Vegan Cake Donuts
Unbelievable things happened in my kitchen this week.
UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE.
I made vegan donuts. And they were good.
One of my children asked to bring a salad to school for lunch.
The other one willingly ate white rice not once, but twice, and EVEN ASKED FOR SECONDS.
I used canned bean liquid as an egg substitute in donuts.
“Wait, what?,” you might be thinking. You can use the liquid from a can of beans as an egg substitute? And there are children who don’t like plain white rice?
True on both counts.
I told you: unbelievable.
I’ve had it in mind to conquer making vegan donuts since I began this donut quest. A little boy in my life is allergic to dairy and has never been able to experience the joy of a really delicious, fancy, bakery donut. This hurts my heart. I want him to be able to eat a great donut! Plus some my best friends are vegan, and I think that they too should be able to eat delicious donuts if they want.
That sums up my food philosophy: everyone should be able to eat the things they want to eat in a way that works for them. Inclusivity at the table.
So this week, motivated by this philosophy, I set out to make vegan cake donuts.
It turned out to be trickier than I had anticipated.
I regularly make vegan meals for myself in an effort to eat as many vegetables as possible (dessert and veggies being my favorite food groups). But I haven’t done much vegan baking. I checked out vegan cookbooks and did much Internet searching to get some helpful hints about making vegan donuts. I had little success.
First, most vegan donut recipes posted online are for baked donuts. Let’s be honest: I am not looking for donuts to be healthful in any way. Taste is primary. Frying is fabulous.
Second, the few fried vegan donut recipes I found were for yeast donuts, specifically for a Krispy Kreme glazed knockoff. Perfect for when I’m looking for a yeast donut but not for the tender cake donut I wanted.
However, I did pick up one super interesting tidbit of info: aquafaba can be used as an egg substitute in many baking applications. Yes. Aquafaba. The drained liquid from a can of beans, usually chickpeas.
I couldn’t resist the challenge. I stocked up on chickpeas, soy milk (to make vegan clabbered milk), and vegan butter (I like this brand), and off to the vegan donut races I went.
It was a bit of a learning curve with this project. I tried increasing the amount of vegan butter in the recipe to offset the lack of fat from the missing eggs; it made the finished donuts extra crunchy in a way that felt out of place. I didn’t pay close enough attention to the oil temperature and let it drop to 340 for most of the frying; the donuts absorbed too much of the oil and tasted greasy. I tried using vegan semisweet chocolate chips in the glaze I liked so much for my Double Dunked Chocolate Cake Donuts rather than bittersweet chocolate; it was too thin and not chocolate-y enough. I tried making a vegan caramel frosting with light brown sugar using an online recipe; it tasted flat and not rich enough. I tried using vegetable oil instead of butter in the dough in my second batch of donuts; it made the dough a sticky mess, and I lost about a third of it to the compost bin.
Nevertheless, I persisted. I made a second batch of caramel frosting, this time using dark brown sugar, and it was much improved. I used a different chocolate icing recipe and splurged on a pricey dairy-free bittersweet chocolate, and it was absolutely heavenly. I added flour to the super sticky dough as I rolled it out, and I was able to salvage 9 donuts out of my second batch. I watched that candy thermometer like a hawk, and the finished donuts had a lovely color and texture.
One tester said the Salted Caramel Donuts were perfect and fabulous (he is now my favorite tester), and I had to basically hide the Chocolate Iced Donuts from myself so I didn’t eat them before I could give them away.
Would a vegan or someone unable to eat dairy or eggs enjoy these donuts? Yes. But would someone without these dietary limits also enjoy them? Happily, also yes.
Inclusive Donuts for the win.
These donuts require a bit more frying time than my non-vegan Cake Donuts. I always recommend having a sacrificial donut or donut hole to make sure things are actually cooking the way they’re supposed to be cooking. You’ll get the best results if you frost the donuts when they are completely cool but when the icing is still warm. Both of these icings stiffen up quite quickly after making them. If they get too thick to coat the top half of your donuts easily, you can quickly loosen them up by adding just a bit of hot water. Each batch of frosting is enough to frost a full batch of donuts. If you’re like my family, and you need both a chocolate and a non-chocolate option, halve the recipes, use both, make everyone happy. All about inclusivity here today.
*Update: a fellow baker friend advised me that unless vegan sugar is used to make these, they're technically not vegan. Oops! I used traditional cane sugar when testing the donut and icing recipes here. For those looking for a dairy-free and egg-free option, traditional sugar will fit the bill just fine. If you're looking to make strictly vegan donuts, use sugar processed without bone char (all organic sugars are), and let me know your results! Would love to hear if using vegan sugar affects the recipe's results.
Vegan Cake Donuts with
Salted Caramel Icing & Chocolate Icing
Adapted from Stephen Collucci’s Basic Cake Donuts , Quick Caramel Frosting in Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor , and Simple Chocolate Icing in Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets & Recipes for the Home Baker
Ingredients:
Dough:
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
3 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for flouring cutters
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chickpeas)
4 tablespoons vegan butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A lot of vegetable oil (at least 48 ounces, probably more)
Salted Caramel Icing:
8 tablespoons vegan butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soymilk
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Hefty pinch salt
Fleur de sel or other flaky salt for sprinkling
Chocolate Icing:
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water, and more as needed
2/3 cup chopped vegan bittersweet chocolate
Sprinkles of choice (optional)
Directions:
Make the dough: Combine the soymilk and vinegar in a small bowl. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes, or until milk appears lumpy and curdled. Set aside.
Place the next 6 ingredients (flour through baking soda) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, combine on low. Place the aquafaba in a small bowl; lightly whisk until slightly foamy. Add aquafaba, clabbered soy milk, melted vegan butter and vanilla extract to the bowl. Mix on low for about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the bowl once, until combined into a uniform, thick, stiff dough.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on the countertop. Scoop the dough out of the bowl onto the parchment, and cover with an additional piece of parchment. Using your hand, gently flatten the dough. Then, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/2” thickness. Place the dough in parchment in the refrigerator, and let chill for 45 - 60 minutes or until the dough does not stick when parchment is peeled away from it.
Prepare the donut making stations: Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set next to your stovetop. Dust another rimmed baking sheet with flour and place a few tablespoons of flour in a small bowl next to your donut cutters. Place a cooling rack on a large rimmed baking sheet (or on top of a piece of parchment or wax paper) on the counter.
Begin heating the oil: About 10 minutes prior to cutting, place at least 2” of vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot outfitted with a candy thermometer. Heat over medium and keep an eye on it. Once it reaches 350 degrees, you’re ready to fry.
Cut the dough: Meanwhile, when the top piece of parchment can be peeled away from dough without significant sticking, remove it entirely from the dough and set aside. Leave remaining dough on bottom piece of parchment and place on counter. Dip a 3” cutter into flour, cut one donut, then cut a hole in the center with the 1” cutter. Remove the donut to the floured baking sheet, and set the donut hole aside. Repeat this process until you’ve cut as many donuts as possible. Dust parchment paper on counter with flour, gently squeeze the donut holes and scraps together, place dough on floured parchment, and cover with other sheet of parchment. Very gently, roll out dough to 1/2” thickness. Repeat cutting and rolling process until you have about 12 donuts (and 3 or 4 donut holes).
Fry the donuts: Once oil has reached 350 degrees, use a skimmer to gently slip one donut at a time into the pot, only adding as many donuts as you can without overcrowding the pan. Cook for 90 seconds, then flip donuts over using skimmer. Cook for an additional 90 seconds, until both sides are a deep golden brown color (1 minute per side for donut holes). One at a time, remove the donuts with the skimmer and place on the paper towel-lined pan. Repeat frying with the remaining donuts, allowing the oil to return to 350 degrees before adding more.
Top the donuts: After removing donuts from oil, allow them to cool until no longer warm to the touch, at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make your icing of choice.
For the Salted Caramel Icing, bring the butter and sugar to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once it bubbles vigorously and begins to expand, carefully pour in the soy milk. Stir continously until it returns to a boil (will be very quickly!). Pour the mixture into a large bowl, add the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt, and quickly whisk together until smooth and slightly pourable. You want it thin enough so that it will easily cover the top half of the donut, but not so thin that glazes the entire thing. Immediately dunk the top half of a donut into the icing, place on a cooling rack, and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Repeat with remaining donuts, working quickly before icing cools and thickens. If it does thicken, whisk in hot water 1 teaspoon at a time until it loosens back up.
For the Chocolate Icing, place the first 5 ingredients (sugar through water) in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth and fully combined. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, heat for 30 seconds, and stir. Continue heating and stirring in 15 second increments until melted. Pour melted chocolate into the sugar mixture and quickly whisk together until smooth and slightly pourable. You want it thin enough so that it will easily cover the top half of the donut, but not so thin that glazes the entire thing. Immediately dunk the top half of a donut into the icing, place on a cooling rack, and top with your sprinkles of choice. Repeat with remaining donuts, working quickly before icing cools and thickens. If it does thicken, whisk in hot water 1 teaspoon at a time until it loosens back up.
Allow frosting to set before serving, about 10 minutes. Yield: 12ish deliciously iced donuts and a few donut holes.
1. Clabbered milk (or shortcut buttermilk) works just as well with soymilk as with cow's milk. Dare I say even a bit better? Let soymilk and vinegar sit until curdled.
2. Drain a can of garbanzo beans and save the liquid! Make sure to whisk lightly right before measuring; the sediment in the aquafaba tends to settle at the bottom.
3. Mix the dough, first just the dry ingredients, then the wet ones. The dough will be thick, sticky and will cling tenaciously to your beater paddle.
4. After rolling your dough and chilling thoroughly, it's time to cut! I like to re-roll to get as many whole donuts as possible because bigger is better (at least when it comes to donuts).
5. A perfect donut specimen: golden-brown, puffed, waiting to be iced.
6. Quick caramel in progress! This will be mixed with powdered sugar to create a glossy, dippable icing.
7. For the chocolate icing, melted bittersweet chocolate is whisked into a simple white icing base for a gloriously rich, drippy, chocolate-y topping.
8. Little testers approved: vegan donuts are good.