The main difference between cake doughnuts and yeast doughnuts is the rising agent. Which as you may have guessed in yeast doughnuts is yeast. In cake donuts it is baking powder, baking soda, or a combination of the two to make the dough rise. You also may be interested to know some of our best ways for making the tastiest cake doughnuts around.
First, when cooking the doughnuts make sure to not crowd the pan, it is worth it to do just one or two doughnuts at a time here. Also, make sure your oil is the appropriate temperature, I find that around 325° is best for the following recipe. Third, look for a light golden brown you want them to not be overcooked. Fourth, when rolling out the dough to cut your doughnuts and make holes, etc do not overwork the dough or they will get tough. Finally, use a bamboo skimmer or a large flat slotted spoon to carefully control and flip the doughnuts without splashing oil. I also like to use the dough-hook on my stand mixer to make this even easier.
Ingredients:
4.5 cups of cake flour (plus more for dusting)
2/3 rd cup of granulated sugar
1 heaping tablespoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup of buttermilk
4 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
2 quarts oil for frying, I like coconut oil
Sift first four ingredients into stand mixer bowl. In a small bowl, mix eggs, milk, and butter together until well combined with fork or whisk. Mix wet ingredients into dry with dough-hook until shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly until no wet spots remain. (Do not overwork dough here.)
Fill a medium saucepan 3-4” deep with oil, use a thermometer and bring the oil temperature up to 325°. Meanwhile, roll dough out to ¼” thickness, using flour sparingly as needed. Cut out doughnuts with 3”- 3.25” rounds and then cut out holes with 1” – 1.25” rounds. Gather scraps and repeat process until all are used. Be careful to not overwork dough as doughnuts will become tough.
Working in small batches of 1-2 doughnuts at a time fry doughnuts 2-3 minutes per side until desired doneness is achieved. Transfer to a cookie rack with paper towels beneath to cool. While still warm, toss in desired topping, or let cool and ice as desired. These doughnuts can be served with a light coating of powdered sugar, or a nice cinnamon-sugar coating works quite well too.
We hope you enjoy these doughnuts, this recipe is easy to scale up or down and is limited only by your imagination in toppings. Doughnuts are great for parties, especially because you can make your icing/sprinkles or even just sugar coating match the party décor.
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