It went a little something like this.

Me: ‘I need to think of some good Christmas recipes to make for the blog before the baby comes.’

Will: ‘What about donuts they’re everywhere?’

Me: ‘Ooh good idea but I need a donut pan.’

Will: ‘Do you really need more kitchen things?!?’

Two days later, said donut pan arrives. Three days after original conversation, lemon and blueberry donuts emerge from the oven.

Now I see what all the fuss is about. I’ve never really been big into all the flavoured donuts, much preferring the classic deep-fried, crunchy cinnamon donut. Oh how I loved them as a kid.

I remember watching them go through the machine from the dough being plopped into the hot oil then flipped out onto the rotating drainer before reaching their final destination in a pit of sweet cinnamon sugar then into a bag before promptly being shoved in my mouth.

Cinnamon donuts were poor Will’s first request but I said I needed something a little more interesting for the blog (don’t worry he got his cinnamon a few days later).

I think I’ve figured out what’s so good about a donut. Well there are a few reasons I came up with:

• They’re cakey – who doesn’t like cake?
• You can ice them – big win there.
• They don’t take as long to bake as cake so you can go from ‘I want donuts’ to eating them pretty quickly.
• They have a pretty good ratio of crust/crunchy part to soft inside. It’s like the best bit of a muffin but all over.
• They’re quite convenient and clean to eat – once you bite in it’s conveniently mouth-sized and you can pretty easily and neatly bite off pieces while keeping your shirt relatively crumb-free.

Pretty much the only downside is that you need to have a special donut pan. They’re not that expensive though and I assure you you won’t regret the purchase.

But what’s so good about these donuts? Well mine are made with lemon from my tree which makes everything amazing. Even if you’re not using amazing homegrown lemons, the combination of lemon and blueberry is mouthwatering especially for this first day of spring (where did that come from by the way?!?).

I love how the blueberries burst when you bite into them and the lemon gives a nice tang. A warning though – it’s best to ice them just an hour or so before serving because it does dissolve a little into the donut later. Not that it doesn’t taste as amazing, they just don’t look as pretty. Enjoy!

What about you? Have you jumped on the donut bandwagon?

 

Lemon and blueberry baked donuts

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 28 minutes

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Ingredients

Donuts

• 60g butter, melted
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¾ cup raw sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 cup full-cream milk
• 2⅔ cup wholemeal plain flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen (I used frozen) blueberries

Glaze

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 7-8 tbsp fresh lemon juice or milk - milk if you don’t want it to lemony

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced and grease a donut pan with butter.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy (I used the electric mixer but this can easily be done by hand).
3. Add the eggs, vanilla, zest and milk and keep whisking until the mixture is smooth.
4. If you’re using an electric mixer, switch to the paddle then add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir just until everything comes together.
5. Fold through the blueberries.
6. Spoon the batter into the donut tin filling each one about ¾ of the way.
7. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until they turn golden and a cake tester inserted in one comes out clean.
8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
9. To make the glaze, stir the ingredients together in a bowl wide enough to dip a donut.
10. Once the donuts have cooled. Dip each one in the glaze, shake off the excess then place them back on the wire rack for the glaze to set.