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).
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)
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!
PrintZesty Baked Lemon Cake Donuts
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
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
- Preheat the oven to 175°C
- Add the vinegar to the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes
- In a medium sized bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, sugar, salt and lemon zest together
- Add the egg and oil to the milk, whisk until combined
- Add the milk mixture to the flour, using a wooden spoon mix until just combined
- Transfer to a piping bag and pipe into the donut mould (¾ full)
- Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
- Cool completely
Lemon Glaze
- Sift the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl
- Add the lemon juice and stir until smooth
- If too thick add a little more lemon juice to thin it out
- Transfer the glaze to a smaller bowl which fits your baked donuts
- 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!) - Allow the glaze to dry for 30-60 minutes, then enjoy!
Related Recipes
KStep
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.
Catherine Zhang
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!
KStep
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
Shazeela
Definitely trying these sometime soon! I loved watching you on Zumbos! ❤️❤️❤️
Catherine Zhang
Yay! Can't wait 🙂
Amal
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... 🙂
Amal
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?
Amal
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.. 🙁
Amal
❤️❤️❤️
Olive
Is the vinegar in the milk necessary?
Also, the batter was a bit too runny for my silicone donut mold. Is this normal?
Catherine Zhang
The vinegar helps to give the donuts some rise. Yes! The batter is a little runny but that's what keeps the donuts moist.
Olive
Can I use buttermilk instead of milk + vinegar? 🙂 Thank you!
Amal
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 😭😢