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Orange Glazed Cake Donuts

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Making your own doughnuts is easier than you might think, and the results are well worth the effort.

These orange glazed cake donuts are a delicious treat that will tempt both young and old alike. The recipe is simple to follow, and the end result is a mouth-watering masterpiece.

I’ve also included directions for both baking and frying these orange cake donuts so you can go with the easy baked version, or the super satisfying fried version!

The orange glaze is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, and the donuts are light and fluffy with a hint of citrus flavour. Give this recipe a try today!

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!
Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Why You’ll Love This Baked Orange Donut Recipe

  • They are baked, not fried
  • Cake donut texture
  • Ready to eat in about 30 minutes
  • Loaded with citrus flavour
  • Delicious orange glaze!
  • No yeast necessary
  • Can be fried instead
Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Cake Donuts vs Yeast Donuts

There are two different types of donut: cake and yeast.

A cake donut is made with a sweetened dough that’s leavened with baking powder and fried until crispy on the outside with a soft, cakey inside.

A yeasted donut is your classic glazed donut, and as the name implies, made with a yeast dough. These are typically cut out into a shape before being frying.

Yeast donuts are typically light and airy, where cake donuts tend to be more dense.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

How to Bake Donuts without a Donut Pan

If you don’t have a donut pan, don’t fret!

This doughnut batter is actually quite thick. Using a piping bag you could freehand your batter into rings on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Another option is to use a pastry bag to pipe a ring around the cavities of a greased muffin pan, or use a mini muffin pan to make “donut holes”.

The third option is to chill the dough as per the frying instructions, but instead grease a baking sheet, and then follow the baking directions once the donuts are cut out.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Tips for making the BEST Baked Cake Donuts

  1. Ensure your ingredients are all at room temperature before starting.
  2. Do not over-work your batter, it can result in very dense donuts. Get it just combined then stop.
  3. The batter is very thick and not easy to pipe, do not try to thin it out, it’s supposed to be thick. Just pipe a single ring, the batter will rise quite a bit!
  4. Dip the donuts into the glaze as soon as possible to help seal in some of the moisture.
  5. I think the biggest thing with baked cake donuts though is managing your expectations. These won’t taste like donut shop style donuts as they aren’t fried. If you want the results of a fried donut, just follow the directions for frying. I do think they are still decent when baked though, and they are a lot less work this way.
Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Can I Fry Cake Donuts?

Yes! Absolutely. I have included the directions to shape and fry the donuts directly in the printable card for your convenience.

To fry donuts you will need the following tools:

Dutch oven – A large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot helps the oil hold its temperature.

Spider tool – You want this straining tool to scoop out the donuts and leave the oil behind.

Donut cutter – A 3-1/2 inch doughnut cutter is a must-have for making donuts that are consistently perfect in size and shape.

If you don’t have a donut cutter on hand, you can use a wide-mouth canning ring to cut out the donuts. To make the hole you can use a large piping tip. You could also use a set of cookie cutter rings or biscuit cutters.

Process for shaping donuts for frying.

How to Fry Cake Donuts

Instead of transferring the batter to a piping bag, transfer the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place into the fridge to let chill for 30 minutes.

Towards the end of the chill time, preheat 3” of oil in a large heavy bottomed stock pot to 375° Fahrenheit.

Once the dough has been chilled, turn it out onto a clean, floured surface.

Press the dough out into a disc with about a ¾ inch thickness.

Use a donut cutter to cut out as many donuts as you can.

Form the remaining dough back together and repeat the process until all the dough has been used.

Carefully place 2-3 donuts into the hot oil and fry for 1 ½-2 minutes, before flipping and frying for an additional 1 ½-2 minutes until golden brown.

Once fried, carefully remove the donuts from the pot using a slotted spoon or spider tool, and place into a cooling rack. Repeat the frying process with the remaining donuts.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

How to Store Leftover Orange Cake Donuts

Leftover orange cake donuts should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

If you want to keep them for longer, donuts can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.

To store donuts in the freezer, first let them cool completely to room temperature. Then, place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag, and store them in the freezer.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

About the Ingredients for Orange Cake Donuts

Cake flour – If you don’t have any cake flour on hand you can use all-purpose flour with cornstarch to achieve the fluffiness that cake flour gives these donuts. To make your own cake flour substitute, measure out your flour, then remove 2 Tablespoons. Add back in 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. Then sift your flour twice over so it is nice and fluffy like cake flour. Ready to use!

Baking powder & soda – Make sure they are active and fresh so they leaven the donuts properly.

Salt – Balances out all the flavours.

Sugar – Plain old granulated white sugar is best.

Butter – Room temperature butter, if you use salted, reduce the additional salt. Don’t substitute with oil or margarine, the butter brings a lot of flavour.

Shortening – We are using a combination for the flavour of butter but the shortening helps the donut get a fantastic texture. You can actually go all butter or all shortening, but do try it this way at least once. I think you will like the results!

Eggs – Must be at room temperature for best results!

Sour cream – Helps create donuts that are tender and moist, the donuts do not end up tasting like sour cream.

Orange extract – Gives the donut an orange flavour without thinning the batter.

Orange zest – I use orange zest in the donut as well as the extract as it gives a more authentic citrus flavour than just the extract alone.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Looking for More Homemade Donut Recipes?

I love making homemade donuts! Check out more of my favourite donut recipes:

There is nothing better in this world than a plate of warm, freshly-made old fashioned glazed donuts with crispy exteriors and soft insides!

These Old Fashioned Apple Fritters are made with a cakey batter incorporated with juicy apples and glazed. They’re an easy-to-make fall treat.

Dulce De Leche Donuts featuring a buttery tender dough that is stuffed with dulce de leche and fried up into a golden, fluffy masterpiece.

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

How to Make Orange Glazed Cake Donuts

Yields: 14 Donuts | Prep time: 10 Minutes | Cook time: 17 Minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 ¾ cups cake flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon shortening, room temperature
  • 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
  • ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons Orange Extract
  • 1 Orange, Zested

For the Orange Glaze:

  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Orange Extract
  • Orange zest for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a donut pan, set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine sugar, butter and shortening. Beat on a medium-high speed until smooth.

Add in eggs and mix until just incorporated.

Add sour cream and mix to combine.

Mix wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then stir in the orange zest. Do not over mix.

Filling donut pan using a piping bag.

Scoop batter into a piping bag with its end cut and fill the donut pan, filling 3/4 of each cavity.

Donut pan with each cavity filled 3/4 full with batter.

You can also just spoon the batter in, but using a pastry bag makes this job a lot easier.

Baked donuts on a cooling rack.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Carefully remove from pan and allow to cool slightly.

When you remove the donuts from the oven, dip them into the glaze as soon as possible to seal in some of the moisture. on a cooling rack with parchment or wax paper underneath.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth.

Baked donut ready to be dipped in glaze.

Dip the top of each donut into the bowl of glaze.

Glazed donut on cooling rack, with glaze not set.

Set back on the cooling rack and sprinkle immediately with orange zest if using.

Zest sprinkled over the glaze of an orange donut.

Let glaze set for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Orange Cake Donuts
Yield: 14 Donuts

Orange Cake Donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes

Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

Ingredients

  • 2 ¾ cups cake flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon shortening, room temperature
  • 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
  • ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons Orange Extract
  • 1 Orange, Zested

For the Orange Glaze:

  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Orange Extract
  • Orange zest for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a donut pan, set aside.
  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine
    sugar, butter and shortening. Beat on a medium-high speed until smooth.
  4. Add in eggs and mix until just incorporated.
  5. Add sour cream and mix to combine.
  6. Mix wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then stir in the orange zest. Do not over mix.
  7. Scoop batter into a piping bag with its end cut up and fill the donut pan, filling 3/4 of each cavity.
  8. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Carefully remove from pan and allow to cool slightly.
  10. When you remove the donuts from the oven, dip them into the glaze as soon as possible to seal in some of the moisture. on a cooling rack with parchment or wax paper underneath.
  11. In a medium bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth.
  12. Dip the top of each donut into the bowl of glaze.
  13. Set back on the cooling rack and sprinkle immediately with orange zest if using.
  14. Let glaze set for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

How to Fry Cake Donuts

  1. Instead of transferring the batter to a piping bag, transfer the dough into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place into the fridge to let chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Towards the end of the chill time, preheat 3” of oil in a large heavy bottomed stock pot to 375° Fahrenheit.
  3. Once the dough has been chilled, turn it out onto a clean, floured surface.
  4. Press the dough out into a disc with about a ¾ inch thickness.
  5. Use a donut cutter to cut out as many donuts as you can.
  6. Form the remaining dough back together and repeat the process until all the dough has been used.
  7. Carefully place 2-3 donuts into the hot oil and fry for 1 ½-2 minutes, before flipping and frying for an additional 1 ½-2 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Once fried, carefully remove the donuts from the pot using a slotted spoon or spider tool, and place into a cooling rack. Repeat the frying process with the remaining donuts.

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Love homemade donuts? Check out this delicious and easy to follow recipe for orange glazed cake donuts! They can be baked or fried!

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