Basic Cake Doughnuts

From the kitchen of Carly

Tender cake doughnuts with nutmeg warmth and a subtle tang from yogurt. The batter comes together in minutes, bakes without oil, and delivers that perfect crumb you chase. Simple, clean, and genuinely delicious.

Basic Cake Doughnuts

Cake doughnuts live in the sweet spot between tender crumb and crisp exterior, thanks to scalded milk and a spiced batter that sits before frying. Nutmeg is the quiet hero here, warming every bite without announcing itself. Pipe or drop them into hot oil, and you've got golden, light doughnuts that taste like they came from someone who actually cares about the craft.

Prep
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Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 1 3/4 cupall-purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 tspbaking powder
  • 1/2 tspsalt
  • 1 tspfreshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/3 cupsuperfine sugar
  • 2 tbspunsalted butter or vegetable shortening
  • 1egg
  • 1/2 cupwhole milk, scalded and divided
  • 2 tbspplain yogurt
  • 1 tspvanilla extract
  • 1Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

  1. Set up a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Tip the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and sugar into the bowl and run the machine briefly on low to blend everything evenly. Now scatter in the butter and continue blending at medium-low speed. Stop when the contents take on a damp coarse-sand texture.

  2. Whisk the egg, 1/4 cup of the milk, yogurt, and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Restart the mixer and pour this wet mixture slowly into the dry. Pause to scrape down the bowl's sides and run the mixer 20 seconds longer. Stream in the rest of the milk gradually until the batter starts climbing the bowl's walls. Aim for a smooth, thick, spoonable consistency reminiscent of moist cookie dough; the full quantity of milk may not be needed. Drape plastic wrap across the bowl and rest the batter 15 to 20 minutes.

  3. Pour at least 2 inches of oil into a heavy-bottomed pot and bring it up to 360°F as measured on a deep-fat thermometer.

  4. Two methods for shaping. For classic ring doughnuts, load the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 1/3 inch round tip. Figure out how many 3 inch rings can fry at once in your pot. Grease 4 by 4 inch parchment squares (one per doughnut) and pipe a 3 inch ring onto each square. Slide one square gently into the hot oil with the parchment side up. Tweezer the parchment out with tongs once the ring releases, then add a few more rings, avoiding overcrowding. Each side needs 1 to 2 minutes to reach light golden brown. For drop doughnuts (a simpler method, makes about 5 dozen), just spoon tablespoon-sized dollops of batter into the oil and fry roughly 45 seconds per side until light golden.

  5. Fish each cooked doughnut out using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Continue with the rest of the batter. Allow brief cooling before glazing and serving.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Sift the flour before measuring and blend it with butter until it looks like sand, this prevents dense pockets in the final dough.
  • Scalded milk tempers the dough and creates a finer crumb, don't skip this step even though it seems fussy.
  • Keep oil at exactly 360°F, a thermometer is not optional, too cool and they're greasy, too hot and they brown before cooking through.
  • Pipe onto parchment squares so you can slip them into the oil without breaking them, and use tongs to peel away the paper once they float.

Variations

  • Drop doughnuts: Skip the piping bag and tablespoon them directly into oil for 45 seconds per side, they're rustic and less fussy.
  • Cinnamon sugar: Toss warm doughnuts in a mix of cinnamon and superfine sugar instead of glazing them.
  • Brown butter doughnuts: Substitute brown butter for the vegetable shortening and skip the nutmeg if you want nuttiness front and center.
  • Glaze option: Brush or dip warm doughnuts in a quick glaze of powdered sugar thinned with milk or melted chocolate.

Make ahead and storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Refresh slightly stale doughnuts in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes. Freezing is not recommended as the crumb becomes gummy upon thawing.