Donut “Wholes”

Thanks for the request for the recipe for these cake donuts. I am calling it “wholes” instead of holes because these were not the result of remnants from proper doughnuts. That would be too much work! I made these for Christmas morning when we were relaxing as a family, but they are also great as an impromptu dessert.

I am sure that you can tell I seem to have a liking for sweets that are bite sized or in small doses. My family does not crave sweets in quantity. If I make a whole cake, I usually end up tossing the left-overs a week later. We must be the weirdest bunch around. These donuts however, disappeared before nightfall.

These can be made without dairy. I made this recipe with both goat yogurt and soymilk with vinegar and both were great. I was thinking that next time I might try it with soy yogurt. I have also made chocolate donuts but that recipe will still need some work. So for now, chow down on these the next time you get a craving.

Doughnut Holes

This recipe makes about 20 golf ball sized donuts

• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour or spelt
• 2 tsp baking powder (make sure you use a non-aluminum brand like Rumford)
• 1 tsp cinnamon, optional
• 1/2 tsp ginger, optional
• 1/4 tsp cardamom and nutmeg, optional
• 3/4 cups (150 g) granulated sugar (I used raw sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) plain yogurt (or milk/soymilk plus 1 tsp vinegar)
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 Tbsp oil, plus more for frying

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, mix thoroughly. In the bowl of a mixer or by hand with a whisk combine the sugar and eggs until thick. Add the yogurt, lemon juice and oil. Add the flour by hand and mix until combined with a wooden spoon. Do not over mix or you will have tough donuts.

Refrigerate the mixture for about an hour.

Prepare a deep, heavy bottomed pan for the frying. Add oil to the pan to a depth of about 2 inches (5 cm). Using a candy thermometer, heat the oil to 360F (185C). Using a scoop like this one http://foodurl.info/u0re, that holds about 1-1/2 Tbsp, to scoop will make the whole process so much more smooth.

Drop scoops into the hot oil and cook about 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Carefully flip over and continue to cook until golden all over. Remove to the draining rack. Continue with remaining dough. I found that I could cook 8 at one time with good results. Once cool enough to touch roll in cinnamon sugar, toasted coconut, or dust with powdered sugar.