Fresh Lemon and Strawberry Frosted Donuts

Hello all,

Daylight Savings Time has passed this weekend and I have to tell you, I am LOVING the extra sunlight. It just makes the days so much cheerier, granted I am currently writing to you from Florida (the Sunshine State). I am sure when I get back to NJ I will be greeted by the lovely gray, overcast weather I have come to call my own.

But while I'm still down here catching the rays, I thought I'd share these fresh fruit-frosted donuts with you!

I can't say I looked up the lemon frosting, but sadly I did discover that Strawberry Frosted Donuts, from say Dunkin Donuts, are not frosted with anything that resembles real strawberrries. Gross. 

How are we still okay with that? I mean I understand that if you use real strawberries it wont be as smooth and glossy, but I think that might very well be a sacrifice we are willing to make for real fruit frostings.

Regardless, mine utilize the wonderful fresh strawberries down here in Florida, along with some lovely fresh lemons as well.

I ran into some trouble with lighting for my photos (when does that not happen) but discovered that the sun was the perfect accompaniment to my donuts. Now if only NJ was this bright all the time I'd take all my photos outside each morning!

I've included the basic sour cream donut recipe below along with the new fruit glazes/frostings. Feel free to switch out the lemon juice for lime (key lime donuts anyone?) or use your favorite fruit in place of the strawberries. The possibilites are endless, not to mention delcious.

Happy Baking!

Sour Cream Donuts (makes about 2 dozen mini donuts)
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. In separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients. Using a mixer on medium speed, blend until smooth.
3. Fill each cooking reservoir with about 2 tbsp of batter.
4. Bake about 4-5 minutes or until donut springs back when touched.
5. Glaze or coat with powdered or cinnamon sugar.

Fresh Lemon Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
splash of milk

1. Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and begin to stir. Add milk slowly, until consistency is smooth but still thick.
 
Fresh Strawberry Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup strawberries
splash of milk

1. Sift powdered sugar into medium bowl. Pulse straberries in food processor until completely chopped. Scrape strawberry puree into powdered sugar and whisk until it comes together. Add splash of milk as needed to create smooth consistency.

 To frost donuts: dip donut in frosting, pull up and allow excess to drip off. Poke hole in center with finger to allow frosting to form to shape of donut. Then allow to dry on cooling rack or dip in sprinkles.

Quick Clementine Muffins

Hello all!

I know you are all so surprised to hear from me! But this is a quick post to share with you one of my favorite treats ever...

the muffin.

Because, no matter how many exams or papers I may have, I always have time for muffins. Like Jim Gaffigan said, "they're like muffin vitamins" and are important to maintaining my, erm, sanity to say the least.

So, clementine muffins. Simple, quick, delicious, and wonderfully reminiscent of the warmer weather I and my Northeast friends have been teased with these past few weeks. Will the warm weather stay? Probably not. Will these muffins stick around for long?

Father's Day Donuts

Happy Belated Father's Day!

As I mentioned, I had originally planned to make a double chocolate layer cake for my Dad as his gift, but the pastry gods were not having it. The cake was extremely dry, so what was I to do?

Luckily, I had just acquired the BabyCakes Donut Maker!

What better way to solve the problem than to whip up some for dear old dad..who happens to LOVE glazed donuts. Since I am a complete newbie when it comes to donuts, I decided it would be best to stick to one of the recipes that was included in the kit.

The recipe was for Sour Cream Donuts with a Vanilla Glaze, which stressed not to over beat the mix. I was successful in mixing, although filling said donut maker proved to be another adventure entirely.

Turns out spooning the batter in is not the most efficient manner in which to fill the donut maker. So, next time around I was ready with a Ziploc bag filled with the same batter. Oh, and did I mention these donuts cook in all of 4 minutes?!

Ah, now that is more like it! Isn't it adorable? But, more importantly, it's delicious! I decided to coat the slightly overcooked first batch in powdered sugar, while glazing the second and third batches. The results = awesome. Also, since these are baked as opposed to fried, the calorie count isn't quite so bad. They are also tiny, so these are a much better (and more cost effective) alternative to Dunkin Donuts.

BabyCakes Sour Cream Donuts with Vanilla Glaze (makes about 2 dozen donuts)

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. In separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients. Using a mixer on medium speed, blend until smooth.
3. Fill each cooking reservoir with about 2 tbsp of batter.
4. Bake about 4-5 minutes or until donut springs back when touched.
5. Glaze or coat with powdered or cinnamon sugar.

Vanilla Glaze

1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
2-2 1/2 tbsp hot water

1. Combine melted butter and powdered sugar, stirring until well blended. Stir in vanilla.
2. Blend in hot water until smooth.