Frosted Strawberry Cake Donuts

Frosted Strawberry Cake Donuts

They’re fun,
They’re pink,
They’re girly,
They’re sweet,
They’re festive,
They whisper Valentine’s Day–
And they’re baked. (Woohoo! Fresh donuts with no smelly grease in the house.)

If you haven’t found yourself a donut pan yet and you have kids or grandkids, what are you waiting for? I’m having so much fun with mine. You could use a mini-muffin pan but something about the donut shape makes them irresistible.

I modified my original Baked Whole Wheat Donut recipe to make these strawberry lovelies. Instead of white whole wheat flour, I used all-purpose unbleached flour. Adding dry strawberry jello powder to the dry ingredients gives the expected pink color and intensifies the strawberry flavor. Instead of milk, I added 1/4 cup finely chopped or mashed fresh strawberries. Dress them up for a party with a glaze, flavored and colored with strawberry jello powder.

Now all I need is a little girl with a tea party set. Maybe some day, Lord??

p.s. As my Valentine’s present to all of you, I’m giving away a couple more donut pans. I know it’s not a lot but I figure it’s one of those things you probably wouldn’t buy for yourself.

To enter, click over to  Salad  in a Jar on Facebook and get the details. If you want to see updates from my corner of the kitchen on your Facebook wall, press the “Like” button in the sidebar.

Frosted Strawberry Cake Donuts

*Makes 12 mini-donuts and 4 mini-muffins (because I only have one donut pan).

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon dry strawberry jello
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a few drops of almond flavoring

Directions:
First: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease doughnut pan well (I use spray oil with flour in it i.e. Baking by Pam).

Second: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, strawberry jello, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium mixing bowl. (You can leave the nutmeg out but it gives the characteristic donut flavor.)

Third: Whisk yogurt, strawberries, egg, oil and flavorings together in a separate small bowl.Pour all at once over dry ingredients and stir only until everything is moistened.

Fourth: Spoon batter into pastry bag or quart-size zippered plastic bag. Seal. Snip small corner of plastic bag and force dough out of hole in a fat rope that encircles each doughnut cup. Fill only 1/2 to 3/4 full or you will lose the hole in the middle of your doughnut. Makes 12 donuts and possibly 3-4 “donut holes” in a mini cupcake pan. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

Strawberry Glaze:
2 tablespoons softened cream cheese
2-3+ tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon strawberry jello powder

Combine cream cheese and milk in a medium mixing bowl. Mix powdered sugar and jello powder with cream cheese until smooth. Add more milk (a few drops at a time) if necessary to achieve correct consistency. It should drip slowly without being runny. Dip donuts face down into glaze and turn over to dry on rack (see picture) or pour over the top. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other edible decorations, if desired, before the glaze dries.

*Note: It has come to my attention that mini-donut pans do not all make donuts the same size. Mine was purchased from World Market and the donuts measure 2-3/4 inches in diameter.

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