Old fashioned Cider glazed cake donuts, the name speaks for itself. Great by themselves or accompanied with a vanilla butternut squash smoothie that is blended with dates, chia seeds, and cider syrup – sounds like a winning recipe for the fall. Usually, donuts are fried, in this recipe, the donuts are baked, so it makes a much healthier option. I’m not a baker and adapted the donut recipe from the King Arthur Flour webpage. I made adjustments to reduce the fat. I substituted the oil with apple sauce, and it turned out just as great. As a rule of thumb, if you replace oil with apple sauce in baking, the ratio is one to one. You can never go wrong with a great-tasting cake donut. They are good all year round and in the fall with a great cider glaze, they are spot on.
Cake Donuts:
They are dense, and yes they are a ‘cake-style’ donut, but they are moist. My recommendation is to bake cake donuts for about 8 to 10 minutes. It all depends on your oven. If you bake cake donuts any longer than 10 minutes, they will get dry.
Using a mini non-stick donut mold makes for easy baking. Spray the mold with non-stick spray and 8 to 10 minutes later you have an awesome cake donut.
Making Apple Cider Syrup:
Last week I purchased apple cider from Garwood Orchard in Indiana, so cooking a great cider glaze for the donuts was the next logical step. Making cider syrup is really pretty easy. Take a good quality apple cider, bring it to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and reduce it to a molasses-like consistency. Reducing the cider brings out the natural sweetness of the apples and intensifies the cider flavor a million times.
Making the Butternut Squash Smoothie:
The recipe is adapted from the award-winning Oh she glows blog. I love this blog, it’s full of great plant-based recipes. Roasting butternut squash in the oven not only makes the squash tender, but also brings out the flavor. Blending the roasted butternut squash at a high speed with spices, chia seeds, dates, and vanilla creates a wonderful smoothie. To kick it up a notch, I added a few tablespoons of cider syrup.
Measuring flour:
Here are the tips from the King Arthur Flour experts: First, to ensure you’re using the right amount of flour, it’s recommended to either measure the flour by weight with a scale or fluff up the flour with a whisk and spoon into a measuring cup, sweeping off any excess flour with a knife.
This will help you measure out cups of flour that weigh about 4 1/4 ounces per cup. As a result, your donut should be perfectly tender and moist.
Old Fashioned Cider-Glazed Cake Donuts
Vanilla Butternut Squash Smoothie
The Taste
I love the flavor and the texture of the donuts.
Adding the nutmeg kicks everything up a notch.
Play with adding blueberries or dip baked donuts in cinnamon sugar.
There are endless possibilities with this great base recipe.
The Process
Easy to bake recipe. If you like cake donuts this is the recipe for you.
Very easy to make and bake.
Amazingly fluffy, moist, and delicate cake donut.
No problem to make a double batch.
The Verdict
A dense, moist ‘cake-style’ donut.
We all agree baked is always better than fried.
Light but not overly fluffy….just perfect!
Let’s put it this way, I may never buy cake donuts again.
A great flavor match with the vanilla butternut squash smoothie.
Old Fashioned Cider Glazed Cake Donuts & Vanilla Butternut Squash Smoothie
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
Ingredients for the donuts
- 1/4 cup butter, salted
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 1/2 cup sugar granulated
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 each eggs large
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk 2%
Ingredients for the cider syrup
- 1/2 gallon apple cider
- Ingredients for glaze
- 2 tbsp cider syrup
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar
Ingredients for the smoothie
- 1 cup butternut squash roasted
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 4 each dates pitted
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract pure
- 1/2 tsp ginger, ground ground
- 2 tbsp cider syrup
- 5 each ice cubes or as needed
Instructions
Cook the apple cider
- Place apple cider in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and reduce cider to a molasses-like consistency. Set aside.1/2 gallon apple cider
Make the dough
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease two standard donut pans.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter, apple sauce, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, beating to combine. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.1/4 cup butter, salted, 1/4 cup apple sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 each eggs, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup milk 2%
- Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour, and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. The batter will be fairly thick; when you draw your spatula through the batter it will leave a furrow.2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Bake the donuts
- Spoon the batter into the lightly greased donut pans, filling the wells to about 1/4" shy of the rim. Bake the donuts for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. The donuts should slightly pull away from the sides of the pan, the surface should spring back when pressed gently and when inserting a toothpick into the center it should come out mostly clean. Wait for 5 to 7 minutes before removing and place on a rack.
Make the glaze for donuts
- To make apple cider glaze: Stir together the cider syrup, heavy cream, and confection sugar. Add additional sugar or cream, if needed, to make the glaze the consistency of molasses. Dip top of donuts in the glaze, or drizzle glaze over donuts.2 tbsp cider syrup, 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp heavy cream
Make smoothie
- Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise, with a spoon remove the seeds. Spray squash with olive oil and roast cut side up at 400 F for about 30 minutes until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy.1 cup butternut squash, 1 1/2 cups almond milk, 4 each dates, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp ginger, ground, 5 each ice cubes, 2 tbsp cider syrup
Nutrition
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate