How do you define a doughnut? You could argue its just fried dough but does that just mean a bread dough? What about cake batter, or choux pastry? Both of those can make great doughnuts, so what really does define a doughnuts? Maybe it’s one of those ‘hard to define but I know it when I see it’ kind of thing? Well, however you define a doughnut, today we are talking about one of the two major types, cake doughnuts. 

You can probably already tell from my use of doughnut instead of donut that I am a Brit and, here in the UK, cake doughnuts are not anywhere near as common as in North America. Bakeries known for doughnuts tend to go down the fried dough route. Of course a brioche doughnut, stuffed full of cream or jam is a beautiful thing but sometimes I want my doughnut craving fulfilled quicker and in an easier manner. The batter which cake doughnuts are made with takes just a couple minutes to make and there is no proofing required. If cake doughnuts are made well I also find they keep better than a brioche doughnut. Whilst all doughnuts are best served as close to frying as possible, these will keep for a day or two and still taste great.

The inspiration for these doughnuts is from Blue Star Doughnuts who make a doughnut with a blueberry basil and bourbon glaze. I took that idea and ran with it, not only does the glaze have blueberries in (paired beautifully with basil and bourbon) the doughnuts themselves are studded with them too. A quick note on blueberries, for this recipe I like to use frozen blueberries as it helps to prevent them turning to mush when mixed into the batter. I also like to use frozen wild blueberries. Wild blueberries have a better flavour and importantly they are very small. The benefit of small berries is that they don’t affect the structural integrity of the doughnuts when cut and fried. I have made them with regular frozen blueberries and they work fine, they just tend to look a little more irregular in shape.

Blueberry Cake Doughnuts
Makes 8

275g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
100g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
100ml buttermilk
4 large egg yolks
30g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
100g frozen wild blueberries

Blueberry Basil and Bourbon Glaze
50g blueberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
3-5 basil leaves
1 tbsp bourbon
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
200-225g icing sugar

Making these doughnuts is incredibly easy, so much simpler than a yeasted doughnut. To a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and lemon zest and whisk to combine. In a small jug whisk together the buttermilk, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a spatula, stir together to form a thick cake batter. Add the blueberries and briefly stir into the batter until evenly distributed. Don’t worry if the blueberries bleed a little into the batter, thats to be expected, and using frozen berries prevents the berries breaking down further as the dough is rolled out.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and flour liberally. Tip out the cake batter and sprinkle liberally with flour. Using your hands or a rolling pin, press the dough into a 1.5cm thick layer. Transfer the tray to the fridge for abut 2 hours to form up slightly. 

To make the glaze add the blueberries and lemon juice to a small saucepan (a milk pan or butter warmer works perfectly here) and cook over medium heat until the blueberries are breaking down and the liquid is bubbling, cooking for a few minutes more to reduce the amount of liquid a little (this also concentrates the colour). Scrape the blueberry mixture into a jug and add the basil, bourbon, salt, vanilla and about half of the sugar. Use a stick blender to puree until smooth, then add more sugar until you have a thick but pourable glaze. You can adjust the thickness by adding a touch more lemon juice if too thick and more icing sugar if it is too thin. Cover while you fry the doughnuts.

Fill a large saucepan about 1/2 full with vegetable oil and over medium heat bring to about 160-170C. Once at temperature, turn the heat to low. You’ll want to have a thermometer handy so you can regularly check the temperature of the oil so you can adjust the heat as needed to keep it within the 160-170C range. 

Remove the doughnut mixture from the fridge and using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many doughnuts as you can. Using a 1 inch round cookie cutter, remove a hole from the middle of each doughnut. You can fry the middles as doughnut holes and the scraps can be pressed back together, re-rolled and cut out as before to get a couple more doughnuts. 

Carefully lift the doughnuts into the oil and fry, 2 or 3 at a time, for about 2 minutes flipping halfway through cooking to ensure even browning. When the doughnuts are golden brown use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil. The doughnuts should feel light, if they feel heavier than you expect they are likely undercooked and need a little longer in the oil. Transfer the doughnuts to a wire rack set atop a baking tray. Once all your doughnuts are fried pour over the glaze, covering as much as you can. Leave the glaze to set for 15-20 minutes and then enjoy!

Whilst doughnuts of any sort are truly at their best as soon as they are cool enough to eat, these cake doughnuts will keep for at least a day after frying.