Chocolate Cake Donuts

Hearts are one of the earliest things I remember drawing as a kid - it probably is for most people. It's a familiar image or shape that we associate with many things surrounding the emotion of love. The origins of this shape is not known for sure maybe the shape of a leaf of some obscure plant associated with valentine or could be the shape of human sex organs who knows really?

Even if it is pretty likely that the shape has some crude beginnings it's a shape I have always liked; to draw and to eat! I mean everything tastes better when it is in a fun shape right? Kids know that for a fact. That is why I thought  it appropriate to shape these decadent donuts in the shape of hearts. Also I only have a heart shaped donut pan or a mini donut pan and the mini ones take ages.....

Chocolate Cake Donuts

170g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
60g sugar
60g brown sugar
170ml whole milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil (extra for greasing)
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 180C and grease the donut pan with a little bit of the veggie oil and don't forget the middle part so the donuts don't stick.
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, espresso powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl whisk the egg, both sugars, milk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla until combined and then sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold in until completely combined and there are no lumps.
Fill the donut indents 3/4 full - *I found that using a tablespoon to fill the donut indents was easiest and I used two tablespoons and it was the perfect amount.
Bake for 10 minutes and leave to cool for 5 before turning out. They should just drop out, but using a butter knife around the edges should loosen them up. Leave to cool while you make the gauche.
I had 3 batches to make a dozen donuts - I wiped the donut indents clean and re-greased them each time.

ganache
85ml whipping cream
2 tbsp sugar
15g unsalted butter
85g chocolate chips

Heat the cream, sugar, and butter on a medium heat. While it's heating place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl, once the cream mixture is just boiling pour it over the chocolate and gently whisk. We don't want air in the ganache, but we do want it to be smooth and shiny.

to finish: 
sprinkles

I dipped the donuts into the chocolate ganache and then covered with chocolate sprinkles. In between batches you need to keep the ganache slightly warm otherwise it goes hard and lumpy.
Donuts are best eaten fresh, but will last for about 3 days.

These donuts are a great treat and if you love someone you should make these for them because they exude love. They are love even if they aren't made in a heart shaped donut pan. 

Oatly Chocolate Mini Donuts

Today I know at least 3 people who can’t have any dairy of any kind. It seems more and more people need to seek out alternatives to milk.

Oatly have been producing their oat drink since the1990’s at a time that people thought they were a bit ambitious and perhaps a bit crazy. 

It’s a good thing they didn't listen to the naysayers because today there is a need for milk alternatives. 

Baking is something that can be a bit tricky when trying to accommodate for people who have different food needs. 

Oatly not only tastes good, it has a very nice subtle oaty taste, but it also works great in baked goods!

I have already had success making cupcakes with Oatly’s Original Oat drink, so I thought I would try the Chocolate version. I thought of cupcakes again, but wasn't feeling it. Then I thought of cookies because of cookies and milk and all that. I dismissed that pretty quick as I have never baked cookies with milk in them.

Then I thought of donuts and it just felt right. I have started this new thing where I go with my gut instincts, because usually they are right. It’s actually pretty creepy how often I am right about something.

For instance these donuts. 

I was totally right about these donuts! They have a nice rich chocolaty flavor and just one feels pretty guilt free! Not that it is, its just mini so you know….

One thing before I get to the recipe: I used sour cream, but I think you could substitute a soya yogurt or similar to make it completely dairy free. However I had sour cream in my fridge and I wanted to use it up. Waste not and all that stuff. 

Anyway here’s how I made them in case you want to make them too!

Oatly Chocolate Mini Donuts:

160g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 medium egg

120g sugar

150ml The Original Oatly Oat Drink Chocolate

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp sour cream or soya yogurt

½ tsp vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 180C/350F and grease the mini donut pan. I use silicone pastry brush and sunflower oil. If it’s not greased properly they will stick.

In a small bowl whisk all the dry ingredients together. Then in a bigger bowl whisk the egg and sugar together before adding the milk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla.
Then by hand gently beat the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined and smooth.

It can be spooned into the donut pan or piped. Piping is somewhat easier, but the batter is very smooth and can run out so it just depends on what’s easiest for you. I like piping because it’s a bit quicker. Fill the indents no more then ¾ full.

Bake for 7-9 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before carefully turning them out to cool completely. I suggest cleaning out each indentation and re-greasing between bakes. 

Oatly Chocolate Glaze

150g icing sugar

1 tsp cocoa powder

2-3 tbsp The Original Oatly Oat Drink Chocolate

Mix all the ingredients together. Start with two tablespoons of Oat Drink to see if it’s the right consistency before adding another one in. If you put your finger in the icing it should stick to your finger and leave a bit of a stiff trail. Once the donuts are cool, fill a baggie or piping bag and make a very small hole in the tip to pipe on the donuts or dunk them in to cover the tops completely. Then eat! Enjoy!

notes: In association with Oatly: visit their website here if you’d like to learn more. All opinions are my own – for more information please see my contact/policy. Check out my Oatly Espresso Cupcakes! This is being entered in Cakeyboi and The Baked Explorer’s monthly Treat Petite baking challenge.

Blurred Lines (advertising & my blog)

Last week the ASA wrote a statement regarding ad rules and why bloggers should be aware of them. This is my personal response to that statement and how I feel it affects my blog and myself.

I have been writing my blog for a couple years now and only recently have been contacted by PR agencies and companies. 

Developing my blog into what I want it to be has taken time. I used to just write out recipes and show a few pictures without adding any thoughts or stories to my posts.  It’s changing as I grow in my baking abilities; my blog and I have come a long way.

When I was an art student at university/college it was in my art classes that I learned a process of creatively thinking out how I wanted my piece of art to be portrayed. It’s the same process that I use today when I am deciding what to bake/make next. 

First I decide what I want to make, then I research recipes and how others have made them. After choosing a recipe that is the easiest to adapt to my needs, I go shopping for the ingredients that I don’t already have. I do all of this before I make the recipe. It's a process and it takes time. 

So, when I get sent an ingredient to try out for exchange of a review, it’s not always an equal payment for what goes into what I do. Not only adding in the time, but ingredients. One free ingredient doesn't always make up for the other ingredients.

Sometimes the recipe doesn't always work out the first time. I have made donuts twice now and neither time has it turned out how I wanted, so hopefully third times a charm. I wanted to make them to fill with a jam that was sent to me to bake with. 

I am not trying to sound like I’m complaining, as I have a choice, I could say no. 

When it’s just a simple exchange of product for review it gives me more freedom and less pressure to do what I want with the product. As a general rule I usually ask the questions of the company before I accept anything so that we are on the same page. I have to assume when it’s paid content you have less say in what it’s about.

I will say here and now I have never been paid for a positive review. Nor will I ever accept payment for a positive review. I will always state if something was provided for me. I will also not accept anything that is unrelated to my blog and that I wouldn't use myself. 

However I will accept payment for ads, advertorial or sponsored content, if that opportunity ever arrives. If I do receive that opportunity it will be stated clearly in the note section of all my posts. 

I further want to elaborate that from here on out I will clearly state if I bought something myself so there is no confusion or question in the matter. However if the post is older then this one, if it is not stated that it was sent to me, than I purchased it myself. 

I have stated most of this in my contact/policy tab above. I just want to write it here again as it’s recently being talked about.  

Overall, I write my blog as a type of journal for myself. It is a bonus that I have lovely readers who comment and share what I do. It’s also a bonus to occasionally receive an opportunity to try products, but it’s not why I write my blog. Baking is my current form of art and blogging is my way of sharing it.

notes: ASA stance on advertising and blogs. My blog contact/policy tab. Hopefully jam filled donuts will be up on the blog soon! The pictures of these donuts were edible, but were too brown and crunchy to fill with the jam. Which is what happened to my first batch, I took pictures, but cannot find them anywhere! I think I need to reconsider what oil I'm using and frying time! The recipe for these were adapted from the current issue of the Jamie (Oliver's) Magazine. 

Cinnamon Glazed Baked Doughnuts! {National Doughnut Week}

The whole selling baked good for a worthy cause is not a new one. Who hasn't attended or helped out with a bake sale before? Well this week, National Doughnut Week, independent bakers are raising money for the The Children’s Trust, through the sale of doughnuts!

A local bakery, Warings, is taking part! Not only are they donating 10p per doughnut sold, but they are hosting various competitions. One contest I am going to have my Mini Baker partake in. They are asking 5-15 year-olds to design a doughnut. I am going to get my Mini Baker to enter. I think she’ll really enjoy that! To find out if your local bakery is taking part please check out the links below!!

Baking doughnuts at home is pretty easy. I think frying them is too, but I like to make them with the girls and therefore easier to bake. The recipe I used here comes from Wilton. It was on the packing of my new heart shaped doughnut pan.

Cinnamon Glazed Baked Doughnuts 

2 cups cake flour

¾ cups granulated sugar

2 tsps baking powder

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp salt

¾ cups buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp butter (about 14g), melted

Preheat oven to 425F/240C grease your doughnut pan. I used melted butter and a pastry brush. Sift all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients and beat until just combined.

Half fill each doughnut hole (about 2 tbsp all depending on your pan). Bake for 4-5 minutes. If you over fill, like I did, then you will need a few extra minutes. If when touched they spring back then they are done. Let cool for a few minutes before removing. Repeat until all the batter is used, then glaze…

Cinnamon Glaze

1 cup confectioners’/icing sugar

3-4 tbsp milk (add slowly)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients until sugar is completely dissolved. Use immediately to glaze the doughnuts. I just dipped mine into the bowl and then place on a cooling rack, with parchment paper underneath, to catch the drips.

notes: Find out if your local bakery is taking part and join in the fun! - National Doughnut Week; Warings are not sponsoring this post, I have mentioned them because I do enjoy their baked goods!. I recently picked up this Wilton heart doughnut pan from Home Sense. Home Sense is like a TK Max for household items including kitchen stuff! How to Make Cake Flour 

Blueberry Cake Mini Doughnuts!! {cooking with kids}

Before Mini Baker started school I never felt I had a problem finding stuff for us to do. Since she’s started school now when she’s off I find myself struggling to keep her entertained.

I enjoy baking and I’m glad she does too. I am not completely naïve to assume we will always have the same interests. But for now I’m glad we have something to share in hopes that she remembers them fondly.

Mini baker is always asking me for doughnuts, she’d have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! A while back I picked up a copy of Mini Donuts by Jessica Segarra and a silicone mini doughnut mould from Lakeland’s so I could make her doughnuts!

Not for every meal of course, but for the times we were at a loss of what to do with ourselves! The recipes in this book are super simple. Piping the batter into the mould is more suited for adults, but everything else kids can easily do!

A quick update as well, everyone at the moment is feeling better! The littlest Mini Baker was napping during the doughnut making, but she sure enjoyed helping us gobble them up! 

Blueberry Cake Mini Doughnuts

adapted from Mini Donuts by Jessica Segarra

1 ¾ plain flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 large egg

¾ cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp vegetable oil (plus a little extra for greasing pan)

¼ cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup whole milk

½ cup blueberries, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Using a pastry brush and a little vegetable oil to grease the doughnut pan/mould, then tip the pan over onto a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and set aside. Whisk the egg and sugar together before adding the oil, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix well until combined.

Fold in half the flour, then half the milk, and the rest of the flour, followed by the rest of the milk. Make sure there are no lumps before folding in the chopped blueberries!

Fill a piping bag or plastic bag and cut the tip off, it can be a bit tricky as the batter just runs out. Fill each doughnut mould about ¾ full, sometimes it goes over, but that is okay! Then bake for 7-10 minutes they should spring back when touched or use the skewer test if you’re unsure. They might slightly brown around the edges, but are still a bit pale. Carefully un-mould the doughnuts and cool on a cooling rack. 

While they are cooling make the icing:
1-2 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups icing sugar

2-4 drops each of pink/blue food dye

sprinkles

Mix the icing sugar with 1 tbsp milk and the vanilla. Add additional tablespoons of milk one at a time until you get a pourable consistency.

Place a piece of greaseproof paper under the cooling rack and drizzle the icing over the tops and add sprinkles for extra sparkle! Then eat!! Best eaten on the day.

notes: Mini Donuts by Jessica Segaarra: blog, Amazon UK & USA; Lakeland’s Silicone Mini Doughnut Mould. This post is my entry for the competition to win a lovely range cooker from Range Cookers! There is a day and a half yet to enter! Check out the details here!!

Maltesers Chocolate Mini Donut!! [baked]

I adapted this recipe as best I could for a UK audience. It is still listed in cups, but really sets of measuring cups are easy to come by. I did change products where needed, ex: plain flour = all purpose flour, icing sugar = powdered sugar and so on.

Only last week I shared my first thoughts on this book and said how I wasn't sure what to make first! Well, these came first not because of choice but because I had everything already in my cupboard! It was an easy way to decide!

They were easy to make, but they do take time. My mini doughnut pan holds twenty. So, to fill them up, wait the 7-9 minutes, cool down enough to take out of the pan and repeat, then ice each donut by dipping. I don’t mean to put you off because if you have a rhythm you won’t notice the time! It would take more or less the same amount of time if using an electric donut maker. It usually holds 5-6 donuts, but only takes 3-4 minutes.

They were good and we all ate them up right away! Enjoy! 

Maltesers Malted Chocolate Mini Donut 

• 1 cup plain flour
• ¼ cup chocolate malted-milk powder (I just used Horlicks)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• ½ tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)

Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C and grease donut pan. Sift together flour, malted-milk, cocoa, and baking powder, and salt. Whisk together the egg and sugar. Then add in the milk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla until combined. Gently stir in the flour mixture, stirring so there are no lumps. Fill each donut indentation ¾ full. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to rack and let cool. Place paper towels or parchment paper underneath for easy clean up.

for icing:

• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 55g bittersweet chocolate, chopped or buttons/chips
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add milk, golden syrup, and chocolate stir slowly until completely melted. Take off the heat and whisk in sifted (it’ll be lumpy if you don’t sift it) icing sugar. Immediately dip the top of each donut into the icing and transfer back to the wire rack.

to finish:

• 1 or 2 bag of Maltesers, crushed or cut in half

Sprinkle on top of iced donuts. Let set for 10 minutes before eating (if you can wait that long). Donuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, but are best when eaten fresh!

This recipe, adapted for UK bakers, is from Mini Donuts: 100 Bite-Sized Donut Recipes to Sweeten Your “Hole” Day by Jessica Segarra Creator of The Novice Chef Blog (Maltesers are Whoppers; Whoppers are Maltesers)

My "review"; The Novice Chef; Amazon UK, Amazon US, I bought my mini doughnut pan from Lakeland's. You can easily use an electric donut maker just follow the manufacture’s instructions.

Mini Donuts: 100 Bite-Sized Donut Recipes to Sweeten Your "Hole" Day by Jessica Segarra {bookreview}

I love donuts! I love them fried or bake, sugar or chocolate coated, sprinkled or glazed, I love them pretty much anyway. So, when I was lazily looking around Amazon the other day (the only place I can really get these fun American sweet cookbooks) and this title popped up I bought it without a second thought. I even bought it over any one of the titles on my long wish list. Sometimes you just gotta have it!!

I don’t have a donut maker, but I have a donut pan. The recipes give instructions for both. Some of the recipes do need to be fried, but that shouldn't be a problem either if you have a stove! After making Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts with my pan I have been meaning to make more, now that I have this book I have no excuse. Nor am I short of ideas!

Normally I would list all the recipes that are a must try and to be honest I don’t even know where I am going to start with these!! The chapters are: The Classics; Chocolate; Fruity; Donuts of the Stars; Bakery Specials; Candy-Aisle Donuts; Drinks to Donuts; For the Kid in You. This is an American cookbook so first its in cups, ounces, and sticks (of butter) and second there are a few ingredients that aren't easy to find locally. Even though they might not be sourced locally there are a lot of online American grocery stores to source from.

Jessica Segarra author and creator of The Novice Chef blog

Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts post