Valentine's Day Cake Doughnuts

Valentine Cake Doughnuts dipped in pink glaze and topped with red sprinkles

5 from 6 votes

Traditional fried cake donuts! These flavorful Valentine's cake doughnuts are dipped in pink glaze and topped with festive sprinkles. Switch out the colors and sprinkles for different occasions and celebrations.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Chill Time1

Total Time1 25

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Maryanne Cabrera

Ingredients

Cake Doughnuts:

2 ½ cups cake flour (300 g)
½ cup all-purpose flour (65 g)
1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅔ cup granulated sugar (135 g)
2 Tablespoon vegetable shortening (25 g)
1 large egg
1 large yolk
⅔ cup 2% milk (165 ml)
vegetable oil for frying

Pink Icing:

4 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (450 g)
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
a couple drops of pink food gel coloring as needed
⅓ cup hot water (75 ml)

Toppings:

red jimmies (sprinkles)
sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

Cake Doughnuts:

Whisk together cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together sugar and shortening on low speed. Mix until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add whole egg and yolk. Mix until creamy. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
Add 1/3 of dry mixture into mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until almost combined. Following with 1/2 of milk. Add another 1/3 of dry mixture, followed with remaining milk. Mix and end with dry mixture.
The dough will be quite sticky. Once combined, transfer dough to a clean bowl. Cover directly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour, until dough is very cold. *Chill overnight for best results.
Filled a large pot with 3 inches of oil. Using a candy thermometer, bring oil to 370℉ over medium heat.
Remove dough from fridge and transfer to generously floured surface. Dough will be very sticky. Sprinkle cake flour over dough as needed to ensure dough doesn't stick to surface. Pat dough into an even layer about ¼-inch thick.
Dip 2 ½-inch round cutter in flour each time before cutting dough. Cut smaller doughnut hole in center. Fold and press dough scrapes together to cut out more doughnuts.
Brush off any excess flour off the doughnuts before adding them to the oil hot. Depending on the size of your pot, add 3 doughnuts to the pot at a time. Be sure not to crowd the doughnuts. Set a timer for 1 minute and 30 seconds. By this time, the doughnuts should have floated to the top. Turn over doughnut and cook for another 90 seconds. Once golden brown all over, remove from oil and let drain on paper towels or over wire rack.
Allow doughnuts to cool before dipping in pink icing.

Pink Icing:

In a medium bowl add confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, salt, vanilla extract, pink gel coloring, and hot water. Use a whisk or a hand mixer to blend ingredients together until smooth. If icing is too thick, add hot water about 1 teaspoon at a time.

Assembly:

Once doughnuts have cooled, dip one side into pink icing. Place dipped doughnut on wire rack, iced side up. Sprinkle desired toppings over icing. Let icing set until firm, about 10-15 minutes.

Notes

Pair donuts with coffee or milk to balance their sweetness and enhance their flavors
For the best experience, serve these donuts within hours of frying. Donuts tend to lose their moisture over time.

doughnut recipe adapted from Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts

Nutrition