Beauty Shot of Molly Yeh's Chocolate Cardamom Cake Donuts, as seen on Girl Meets Farm Season 14
Recipe courtesy of Molly Yeh

Chocolate-Cardamom Cake Donuts

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  • Level: Intermediate
  • Total: 1 hr 25 min (includes freezing and drying times)
  • Active: 45 min
  • Yield: 9 large donuts plus 9 donut holes
These are inspired by Turkish coffee, and are a combination Molly loves: chocolate, coffee, cardamom and cinnamon. As Molly has gotten older, she prefers the dense texture of a cake donut compared to an airy yeasted donut. These have rustic craggles and a crunchy sugar shell. It’s basically a love note to Nick in donut form, for the mornings he makes Molly’s coffee.

Ingredients

Dough:

Glaze:

Directions

Special equipment:
a deep-fry thermometer
  1. For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the granulated sugar and butter and beat on medium-high speed until fully combined and light, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition until combined. Beat in the vanilla. Add the sour cream and beat, stopping and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the cake flour, cocoa powder and all-purpose flour. Sprinkle the baking powder, salt, cardamom and espresso powder evenly over the flour and give the dry ingredients a rough little whisk to combine. Beat using the stand mixer paddle on low to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
  2. Flour your work surface generously, scrape out the dough, flour the top of the dough and roll it out into a 9-inch square that is a scant 1/2 inch thick. With a sharp knife, divide the dough into 9 squares (3 by 3) and cut out 9 little circles or squares (using a large piping tip or small square cookie cutter) from the center. Place the donuts and their holes onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and freeze for 30 minutes.
  3. Heat about 2 inches of neutral oil to 350 degrees F in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Set a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  4. To fry the donuts: Carefully and gently add 3 of the donuts and donut holes into the oil to fry for 2 minutes on each side until puffed and craggily (the donut holes will be done a little faster). Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove the donuts to the wire rack to drain of excess oil and cool until safe to handle. Repeat with the second and third batches of donuts, letting the oil return to 350 degrees F in between.
  5. For the glaze: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt and 6 tablespoons water until smooth. The glaze should be thick, but if it is still pasty, whisk in up to a tablespoon additional water little by little.
  6. Dip each donut and donut hole into the glaze to fully coat. Return them to the wire rack to let the glaze dry completely.
  7. These are best eaten the day they’re made. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.