Doughnuts - Baked Raised

For my last blog post, I decided to try to make another doughnut. This time, I chose to make a baked doughnut. The recipe described the baked doughnut as "soft and light" which immediately made me want to try it out.

First, I put an egg and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and I turned that on until everything was all mixed. Then, slowly I added in milk, yeast, salt, vanilla, and butter. Once all of those ingredients were dissolved and mixed together, I began to add flour half a cup at a time with the stand mixer on low. Then I kneaded the dough and put it in a bowl and let it sit for an hour. The hardest part for me was when the dough kept sticking to the hook in the stand mixer. As the mixer was on, the dough would stick and not mix so I'd have to go in with a spoon.

After an hour, I got the dough and rolled it out with a rolling pin so that it was 1/2 an inch thick. I cut the doughnut shape with the top of a cup because I didn't have a doughnut cutter but it still worked. Then I let the cut out doughnuts sit for 20 minutes to double in size and then I popped them in the oven for about 7-8 minutes. They came out golden brown.

The doughnuts with the maple glaze on top, 

Making this batch of doughnuts was much easier for me this time around and that might be because it's not my first time making them. I had the experience of making the doughnuts from last time which helped out. The doughnuts this time were smooth on top and the maple glaze stuck easily. I was pretty pleased with the results and they tasted really good! 

What do you guys think? Have you ever had something not go so well at first and when you tried it out again you improved?

Doughnuts - Maple Glaze

Maple glaze has always been another one of my favorites. So when I had found the recipe in my book, I had to try it. Just like the other glaze recipes, this one also had only 3 ingredients and was only 1 step. 

Ingredients

11/2 cups of confectioner's sugar (sifted)

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

2 tablespoons of milk or water (I used milk)

Steps

1. Place the sugar in a medium bowl and stir the maple syrup and milk to make a smooth pourable glaze. 

The confectioner's sugar and Maple Syrup

The recipe made it very clear on how to make the maple glaze. My first batch was perfect! Unlike the chocolate glaze, the maple glaze actually tasted the way it was supposed to. Sifting the confectioner's sugar also made it easier to mix all the components well together. However, I did have to add a bit more maple syrup to the glaze mix because at first the glaze tasted only like the confectioner's sugar. I added about a half a teaspoon. I loved how simple and easy it was to make this glaze, and it was delicious!

What do you guys think? Do you like maple glaze on doughnuts? Would you ever try making this?

Doughnuts - A Basic Raised Doughnut

In my cookbook, the first recipe on there was the basic raised doughnut. It's the type of doughnut that most people see at stores. Before this, I had never made doughnuts before. At first, just looking over the recipe I felt overwhelmed. I had never made doughnuts before and I saw long paragraphs on the recipe. I had to ask my mom for help on some things, but the doughnuts turned out well.

The recipe asked for 9 ingredients and said it would make about 8-14 doughnuts. It also said that it takes 20 minutes of active time, which probably is the time it takes for someone to be actively cooking. The recipe says that the doughnuts take 2 hours to be done.

While reading over the recipe and making the doughnuts, I really liked how detailed the recipe was. The paragraphs for the steps on how to make the doughnuts had enough details that explained everything well.

I enjoyed making the doughnuts. They came out better than I expected they would. A part I struggled with was making the actual dough. I also did find that the sugar glaze didn't really stick to the doughnut. The chocolate glaze stuck to the doughnut better. Still, they tasted pretty good.

Doughnuts with the glazes I made. 

Do you guys like doughnuts?

Doughnuts - A Chocolate Glaze

Along with my basic sugar glaze, I also decided to make a chocolate glaze. It is a very common glaze that is on many doughnuts. When I read the recipe, I noticed that it was very short and simple like the glaze recipe. It contained only 4 ingredients and it had 1 step like the basic glaze recipe.

Ingredients:
11/2 cups of confectioner's sugar
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of milk or water (I used milk)
2 teaspoons of vanilla

I used this type of cocoa powder but it was very bitter.

Steps:
1. Stir together the sugar and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Slowly stir in the milk and vanilla, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze.


So at first, I saw the easy recipe and I thought it would be easy to make. The first batch of chocolate glaze that I made ended up tasting really bitter, almost like a coffee. It was also very thick and not pourable like the recipe said. I made a second batch and it became more smooth, but it still had the coffee taste. The bitter taste might have been because of the unsweetened cocoa powder. I decided to just keep it and put it on the doughnuts and it applied nicely and looked good. It tasted okay when it was on the doughnut.


Have you guys ever tried to make something and it didn't come out how you wanted it to?

Doughnuts - A Basic Sugar Glaze

An important part of a doughnut is the glaze. It gives the doughnut flavor and makes the doughnut unique. Before reading the cookbook, I did not know how to make glaze. I also thought that it might be complicating to make, but I found out that it's pretty simple. There are many types and flavors of doughnut glaze but I chose to make two very common doughnut glazes.


Basic Sugar Glaze: 
The first glaze I chose to make for my doughnuts was the basic sugar glaze. The basic sugar glaze is probably my favorite glaze on doughnuts. It's clear and is very common. It's has a very simple recipe that only requires 3 ingredients, one of them being optional.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of sifted confectioner's sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons of milk or water (I chose to do milk)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (Optional)

Steps:
1. Place the sugar in a medium bowl and slowly stir in the milk and vanilla extract to make a smooth glaze.


When I was making the glaze, I only used the confectioner's sugar and milk. I added as much milk and sugar as the cookbook said. One thing I noticed was that as I was putting the glaze on the doughnuts, it would slip right off. The glaze was very runny. Then I thought that maybe adding four tablespoons of milk is what caused it to be runny. I decided to add some more sugar to help balance out the glaze. I didn't measure it, but it made the glaze thicker and stick to the doughnuts.

Question: What's your favorite type of doughnut glaze?