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Cake doughnuts are a delicious and chewy version of regular doughnuts. Their crust is crisp and golden, while their inside is soft and cake-like. Unlike regular doughnuts, cake doughnuts are fluffed up with baking powder instead of yeast. Their overall composition is quite rich and delicious, and with this article, you'll learn how to make your own.

Makes 16 regular-sized doughnuts

[Edit]Ingredients

[Edit]For the Doughnuts

2 1/2 cups (590 ml) all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup (230 ml) milk
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
1/2 cup (118 ml) white sugar
2 quarts (1892 ml) oil
1/4 cup (59 ml) melted butter
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 ml) baking powder

[Edit]For the Glaze

1/3 cup (79 ml) melted butter
2 cups (413 ml) confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (9 ml) vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (41 ml) hot water

[Edit]Steps

Mix the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
Add the eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and milk into another bowl and whisk well.
Incorporate the dry mixture into the liquid mixture slowly and stir well. You can use a dough hook on an electric mixer or knead it by hand to mix the ingredients together. Keep kneading it until it becomes elastic and smooth. Add some extra flour if the dough is too moist.
Let the dough rise. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl coated with vegetable oil. Put the plastic wrap over it, and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. You can also put the dough inside the refrigerator, but the dough will require an extra hour of proofing this way. If you're not ready to make the doughnuts yet, you can always freeze the dough before it rises to save it for later.
Roll the dough out on a flour-coated surface until the dough is 1/2-inch thick.
Cut the dough into 3-inch circles. Use a smaller 1-inch cutter to make the holes. Plastic bottle caps or martini shaker caps work well for this job. The doughnut holes can be recombined to make more doughnuts, or they can be fried along with the rest of the doughnuts.
Pour the oil into a skillet and heat it to 360°F (182°C). You can use a meat thermometer or an infrared temperature scanner to test the temperature.
Place the doughnuts into the hot oil, taking caution not to splash it. Use a spoon or spatula that has drip holes to let the oil flow out.
Flip them over after 60 seconds, or until one side turns golden-brown. If you are making doughnut holes, fry them for 30 seconds per side.
Remove them from the skillet with tongs, a wooden spoon, or chopsticks.
Place the doughnuts onto a plate layered with two paper towels. This will help reduce the fat content of the doughnuts.
Make and apply the glaze to the doughnuts. In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, hot water, and whatever extract you chose (i.e. almond, vanilla, lemon) until smooth and creamy. Dip the still-warm doughnuts into glaze and let excess drip off.
Add cinnamon, sugar, icing, or any other toppings.