Light and fluffy baked doughnuts with subtle, sweet Middle Eastern flavours of cardamom, rose and pistachio. Dipped in a soft pink glaze flavoured with rosewater, these look beautiful and taste delicious.
Time to make : 25 minutes
Time to bake : 10 minutes
Servings : 12
Ingredients
220g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
200ml milk*
60g butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
Glaze
320g icing sugar
3 tbsp milk*
1 tbsp rosewater*
To garnish: 1 tbsp finely chopped pistachios, edible dried rose petals.
Method
Pre-heat a fan oven to 180ºC and lightly grease a doughnut tin* with cooking oil, set to one side.
Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan over a low heat, set to one side.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ground cardamom.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and whisk together until just combined with no clumps of flour, being careful not to over whisk the mixture.
Spoon or pipe the mixture into the greased doughnut tin, filling each ring halfway full. I use a piping bag (or a ziplock bag) with the end snipped off so that it's easier and less messy to pour the batter into the tins. You could also use a measuring jug with a lip.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until the doughnuts have risen, the sponge should gently 'spring back' when pressed and they should be a pale golden colour. They won't go a deep golden brown like fried doughnuts, so don't be tempted to over bake them. Remove them from the oven and when they're cool enough to touch, remove the baked doughnuts and move them to cool on a wire cooling rack before decorating.
To create the glaze, put the icing sugar into a mixing bowl and add in the milk and rosewater. Whisk together until smooth. Then, add in a few drops of food colouring and continue to mix until you're happy with the colour. The consistency of the icing should be smooth and pourable but thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Adjust the glaze by adding in a splash more milk (for a looser mixture) or a few tablespoons more of icing sugar (for a thicker mixture) until you're happy with the consistency.
Prepare any toppings (chopped pistachio nuts, edible rose petals etc.) before you dip each doughnut into the glaze so that they 'stick' before the icing sets.
Dunk each doughnut, face down, into the glaze mixture covering at least half of the doughnut, then flip it over and set on the cooling rack again to allow any excess icing to drip off. Sprinkle the toppings over whilst the icing still wet.
Repeat until all the doughnuts are coated, the glaze should set within a few minutes.
Nutritional Information
(per glazed doughnut)
260 calories
4g protein, 48g carbs, 5g fat
Good to know:
I use whole milk but you can use any type or plant based milk variation.
Rosewater has a slightly sweet and floral taste and is great for baking. Find it in most supermarkets, usually in the baking aisle or International section (commonly Indian or Middle Eastern). You could also use orange blossom water or skip this out completely and just use 1 tbsp of regular water.
Use a gel concentrate food dye rather than a watery, liquid one. These tend to be more pigmented so you need a lot less for a vibrant colour and it doesn't loosen the royal icing consistency as much.
You can use a metal or silicone doughnut baking tin. I prefer silicone ones as they are less likely to stick and easier to wash up.
Store baked and glazed doughnuts at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freeze baked and unglazed doughnuts in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for 2 - 3 hours before glazing.
Vegetarian.