The Best Baked Mini Donuts on Earth

I LOVE mini donuts.  Those warm, cinnamon-sugary ones that they always sell at fairs and amusement parks (and at my favorite sandwich shop on Venice Beach - if you ever go, get the "Mr. Electric" - you won't be sorry).  I'm actually surprised I still love them considering that, most of the time, devouring a bag was swiftly followed by being violently flung about on some giant death-coaster - but I guess the power of the donut is just too strong.

The idea of frying anything in a giant pot of boiling, flammable oil has always terrified me, so when I came across a recipe for "oven-baked donuts" I was intrigued.  Could they really be as good as the original version?  I wanted to find out (and I really wanted to buy one of those adorable mini donut pans) so the test was on.  I baked these with my friend, Amanda, so we made a vegan version using egg replacer instead of real eggs.  The best part about doing this is that you can fearlessly eat all of taste the batter (I know people do this anyway but I am kind of a freak when it comes to anything raw - more later on how it takes me 12 utensils to cook a piece of chicken).  Let me just say, the batter was my first hint that these were going to be AMAZEBALLS.  It tasted so good it took everything I had not to just throw in the towel and call this recipe "Tasty Bowl of Donut Batter" - but I pressed on.

You'll get the play-by-play in a minute, but basically these donuts are the greatest thing on earth.  Not only are they SUPER easy to make, not fried in bad-for-you oil, and totally adorable - but they taste like the real thing!  I don't know WHAT they put in there (actually, I do, because I put it in there) but the combination of the sweet cinnamon and the fragrant nutmeg along with the rest of the ingredients somehow makes for an incredible, authentic-tasting mini donut.  And did I mention how good your house is gonna smell?  Move over, donut-scented candle that I always want to eat!  There's a new donut in town and it doesn't taste like wax.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup milk (we used vanilla almond milk)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 egg (or egg replacer for 1 egg)

4 tbsp butter (we used Earth Balance)

For the icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp milk (again, we used almond)

sprinkles!

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

3.  In a small pot, mix together the wet ingredients.  Heat on the stovetop on low heat and stir until blended.

4.  Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients & lightly mix until just blended.

5.  Place just under a teaspoon of batter into each section of mini donut pan.  It's sticky so you may have to use your fingers to spread it around a bit.  The batter will rise a lot so only fill each section about halfway.

6.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Tip baked donuts onto wire cooling rack & they should just pop right out.  Repeat until batter is done!  (We got about 36 mini donuts out of the batch!)

7.  To make your icing (which is really more like a glaze) just mix the icing sugar & milk together in a bowl.  Once the donuts are cool enough to touch, dip each one in the glaze and then into your bowl of sprinkles.  Place on pretty plate, take a picture & then eat 'em!  (as if you haven't tried one already...)

*Note:  You could also make some chocolate-dipped donuts by melting some chocolate in a double boiler, dipping the donuts & then letting them set on some parchment paper.  Sprinkle with nuts or coconut if you like - use your imagination!

Also makes a great birthday gift!

Mumma's Spinach Dip

We had some friends over for board game night last night (epic Cranium battle) and I decided to make my mum's amazing spinach dip for one of our snacks.  I contacted my sister, Tanya, for the recipe and she e-mailed it to me with such entertaining commentary that I'm just going to paste it here exactly as she wrote it:

Ingredients:

- 1 cup mayonnaise (Funny thing to do - fill up clean, empty mayo container with vanilla pudding and sit in a busy public area happily eating it with a spoon)
- 1 cup sour cream (1 small container)
- 1 packet knorr dry leek soup mix
- 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & well-drained (chopped, not whole leaves or you get long, stringy weird bits)
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts (Tanya's nuts roasting on an open fire.  Tanyaaaa nipping at your noooose...)
- 1/4 of a red bell pepper
- fresh garlic (I put about 4-5 cloves in mine & it's super garlicky and delicious)
- 1 sourdough loaf (Mmm, loaf)

Directions:

1.  Thaw & drain spinach.

2.  Put all ingredients into food processor (chop up red pepper & garlic first).  Blend.  Serve with sourdough bread for dipping (or, if you can find a round sourdough loaf, you can use it as a bread bowl!)

*Note:  You can also make this without the leek soup mix & just add a little salt & pepper.  It tastes just as good.  Also, I used what I had on hand for mine which was Trader Joe's vegan mayo & fat free sour cream - healthier & still delicious!

Click here for more great appetizers & recipes!

Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake

June is definitely a birthday month for me.  Not only is it my birthday (June 6th!) but many of my very best friends were also born in this lovely summer month.  I always loved having a June birthday because, as a kid, not only did it mean school was almost done but it also meant I could always have an outdoor birthday party.  I remember going to the water slides, having bbq's, and once I was a teenager I think I went to the local amusement park about four years in a row.  I love everything about birthdays - balloons, streamers, presents with giant bows on them - and especially CAKE.  There's nothing quite like a big slice of birthday cake with layers of sweet, fluffy icing.

For my friend Amanda'a birthday I wanted to make her an amazing vegan birthday cake so I set out to find something dairy-free.  I ended up modifying a few different recipes into my own version of a Vegan Chocolate Cake with a hint of coconut & espresso.  It turned out beautifully and the ultimate taste-test was that even the non-vegans at the party loved it.  Success!  I made a layer cake but you can make just a single cake or use this as a cupcake recipe as well.

*Note:  If you're making layer cake, like I did, you will need to double this recipe and make 2 cakes, both in 9-inch round pans.

You will need:


For cake:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup brewed coffee (or you can use warm water - but the coffee really enhances the chocolate)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut oil (or canola or vegetable oil - but the coconut oil gives this cake an amazing flavor)
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar


For frosting:
1 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan butter)
1 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used 72% dark chocolate)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional - for decorating)


Directions:


For cake:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  If you are making a cake, grease & flour your pan to keep the cake from sticking (or else this one will stick - trust me).

3.  In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt).

4.  Then add the wet ingredients (coffee, vanilla, oil & vinegar).  Mix well.

5.  Pour into pan (I used a 9-inch round) & bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For frosting:

1.  Chop up your chocolate and melt using a double-boiler (I made my own using a pot and heatproof bowl - see instructions here)

2.  Using your stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together butter, icing sugar & vanilla for about 1 minute.

3.  Add melted chocolate & beat on medium speed for another 2 minutes.

4.  Add almond milk and salt and beat on medium speed for another minute.  If the frosting is too thick, add more almond milk a teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

5.  Once your cake has cooled, frost, top with shredded coconut & make a wish!

Hamburger Cupcakes

It was my friend Brandy's birthday last weekend and she was celebrating with a backyard BBQ.  I wanted to bring cupcakes and was trying to decide what kind (if you've been to my Pinterest you know that I have an entire board dedicated to said dessert - and yes, I plan on eventually baking them all) when I suddenly remembered something I've been wanting to make for a long time...  Hamburger Cupcakes!  Nope, not cupcakes that taste like hamburgers, but cupcakes that taste like cupcakes that LOOK like mini hamburgers.  They were super fun to make and use both chocolate and vanilla cake so they also taste delicious.  I think this would be a really great project to make with kids - you could pre-bake all of the "pieces" and they can have the fun of putting them all together!

I love baking from scratch but I knew that these were going to take some time to put together and I wanted to get to the fun part so I used boxed cake mix for mine.  Trader Joe's carries really great cake mix that is all-natural and comes in adorable packaging:

You will need: 

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 1 box of vanilla cake mix
• 1 recipe for vanilla icing (cake icing, not royal icing)
• red, yellow & green food coloring
• a round cookie cutter or empty glass
• sesame seeds

Directions:

1.  Following the directions on your cake mix, bake the vanilla mix into cupcakes (mine yielded 24) and bake the chocolate mix into a flat sheet cake (I used a 9x13 cake pan).  Let cool.

2.  Using a serrated-edge knife, gently slice the tops off your cupcakes and put aside.  These will be your "buns".  *Note:  After completing this step my mum informed me that there now exists a special "muffin top pan" that bakes only the tops!  So if you can get your hands on one of these you'll get a lot more mileage out of your cake mix and won't end up with a giant tupperware full of cupcakes 'bottoms' like I had when I was done.

3.  Once your chocolate sheet cake has cooled, use your round cookie cutter (or upside down glass) to cut out circles that you will use for your "patties".  My cake was really thick so I ended up cutting a piece off the end and then slicing it into 2 layers.  I then cut my circles out of these thinner layers.  I think I may have even ended up slicing each circle into two thinner ones after that - you can make them as thick or as thin as you like.

4.  Now to make your icing!  Whip up a batch of your favorite vanilla frosting (here's one, or you can find a ton online) and divide it evenly into 3 bowls.  Using your food coloring, tint one green, one red & one yellow.  These will be your "ketchup", "mustard" and "relish".  If you have piping bags & tips, great.  If not, a ziploc bag with the corner trimmed off will do just as well.  

5.  Once your icings are in their respective bags, layer up your burgers & get squeezin'!  

6.  Then pop on the lids, sprinkle with some sesame seeds if you like, and you're done.  Ready for the BBQ!  

Precariously driving them to the party...

The Birthday Girl enjoying her "burger"!