I feel like I haven’t been baking a ton of doughnut creams lately, and I LOVE making doughnut creams…for the most part. They consist of a baked cake, a set mousse, a mirror glaze, and at least one or two cute or unique toppings. The reason I tend not to make them often is because they are very time intensive. A cake has to be baked, then a mousse needs to be set around the cake, which is effectively a 1-day process already. I can prepare the decorations and glaze in advance, but with the glaze, it would have to be reheated the day of assembly too, which is a process there. Then I have to glaze the cakes, and decorate them. I love making doughnut creams just because the aesthetic is so clean and cute, but especially now with the extremely limited natural lighting, which is how I photograph all of my photos, timing becomes difficult. I essentially have to take two weekdays to make one flavor…which is why I try to do multiple flavors at a time now. Upsides of making these is that very little cake batter is required. 6 doughnut creams can be made with 3 cupcakes’s worth of batter! So they can go a long way!

For these doughnuts, we are doing blueberry pie flavored. So we have a buttermilk-blueberry vanilla cake base, a blueberry mousse, a blueberry mirror glaze, some fresh cream and berries, and a lattice shortbread cookie on top to effect the pie crust. The lattice cookie was a complete innovation from my end in that I have never seen it done before, and I knew it would be a super cute idea to tie in that entire blueberry pie appearance! Overall, it feels great to be making doughnut creams again, even if they are a two to three day process thanks to the lack of natural lighting, just because they are something I have been making for years and intend to continue making for years to come!

For the blueberry cake:
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
36 small blueberries

Combine all of your ingredients besides the blueberries first. Pour the batter into six nonstick silicone doughnut cavities. Transfer the mold to a sheet tray. Press 6 blueberries into each doughnut. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even browning and baking. Refrigerate the doughnuts in the mold to speed up the cooling process, making sure that the cakes are completely cold to the touch before attempting to unmold.

For the blueberry mousse:
1/3 cup blueberry puree(can be made with just heating up blueberries and water until soft, then passing through a sieve)
1 teaspoon gelatin powder
1 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff

In a bowl, mix gelatin with cold water. In a pot, heat up the gelatin, blueberry puree, sugar, and salt until everything is dissolved together. Cool down to room temperature then fold in the vanilla, then the cream. Transfer into a piping bag. Pipe the mousse into 6 silicone doughnut cavities and press in the doughnuts. Freeze for at least 3 hours before attempting to unmold.

For the mirror glaze:
5 teaspoons gelatin powder
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup blueberry puree
3/4 cups white chocolate chips
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix together the gelatin and milk. Place the mixture into blueberry puree and heat up on medium heat until the mixture is dissolved. Add in the chocolate and salt and stir slowly until combined as well. Pass through a sieve to remove any lumps. Heat the glaze up to 90 degrees F before using.

For the lattice shortbread:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cold water

Blitz flour, butter, sugar, and salt together into a crumbly dough. Mix into that the vanilla and cold water. Refrigerate the dough for at least 5 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface and cut into 1/8th inch thick strips. Arrange six of these strips into a lattice and cut out 4-inch circles out of them. Repeat until you have at least 6. Bake these at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container until time to garnish.

For the fresh cream:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip to stiff peaks and transfer into a piping bag.

To garnish:
Fresh blueberries

Unmold your set doughnut mousses first. Place on an icing rack. Heat up the mirror glaze to 90 degrees and pour over the doughnuts, letting the glaze set and the excess drip off. Finish with the lattices, placed off center, and the blueberries and small pipings of the cream.