The Deviant Baker: How to Screw Up a Donut and Still Make It Delicious

If you like to improvise, experiment, or find it difficult to follow a recipe—the Deviant Baker is the place for you, where deviating is creating.

As I started baking, I was somewhat concerned this article might be a bit boring. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. I had found a spiced donut recipe, I had all of the ingredients except the allspice, and the donut baking pans that I ordered on Amazon had arrived on time. It all seemed to be going a little too well.

I elected to skip the allspice because I had planned to alter the recipe anyhow. I was confident that it was not critical to the donut. Cue my first deviation. Then as I imprecisely measured each ingredient into individual bowls, I realized that I had forgotten to leave out the butter to soften. Unfortunately, I had also not remembered to place more butter in the refrigerator. Consequently, the only available butter was in the freezer. Oops. After having the patience to allow the frozen butter to soften for one minute, I cut it into tablespoons and put it in the mixing bowl to continue softening.

Not long after, the instructions said to cream the butter and brown sugar. But by this time, I had already forgotten that I had placed it in the bowl frozen. I dumped the brown sugar on top of the butter and watched as it violently churned in the bowl. I was a bit surprised at first. It was not the smooth whipping action that I was expecting. Then I remembered the frozen butter. Using frozen butter was a rather unexpected deviation. Not one that I would recommend, but I continued whipping it until it was almost light and fluffy.

The inspiration for this baking experiment came from Federal Donuts.

A friend sent me this post and thought this might be a fun idea for The Deviant Baker. They were on par—I improvised, experimented, and struggled with this bake. So without further deviation, below is how to screw up a donut and still make it delicious.

Deconstructed Cannoli Donut

(Inspired by Federal Donuts, original Spice Cake Doughnut recipe by Bake or Break, and deviations by me)

Makes 12 donuts

Here are the ingredients you will need:

Dairy:

• 2/3 cup unsalted butter softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Baking:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Mini chocolate chips

Other:

• Cannoli chips

Instructions (and deviations):

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grease the donut pans. Note that this recipe makes 12 donuts. I purchased these Wilton Non-Stick Food-Grade Silicone Donut Baking Pans from Amazon, which come in a set of two 6-cavity donut pans.

3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves.

4. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer or standing mixer and cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and one teaspoon of vanilla and mix. I used my standing mixer and partially frozen butter, but I highly suggest placing your butter on the counter to soften in advance. However, if you forget like me, follow my shortcut and chop the butter into small pieces before mixing.

5. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Then add the flour mixture and sour cream in 3 portions to the large bowl. Mix until just combined. The donut batter will be thick. Note that my batter was extremely thick (the consistency of dough) due to the frozen butter.

6. Fill each donut cavity with the batter until it is almost full.

If you thought the butter mishap was a lot, then watch me try to figure out how to fill the donut pan. First, I tried putting the batter into a pastry bag and piping it into the pan. But it was too thick. Then I tried rolling strands of donut batter with my hands, placing them in the pan, and mushing the ends together. And my third attempt was to put the batter directly into the pan and gently shape it with my fingers. The frozen butter made this process more difficult than usual. The batter should not be the consistency of dough, and thus you should be capable of spooning or piping the batter directly into the pan.

7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a pick inserted into the center of each donut comes out clean.

8. Cool the donuts in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove donuts from the pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.

9. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, one teaspoon of vanilla and confectioners sugar.

10. While the donuts are still warm, dip each donut into the ricotta glaze and place it back on the wire rack to set. Continue this process with each donut until they reach the desired amount of glaze. Note for easy cleanup, place a baking sheet below the wire rack to catch the excess glaze.

11. In a small bowl, crush the cannoli chips and sprinkle them over each donut (to taste). Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over each donut (to taste).

A Reflection from The Deviant Baker:

Baked donuts are denser than fried donuts and have more of a cake-like texture. These delicious donut and cannoli concoctions pair well with your morning coffee for a special treat or a late-night snack. Donut you want to try one?

Until the next standard deviation,

The Deviant Baker

In case you missed it, check out the The Deviant Baker's Incident One: Biscotti below.