The only way to properly follow up a post about Spanx is with a homemade cake doughnuts recipe. Amirite? And the only way to follow up a doughnut recipe is with a frosting recipe. And the only way to follow up all of the above is with sprinkles.
You can take the girl out of the bakery but you can’t take the bakery out of the girl. And this is why I need Spanx.
Homemade Cake Doughnuts
Makes about 12-18 cake doughnuts and doughnut holes.
- About 4 cups shortening (for frying)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups flour (plus about 1 cup more for rolling out dough)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup (or half a stick) unsalted butter, melted
Fill a deep fryer or heavy-duty pan with Crisco shortening and then preheat to 370°F. Look up your appliance’s instructions (or look for fill line) to decide how much shortening to use. Maintain oil temperature between 350°F to 375°F during the cooking process. If your oil drops below 350°F, wait for it to reheat again so your doughnuts don’t become heavy with grease. Don’t let your grease go higher than 375°F, or they will be raw in the middle.
Prepare a baking sheet with an old, clean towel (or several layers of paper towels) on it to place doughnuts on after frying.
Place sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl. Beat until light, fluffy, and pale yellow in color.
Mix in cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Mix in one cup of flour, then 1/4 cup of the buttermilk, then one more cup of flour, then the remaining 1/4 cup of buttermilk, then the last cup of flour, and, finally, add the melted butter to the bowl. Scrape down the sides and mix in the butter.
Cover and refrigerate for 60 minutes.
Dust counter with flour. Coat the doughnut cutter, & rolling pin with flour. Roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Cut doughnuts & doughnut holes out and lay them on a baking sheet so they are ready for frying.
Fry for about 1-2 minutes on each side. Look for middles and edges to become golden brown before flipping.
Place fried doughnuts on the baking sheet covered with a towel to drain excess grease off doughnuts.
Eat while hot or wait for doughnuts to cool a bit before frosting. This chocolate frosting recipe is fantastic. Or if you are feeling rather mapley this maple frosting recipe is top-notch (a half a batch should be enough).
If you would like to keep it simple, you can use this vanilla frosting recipe:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (you can use clear vanilla for pure white frosting)
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Tips For Making Homemade Bakery Goods
When measuring flour into a measuring cup. dip the measuring cup into the flour lightly so it is overfull. Then level off the top of the measuring cup with a butter knife. Do not pack the flour into the measuring cup (like you would brown sugar) because you will get too much and your baked goods will be very dry.
Stirring too much will make doughnuts (and pancakes and scones…) tough and rubbery.
Wait for the oven or fryer to preheat every single time. If you begin before the preheat, your puff pastry will flop in the oven and your doughnuts will be full of grease from the deep fryer.
Don’t panic. If you’re afraid of your doughnuts under-cooking, just try one first and figure out how long you need to fry on each side then repeat.
Don’t forget the sprinkles. And Spanx. And sprinkles.