Classic Cake Doughnuts

Recipe courtesy Food Network Kitchens

Show: Cooking LiveEpisode: Doughnut Delight

Rated: 3 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (5)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(5)

Cook Time:
30 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
2 dozen doughnuts and holes

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 4 min
Cook: 30 min
Total:: 1 hr 4 min

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Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, plus more for deep frying
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon fine salt
For coating the doughnuts (optional): 1 cup granulated sugar, or 1 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, or 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions

Melt the shortening in a small saucepan over medium heat. Set aside to cool slightly but still liquid.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and shortening together on medium speed, until just combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla, and continue beating until the mixture is light, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, mace, and salt into a medium bowl.

Reduce the mixer's speed to low, add the flour mixture until just combined. (The texture of the dough will be soft and loose.) Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap it well. (Make sure you scrap off all the dough clinging to the paddle.) Refrigerate the dough for 4 hours or overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the chilled dough out into a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Dip the edges of a 2 1/2-inch-round doughnut cutter in flour and cut the dough into doughnuts. Place the doughnuts and holes on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Put enough vegetable shortening into a tall, heavy-bottomed pot to fill it about a third of the way up. Heat the shortening over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer inserted in the oil registers 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Working in batches, fry the doughnuts and holes, turning once, until they are golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to the paper towels to drain and cool. Repeat until all the doughnuts and holes are fried. (Make sure the shortening returns to 375 degrees F. between batches.)

For sugared doughnuts, roll the doughnuts in sugar or cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. To cover the doughnuts with confectioners' sugar, allow them to cool completely before rolling in the sugar.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Classic Cake Doughnuts
Bob Burbank, CA 10-02-2009
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works for me!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

These came out good...but, I have a lot of experience in cooking/baking/frying. If, you substitute ingredients, you can't... always be sure things are going to turn out as intended, unless you know what you are doing. Using milk instead of evaporated milk will change things!!! Also, the temp. of the oil and type of oil is essential. Too low and the donuts will be saturated with oil (heavy) to high and they over cook, dry out or don't cook right. Use a thermometer. Canola or vegetable shorting is a good selection. Vegetable, not ideal. All this stuff makes a big difference between a mediocre result( "Disaster" ) or as intended...delicious.Read more
recipe Classic Cake Doughnuts
CAROL princeton, NJ 12-06-2007
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almost perfect
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

This were very good rolled in cinnamon-sugar. I used plenty of flour to roll them out...
recipe Classic Cake Doughnuts
DORENE West Orange, NJ 12-10-2006
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Duplicate Recipe
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

Did anyone else notice that this recipe is essentially the same recipe as the Mini Doughnut Recipe on this site except... doubled? The other recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of flour, which would then become 3 cups rather than 4, but otherwise it is the same, right down to the wording, which calls for a medium bowl for the flour. I immediately thought that would be a problem for a 4 cup recipe, and the reason is that the person just copied the directions without thinking about it. And the Mini recipe got good reviews, so who knows?Read more
recipe Classic Cake Doughnuts
Arnie New York, NY 10-26-2005
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Excellent! Not even remotely a "disaster"
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I thought these doughnuts were great. I read Joe's "disaster" review before I made these, but I think he used whole milk... instead of evaporated milk. Big Difference!Read more
recipe Classic Cake Doughnuts
Joe Smalltowne, VA 04-03-2005
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Disaster!
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

This recipe is a total disaster. The dough it just too sticky, too unmanageable, even if you refrigerate it overnight, which... I did, it's still too sticky to work with! I thought, ?well maybe there's a secret to this.? I could see that it was way too difficult to handle, but I stuck to the recipe. Wrong idea! There is no magic; it comes out too sticky to handle no matter what. Plus in the instructions it calls for mixing the milk and vanilla "until light" after you've creamed the eggs into the shortening and sugar. I've got news for you, with one cup of milk you're not going to get anything of the consistency of "light" there's just too much liquid. I managed to fry about 15 of these up and they are too heavy, though the flavor is pretty good. The proportions are wrong in this recipe, either that or there should have been some mention of the dough consistency because it?s too wet. "Loose and soft" is just what you get with this recipe. Someone needs to go back to the test kitchen...Read more