once your donuts have cooled for a few minutes submerge 3/4 of the donut into the glaze, allow any excess to drip off back into the bowl, and return the glazed donuts to your wire rack.

Allow the donuts to sit for about 10 minutes so the glaze can set up a bit before serving…. if you can possibly wait that long that is 🙂

These donuts keep very well and are still delicious even 2-3 days after they have been cooked. So if you somehow find yourself saddled with some donut left overs {not likely} fear not, because they are just as amazing eaten the next day.