What? Baked donuts? Yup... they exist. They really do. And they're also really really reeeeeeeallly yummy - they taste of a buttery combination of toffee and cinnamon, all sweet and caramelly and soft. I found this recipie online and adapted it to suit whatever I had available in my pantry at the time, and the results were, well, phenomenally out of this world. I mean, imagine a DONUT that isnt fried in a foot-deep goop-stash of oil, and that doesnt have a phenomenal amout of cringe-worthy sugar or calories (about a quater of what you'd be consuming if you went for a store-bought fried version). Almost too good to be true. And etter yet... prepare to have your kitchen smell like a gingery-cinnamony-bakey heaven. My only advice would be to invest in a couple of donut pans, which are readily available in Cairo at kitchen appliance stores or big supermarkets.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour (white or wholemeal)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup brown or molassess sugar
1 medium-sized organic egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
¼ cup caramel pudding or applesauce * available at local supermarkets in the yogurt section
1 tablespoons full-cream milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Icing:
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup brown or molassess sugar
2 tablespoons milk, divided
½ cup icing sugar
Method:
Preheat oven to 220.C
Mix all dry ingredients
Stir in moist ingredients into a thick batter
Spoon batter into a large, durable plastic bag and cut the corner off (or use thick silicone piping bag - the batter is quite goopy and thick, so it has to be durable).
Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan (large or mini), filling each donut space only ½ full (because they'll rise!)
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool
For the icing, melt butter with brown / molassess sugar in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or two before adding 1 tablespoon milk
Lower heat. Add icing sugar, plus remaining spoon of milk to help thin out the icing if needed. Keep over very low heat - if it cools, the icing will crystalize
Dunk each donut facedown into the icing
Set aside, and icing should set almost immediately. Continue with the rest of the donuts, and serve.
Store in an airtight container once cooled and icing is set
