Fried Cake Donut Recipe with Chocolate Ganache

Old fashioned fried cake donut recipe dipped in rich chocolate ganache and topped with colorful sprinkles! These donuts are light and fluffy and flavored lightly with cinnamon. 

Good morning!

I can’t even tell you how excited I am to get up in the mornings right now. It’s even hard for me to go to sleep at night! Because all I can think about is all these exciting things happening with the blog and VRAI Magazine and I can’t wait to start my day everyday to get to work.

We made the decision very recently that I would work for myself full time. Making money from the blog, working toward building the magazine into a business, and putting effort into various other projects that will eventually be profitable. Hopefully.

And it all just feels like a dream. A dream come true. I get up every single morning absolutely ecstatic to get to work. And I promise you, I am working hard. Like really hard. It’s difficult for me to step away sometimes. But I’m working on being strict with myself for a few hours in the evening so my husband and I can finally spend some quality time together.

Each day I have been getting up bright and early and getting right to work on my to do list which involves answering emails and comments on the blog, editing photos, writing blog posts or magazine copy, editing other magazine articles, keeping up with social media, writing recipes, baking/testing recipes, food styling, and photographing. And repeat. Pretty sweet deal, eh?! I think so.

It’s also really nice to be able to keep up with the house a little better. When you work from home you can put a load of laundry in while you work! And if I’m prepping a recipe to be tested, I can go ahead and prep stuff for dinner too! It’s so amazing!

I have been doing a lot of recipe writing lately. Probably more than ever before. I love it. It’s like giving birth (except that it’s nothing like giving birth). The recipe develops from idea, to formula, to actual baked product. And when that is a success, it is just so darn exciting! Just like a proud parent…

But while I have been doing a lot of my own recipe writing, I have also been trying some other already tried and true recipes. Like these cake donuts. I couldn’t help myself but to make a few adaptations. But at the core, they are true to the good old fashioned cake donuts. The donut isn’t very sweet on it’s own, which is how I like them. Old fashioned donuts typically have a hint of nutmeg in them, but I like to put just a bit of cinnamon. Not too much. I don’t want them to be cinnamon donuts. But just a hint to give a nice flavor profile.

I don’t have a regular sized donut pan for baked donuts, just a mini one, so these are the kind of donuts you roll out and fry. You know, the traditional ones! Baked donuts are really popular right now, but I like these better! I love how slightly crisp these get on the outside and perfectly cakey they stay in the middle.

I had my husband in mind (as I often do) when making these. I knew he would want something a bit sweeter, so I dunked them in chocolate ganache and added sprinkles. I mean… how could it go wrong?

It can’t. It 100% can’t.

Also, this is my first post in 2 1/2 years that involves sprinkles. Accomplishment?

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Yield: 12 Donuts

Fried Cake Donuts with Chocolate Ganache

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Old fashioned fried cake donuts dipped in rich chocolate ganache and topped with colorful sprinkles! These donuts are light and fluffy and flavored lightly with cinnamon. 

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (or nutmeg)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
• oil for frying
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
• 3 TBSP heavy cream

Instructions

For the Donuts

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with your hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar on medium speed until thick and a pale yellow. This will take 3-5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3. Combine the milk with the melted butter.
4. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture (in three additions), with the milk and melted butter (in two additions), beginning and ending with the flour.
5. The dough at this point will look more like a batter and be quite soft. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. The flour will absorb more liquid and the fat will firm up making it easier to roll out.
6. Once the dough is firm enough to roll, place the dough on a floured surface, and with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick.
7. Cut the dough using a donut cutter or a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Cut out smaller holes in then center of each piece.
8. Place the donuts on a lightly floured baking sheet, lined with parchment or wax paper.
9. Meanwhile heat about 2 inches of frying oil (canola, vegetable, or peanut) in a heavy bottom pan to 375F. Set up a cooling rack over a sheet pan for the donuts to drain on.
10. Gently slide the donuts into the hot oil, only a few at a time. Fry each side until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Carefully remove the donuts from the hot fat with tongs or a slotted spoon.
11. Place on the cooling rack to drain over a sheet pan.
12. After the donuts have cooled a few minutes, you can dip them in the ganache.

For the Ganache

1. Place the chocolate and the cream in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Heat in the microwave in 10 second bursts, stirring well after each heating, until the chocolate is melted, smooth, and glossy. It will be thick.
3. Dip the donuts (or use a knife to frost them) into the ganache. Top with sprinkles and allow the ganache to set.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 239