Strawberry Cake Donuts

 

I have a slight obsession with donuts. They are just the perfect dessert (breakfast) because there are so many ways to enjoy them. You can have a yeast donut, a filled one, a circle, a stick, one with holes, or just plain donut holes! SO many options! I tested a yeast donut and didn’t love it so I switched it up for a homemade cake donut and oh em gee, so good. 

Just a note about the lemon peel from above. It’s my trick for when I don’t have fresh citrus, which means I always use this stuff. You can buy it here online at Penzey’s or visit one of their stores across the country. We are lucky and have one in Columbus but they are pretty limited across the country. You can totally use fresh lemon zest in this recipe, I just didn’t have any lemons on hand, like always. 

Citrus is super necessary in baked good recipes like these fluffy cake donuts because it helps brighten up the ingredients and adds a little extra zip of flavor. 

I have to take a second to appreciate the amazing sponsors who make Summer Dessert Week a real possibility. Our friends over at Dixie Crystals gave us 40 POUNDS of sugar so you better believe we’re going to be whipping up some sweet things all summer long. 

I was super excited to work with Adams Extract because the only extracts I’ve ever used are vanilla and almond! When I saw our goodie bag with strawberry, ideas started flooding in my brain of what kind of goodies we could make. I’m thinking a strawberry ice cream might be in our future soon. 

Obviously, we landed on this recipe but also could you imagine strawberry chocolate cake donuts? YUM. You could probably easily add in a Tablespoon or two of nice cocoa powder to the flour mixture to get some of that chocolate goodness. 

To get a great sized cake donut, you’ll need a biscuit or donut cutter. You’ll want to do this pretty fast after you take the dough out of the fridge because it will start to rise a little bit, as you can see in the picture. I used two biscuit cutters for these cake donuts – one for the donut and then a smaller one for the donut holes. Then, I promptly ordered a donut cutter. 

Do not be afraid of frying things at home, friends! The most important thing you need is a thermometer to track them temperature of your oil. As long as you pay attention to the temperature so it doesn’t get too hot and burn, and you don’t fill it up too high – you should be a-okay! 

To make your life easier, you should also have a slotted spoon, at least two cooling racks with paper towels underneath and a gate to keep you pets and children out of the kitchen. 

Once your freshly fried cake donuts have cooled a bit, you are ready to dress ’em up! I just topped them with powdered sugar because they are already so flavorful with the strawberry! But, you could definitely make a simple glaze to toss on top too. 

Don’t forget to scroll past the recipe to check out our awesome giveaway and to see what my fellow blogger friends are sharing on their blogs today for #SummerDessertWeek! 

Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!

Ice Cream Recipes:

• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Bites from Big Bear’s Wife
• No Churn Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream from Pastry Chef Online
• Green Tea Ice Cream from Mildly Meandering

Pies of Summer:

• Mini Lemon Meringue Pies from Forking Up
• Lemon Lavender Chess Pie from The Spiffy Cookie

Sweet Summertime Cakes:

• Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake from The Food Hunter’s Guide To Cuisine

No-Bake Treats:

• Lemon Chiffon Raspberry Parfait from Desserts Required
• S’mores Mousse Parfaits from Daily Dish Recipes
• Strawberry Pretzel Salad Parfaits from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
• No-Bake Coconut Cream Pie In A Jar from A Southern Soul

Baked Desserts:

• Strawberry Glazed Donut Bites from Eat Move Make
• Mixed Berry Fruit Pizza from The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Strawberry Cake Donuts from The Beard and The Baker
• Lemon Doberge Squares from Southern From Scratch
• Mini Blueberry Galettes from Me and My Pink Mixer
• Chocolate Churros from My Sweet Zepol
• Key Lime Fudge from The Domestic Kitchen
• Chocolate Strawberry Eclairs from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars from A Blender Mom
• Sweet Tea Bread Pudding from Sweet ReciPEAs
• Cream Puffs from For the Love of Food

Sweet Sips:

• Cherry Lime Bellini from Comfortably Domestic
• Strawberry Lassi from Shockingly Delicious