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    Home » Fruity » Zesty Baked Lemon Cake Donuts

    Zesty Baked Lemon Cake Donuts

    April 29, 2020 by Catherine Zhang 13 Comments

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    DONUTS!! Donuts are one of my favourite things in the entire world (following ice-cream…) and I wanted to have an easy baked donut recipe available! These are super soft cake donuts with a lemony hit and a sweet crackly glaze that are so easy to make.

    Now before you make these let’s discuss the types of donuts (or doughnuts if you prefer). There are two distinct types of donuts, one being yeast raised and the other being cake. Yeast raised donuts tend to be a lot lighter and fluffier, examples of this are the classic Krispy Kreme donuts. Personally these are what I think of when someone says donuts, but they are a lot harder to recreate at home because it is essentially making a bread dough. These also need to be proofed over a few hours and then deep fried (which is just super inconvenient).

    Zesty baked lemon cake donuts

    Then we have cake donuts, which like its name is a cake- donut. Usually these are deep fried, but with the help of a machine which will drop blobs of batter in hot oil. Obviously we don’t have a doughnut making machine at home, but we can get a donut pan!

    I actually didn’t have a donut pan until a few weeks ago, but I found a silicone one at Daiso for $2.80. Yep. They can be that inexpensive, and then you can create these donuts from your house, whenever you want! If you don’t have a donut pan, you can bake these in a muffin tin and cut out a hole from the centre once they are baked (donuts and donut holes! :D)

    Zesty baked lemon cake donuts
    Zesty Lemon Baked Cake Donuts

    Don’t go into this recipe expecting a Krispy Kreme donut, but instead an incredibly moist and fluffy cake donut and you definitely won’t be disappointed. (I know nothing beats a good fluffy yeast glazed donut, but these aren’t far off!) If you do make these make sure to tag me on instagram @catherine.justdesserts au and hashtag #cattycakes. I can’t wait to see your recreations! Happy caking!

    Print

    Zesty Baked Lemon Cake Donuts

    Zesty baked lemon cake donuts
    Print Recipe

    Fluffy, moist cake donuts infused with zesty lemon flavour and topped with a sweet crackly glaze. These are the ultimate baked cake donut, you won't even be able to tell they're baked!

    • Prep Time: 30 minutes
    • Cook Time: 15 minutes
    • Total Time: 45 minutes
    • Yield: 6 1x

    Ingredients

    Scale

    Donut

    • 70 g Plain flour (½ cup)
    • 75 g Sugar (⅓ cup)
    • ¼ tsp Baking soda
    • Pinch of salt
    • Zest of one lemon
    • 75 g Vegetable oil (⅓ cup)
    • 60 g Milk (¼ cup)
    • ½ tsp Vinegar
    • 1 Large egg

    Lemon Glaze

    • 125 g Powdered sugar (1 cup)
    • 1 ½ tbsp Lemon juice

    Instructions

    Donut

    1. Preheat the oven to 175°C
    2. Add the vinegar to the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes
    3. In a medium sized bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and lemon zest together
    4. Add the egg and oil to the milk, whisk until combined
    5. Add the milk mixture to the flour, using a wooden spoon mix until just combined
    6. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe into the donut mould (¾ full)
    7. Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
    8. Cool completely

    Lemon Glaze

    1. Sift the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl
    2. Add the lemon juice and stir until smooth
    3. If too thick add a little more lemon juice to thin it out
    4. Transfer the glaze to a smaller bowl which fits your baked donuts
    5. Dip the smooth side of the donut into the glaze, remove, and place on a wire rack so excess glaze can drip off
      (If you want to add sprinkles or toppings add them now!)
    6. Allow the glaze to dry for 30-60 minutes, then enjoy!

    Did you make this recipe?

    Share a photo, tag me @catherine.justdessertsau and hashtag #cattycakes

    I cannot wait to see what you make!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KStep

      April 30, 2020 at 4:16 am

      OMG Catherine these look heavenly (and possibly addictive?!?!) Can’t wait to try them this weekend when I have a little extra time! (Perhaps they could beat your brownie recipe!) It’s good to see your sense of humor and relaxed tone coming through in the descriptions, it gives it a more relatable and natural feel! Keep being yourself and keep up the awesome recipes they are sooooo good!!! Can’t wait to see how far your talents, skills and success go! Congrats on the YouTube Chanel and gaining traction there it’s fun to see how positive everyone’s comments are towards your talents. We all wish you the best!!!

      As always kindest regards,
      KStep

      PS ~ HUGE thank you for adding the measurements in cups, it saves a “google” step 😊 for some of us.

      Reply
      • Catherine Zhang

        May 04, 2020 at 2:35 pm

        Hi KStep! Thanks for stopping by again, can't wait to hear what you think of the donuts. So glad that you are enjoying the blog posts and recipes. I realised that I lot of my audience wanted the cups measurements so I'm trying to add them when I can!

        Reply
        • KStep

          May 07, 2020 at 6:52 pm

          Hey Catherine!
          First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Hope it’s a great one!
          It’s good to hear from you 🙂
          The donuts were exactly as described very delicious they were soft and moist and the glaze was just a little crunchy so they were perfect thanks for sharing with everyone! I think they are tied with the cheesecake and brownies are still in first place haha
          Thanks again for sharing all your hard work and recipes with everyone! We look forwards to seeing more of your creations! Once again happy birthday!

          Best regards,
          KStep

          Reply
    2. Shazeela

      May 11, 2020 at 8:13 pm

      Definitely trying these sometime soon! I loved watching you on Zumbos! ❤️❤️❤️

      Reply
      • Catherine Zhang

        May 13, 2020 at 11:26 pm

        Yay! Can't wait 🙂

        Reply
    3. Amal

      August 08, 2020 at 11:07 pm

      Hi Catherine!!! Its Amal! I just love watching you on Zumbo's just desserts and your so amazing you have inspired me to become a baker but I just don't think I'm confident enough because I'm only 12 years old and still young and haven't even baked a single dessert and I don't know what to do right now and wanted your advice but I´ll try to ask my mom to let me bake this dessert and I am going to work hard to be a pastry chef and work towards my goal! :))) By the way, I still need some advice from you please... 🙂

      Reply
    4. Amal

      August 08, 2020 at 11:18 pm

      also, I'm very confused what do you mean by 70 grams of flour (1/2 cup) I mean if you already have 70 grams of flour why add 1/2 cup I don't get it can you please explain it?

      Reply
    5. Amal

      August 09, 2020 at 2:40 am

      oh! and could you also make a Youtube video about this because I want to fully learn how to make this while watching it sorry to bother you.. 🙁

      Reply
    6. Amal

      August 09, 2020 at 2:41 am

      ❤️❤️❤️

      Reply
    7. Olive

      August 26, 2020 at 11:20 pm

      Is the vinegar in the milk necessary?

      Also, the batter was a bit too runny for my silicone donut mold. Is this normal?

      Reply
      • Catherine Zhang

        August 27, 2020 at 10:09 am

        The vinegar helps to give the donuts some rise. Yes! The batter is a little runny but that's what keeps the donuts moist.

        Reply
        • Olive

          August 28, 2020 at 3:30 am

          Can I use buttermilk instead of milk + vinegar? 🙂 Thank you!

          Reply
    8. Amal

      September 04, 2020 at 7:18 pm

      I didn't mean to bother you and I understand that you ignored me I'm so sorry please forgive me Catherine I loved watching you on Zumbo's Just Desserts and was soo excited to see you on here From Now On I will only ask questions related to the pastries Please Forgive Me, Catherine 😭😢

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Catherine!

    My name is Catherine, a food blogger and dessert lover. If I look familiar you may have seen me on NETFLIX's Zumbo’s Just Desserts S2!

    As an Australian-Chinese pastry chef and recipe developer I share recipes and tips on desserts inspired by amazing flavours, fresh produce and of course my Asian background.

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