What You Need to Make and Decorate Donuts?

Homemade donuts are very much easy to make because you don’t need lots of baking equipment & tools or years of experience to begin with. When you know how to make donuts, the whole process gets a lot more familiar and fun.

Fried, baked and filled donuts can be chosen depending on your preference. If you want to make baked donuts then the use of a donut pan is an easy option for obtaining nicely shaped donuts. This way, you will not require to fry donuts, which is an easy choice for beginners.

Baked vs Fried Donuts

You’ll have to make one choice before you can mix the batter or start your donut recipe. Do you want the traditional donut shop style, or do you want to keep it simple with baked donuts? Neither is incorrect. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for and how much time you have.

People love fried donuts for that light crisp layer on the outside and that soft middle. The oil needs to stay between 170 and 180°C to get that texture, so a thermometer is worth getting. It also makes frying a lot easier as you know the oil is at the right temperature instead of guessing.

If you want to avoid hot oil, baked donuts are a good option to begin with. They are very soft and cake-like and go well with flavours such as chocolate, lemon or cinnamon. Using a non-stick donut pan allows the donut to achieve a smooth look, which is ideal if you want to make donuts for a gathering.

Silicone moulds are another choice if you like baked donuts. You can use a standard 6-cavity mould or, if you need enough donuts to go around, a mini 48-cavity mould.

Ingredients for Donuts

Every recipe for a donut always begins with the right donut ingredients. These ingredients vary according to whether you are making fried donuts or baked donuts.

You will need: for yeasted fried donuts:

• Robust bread flour for a soft, chewy bite
• Combine warm milk and instant yeast
• Eggs, butter and sugar
• Salt to help the dough rise and keep its shape 

What you need to make baked cake style donuts:

• Plain (or white) flour
• Soda Bicarbonate
• Eggs, milk, oil or butter melted
• Vanilla and sugar

If you have ever compared two batches of homemade donuts you may have noticed that the vanilla can change the flavour more than you expect. The vanilla bean paste adds more vanilla flavour to the dough and the glaze than regular vanilla extract.

If you are making yeasted donuts, let the dough rise before you shape it. Cut donuts and let rise again, until they look bigger and puffy. Then they are ready for the oven or deep fryer.

Toppings and glazes

A small change in the glaze or toppings can make a glazed donut look totally different. You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make them look colourful and fun.

Mix icing sugar, milk and a little vanilla for a plain glaze. The glaze must be thick and yet pourable so that it remains on the donut easily when dipped. For the chocolate glaze, mix together icing sugar, cocoa powder and milk. If you want a stronger chocolate flavour you can also use melted dark chocolate with a little cream.

Use icing sugar, milk and gel food colouring for colourful donuts. Pink, blue and pastel colours are in demand for theme bakes and birthdays. Gel colours do not add any extra liquid, so they keep the glaze smooth. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle your sprinkles or toppings on so they stick.

Common toppings to add while the glaze is still wet:         

• Nonpareils and sprinkle mixes that match donut colors
• Crushed freeze dried fruits
• Shredded coconut
• Chopped nuts
• Chocolate chips (small)

Dip the donut and add toppings while the glaze is still wet. Toppings will not stick properly once glaze sets.

Additional ways to decorate your donuts

Once your glazed donut is set, you can continue decorating your donut if you want to add a little more colour. You can do a few small touches to make the homemade donuts look different without changing the recipe.

Try drizzling white chocolate over a pink glaze, or dark chocolate over a vanilla glaze. A little extra layer adds texture, and a few edible sprinkles finish the look. You can mix colours for birthdays, baby showers or any other celebrations.

If you’re looking for something a little different, try making donut-shaped chocolate treats instead of baked donuts. Fill a 4-cavity donut bar silicone mould or a 4-cavity donut cakesicle ice cream mould with chocolate or candy melts. These are a good choice for gift boxes, dessert tables or party favours.

Why Is Everyone Baking a Donut Cake?

If you want to do something different, a donut cake is a fun idea. Sharing is much easier, since everyone gets their own donut, rather than serving slices.

Donut cake is made by stacking donuts up on top of each other around a cone or center support. Each glazed donut is decorated, set aside and added to the pile until it looks like a celebration cake. It even looks like a traditional layered cake from a distance.

It’s a popular choice for kids birthday parties, baby showers and family celebrations where you want everyone to grab their own treat. Add a pack of six donut pick candles on top and your donut cake is ready for the birthday table without any extra decorating.

Donut Pan or Silicone Mould

The first time you buy equipment it is a bit confusing to decide whether you want a silicone mould or a donut pan. But don’t worry, both work well and the rest is up to what you want to make.

Metal non-stick donut pan for baking donuts. It heats evenly so every donut bakes the same shape. The non-stick coating means you also only need a little bit of butter or oil before adding the batter in the pan.

You can use the silicone donut mould for baked donuts, chocolate donuts or filled donuts. The mould is soft so you can push the donuts out with your hands once they have cooled down. If regular sized donuts are too big and mini donuts are too small, a 7 cavity silicone mould is a nice size to begin with.

Common Donut Problems and How to Fix Them

Even a good donut recipe can go wrong at times.

• Donuts are dense and heavy: Yeast did not work right or dough needs more rising time. Dissolve yeast in warm milk first, then let dough rise until it doubles in volume.
• Donuts absorb too much oil: Oil is too cold. Keep it at 170-180°C and measure temperature with a thermometer.
• Donuts are brown outside but not inside: The oil is too hot, so the outside cooks too fast.
• Baked donuts stick to the donut pan. Grease each cavity with butter and dust with flour before adding the batter.
• Glaze too thin: Add a little more powdered sugar until it will coat the back of a spoon. This will help your glazed donut hold the glaze rather than dripping off.

Packing & Sharing Your Donuts

When you carry homemade donuts for a party or when gifting them to someone, packaging them will also be important. A donut box helps keep them in place while at the same time allowing others to appreciate the decorations even without opening the box.

Window donut boxes are good options when giving them as gifts while individual boxes decorated with a ribbon offer individual space for the donuts. Cake boxes are also good options when you are bringing them for a party and for a family event.

After having decorated your donuts with glazing and edible decorations, your delicious dessert is now ready to be shared. If you pay attention to details like the batter, proofing time, frying or baking temperature and glaze, every batch will be better and you will be more confident every time you make them.