Blackberry Cake Donuts

Spring weather is finally starting to show itself!

Sure, it’s been slow going (it always is), and we’re not 100% in the clear yet, but I am LOVING these slightly warmer days and abundant sunshine. It makes all the difference in my mood.

To celebrate, I made us the springiest of spring donuts!

These donuts are awesome for many reasons. They’re baked, not fried. They’re fluffy and cake-like. They’re full of fresh blackberry flavor. They have a to-die-for fresh blackberry glaze (that I am most generous with).

I have always been a sucker for a blueberry cake donut. Like, the ones from Dunkin Donuts (no shame). I absolutely love the fruity sweetness they have, and the cake-like texture is heavenly. They’re perfectly sweet but not overly so. Definitely one of my fave donut flavors of all time.

I wanted to create something similar at home, and I decided to switch up the berry flavor from blueberry to blackberry. I have said this before, but I think blackberries are underused and under appreciated. They’re delicious! And gorgeous to boot.

They were a good choice for these donuts. Look at the color they impart! Plus, they totally embrace that sweet-but-not-too-sweet thing I was going for. They are like a blackberry muffin! Fluffy and light and fruity.

Perfection.

I love that these are baked and not fried. It makes donut making so much more approachable for the everyday cook. Plus, no vats of oil are necessary, and that’s always a bonus in my book. All you need is a donut pan. This one is my absolute fave – NOTHING sticks to it. The donuts come out perfectly every time.

The batter is fairly quick and easy. The only extra step we have here is creating a blackberry puree that gets used in both the batter and the glaze. Two birds, one stone. Other than that, it comes together with minimal effort and probably with ingredients you already have on hand.

Love when that happens.

Load up your donut pan with the batter, bake ’em off, and whip up the glaze in the meantime. Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, place them on a cooling rack set over a sheet pan and glaze the heck out of them. Trust me, you don’t want to be light with this stuff. I could drink it, it’s so good.

Really pour it on there, so that it’s dripping all down the sides of the donuts and creating glorious glaze puddles that you can clean up with your finger/mouth later (not that I’d know anything about that. Ahem).

Allow the glaze to set for a few minutes and then GO TO TOWN.

These are addictingly good. I ate 2-3 in an afternoon, sneaking bites here and there over the course of a few hours, telling myself that each bite would be my last. Ugh. SO YUMMY.

Dan, who isn’t a big fan of blackberries OR cake donuts, loved these too. Between the two of us, the batch disappeared in record time.

I guess I wasn’t the only sneaking bites?

Don’t blame him one bit.

Blackberry Cake Donuts

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• Yield: makes 6-8 donuts, depending on your donut pan 1x

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Ingredients

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For the Blackberry Puree:

• 1½ cups fresh blackberries (can also use defrosted frozen)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

For the Donuts:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup whole milk
• ⅓ cup blackberry puree
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Blackberry Glaze:

• ⅓ cup blackberry puree
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Couple teaspoons water or lemon juice (as needed)

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Instructions

For the Blackberry Puree:

1. Place the berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Stirring frequently, bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the blackberries are mostly cooked down.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Press the mixture through the strainer to remove any seeds. Discard the seeds.
3. Allow the puree to cool before using in the donut batter.

For the Donuts:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray your donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk the egg, brown sugar, milk, blackberry puree, melted butter, and vanilla together until smooth and well combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined, trying not to overmix the batter.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared donut pan, filling each donut mold roughly ¾ full (alternatively, transfer the batter to the piping bag and pipe the batter into the pan).
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the batter is set, the donuts have puffed up, and the edges are lightly browned. Cool for a couple minutes in the pan and then carefully transfer the donuts to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the Blackberry Glaze:

1. Place the blackberry puree in a small pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk in the butter until it is completely smooth and melted.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing until a smooth glaze forms.
4. If the glaze gets too thick as it cools, whisk in 1-2 teaspoons of water or lemon juice until it becomes a drizzling consistency.

To Glaze:

1. Dip each donut in the warm glaze and return them to the cooling rack to sit until the glaze has set, about 10 minutes.