National Doughnut Day is Friday – and because I really really like doughnuts, I wanted to create a special recipe for the occasion. When I was brainstorming, I thought about the Doughnut Cake I made a few years back from my friend’s birthday.
I made these adorable little fondant doughnuts to put around the bottom of the cake, and a big fondant doughnut to put on top. But then I got to thinking – why don’t I use REAL doughnuts?
Because everyone knows that real doughnuts are WAY better than fondant doughnuts.
It would be the ultimate combination of my two favorite things, cake + doughnuts. The result was this awesome Strawberry Buttermilk Doughnut Cake!
WHY BUTTERMILK?
Like milk or sour cream, buttermilk is used to add fat and acidity to our cakes and doughnuts. This liquid component is VERY important because it is responsible for tenderizing the gluten. Basically, this is what creates that super soft texture in your baked goods. Buttermilk may have the lowest amount of fat, but its high percentage of acidity allows you to get this delightful tender texture in your baked goods. The higher acidity also helps to enhance the flavors and give your cake or doughnuts a little extra tang.
You can totally use milk as a substitute if you don’t have access to buttermilk. But I really recommend giving the buttermilk a try! The extra tang goes perfectly with the sweet strawberry flavor.
STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUT CAKE
Ingredients
BUTTERMILK CAKE
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup buttermilk
STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM
- 1 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Water
- 7 oz. Strawberries
- Pink food coloring
- Candy thermometer
- Sprinkles
BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare three 8" pans with parchment.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar and oil on a low speed until just combined. About 1 minute.
- Add eggs and vanilla on medium/low speed. Mix until combined.
- Add flours, salt, and baking powder. Mix on a low speed until just combined.
- Slowly stream in buttermilk. Mix until combined.
- Divide batter evenly between three pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Set pans on a cooling rack to cool.
For the buttercream:
- In a small sauce pan put 3/4 cup of sugar and cover the sugar with a little bit of water until the sugar looks like wet sand. Cook on a stove top over high heat. Use a candy thermometer to monitor the sugar and heat until it reaches 248 degrees.
- While the sugar is cooking, whip eggs whites in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at a high speed until they reach soft peaks.
- Once the egg whites reach soft peaks add the other 1/4 cup of sugar and mix on a high speed until the egg whites reach stiff peaks. You can keep mixing the egg whites at a high speed until the sugar is done cooking.
- Once the sugar reaches 248 degrees immediately take it off the stove. While the mixer is still running on high speed, add the sugar syrup to the egg white mixture. Mix on a high speed for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, add the room temperature butter and mix on a high speed for 5-10 minutes until the butter is fully combined and the mixture resembles buttercream.
- Purée strawberries in a blender. Press strawberry purée through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of all the seeds. Discard the seeds.
- Add purée, vanilla extract and a few drops of pink food coloring to the buttercream. Mix until buttercream is light and fluffy.
For the buttermilk doughnuts:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a mini doughnut pan with non-stick spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar.
- Add eggs and vanilla pasta.
- On a low speed, add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Slowly stream in buttermilk. Mix until combined.
- Place batter into a large piping bag.
- In a mini doughnut pan, pipe batter so that each mold is 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 6 - 8 minutes.
For the strawberry glaze:
- Purée strawberries in a blender. Press strawberry purée through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of all the seeds. Discard the seeds.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk and strawberry purée. Mix until combined.
- Dip doughnuts into the glaze and add sprinkles.
