These doughnuts came about because I had a bunch of apples I needed to use from apple picking with my friends(fun fact, it’s been a running 5 year tradition that my friends and I drive 2 hours to a city called Oak Glen, and we pick apples there for fun in the fall). Whenever we go apple picking, usually cider doughnuts are a part of that experience. However this year, we were in a rush to leave, so that was unfortunately the part we had to nix. So in honor of at least making something similar, I figured why not make my own cider by grating and pressing these apples, and then from that, I could also make my own apple doughnuts? And that’s really where I started to have some fun ideas. I definitely was going to bake these doughnuts, since the idea of frying, while delicious, it is just a pain to set up a deep frier. So instead of doing that, I used my mini doughnut baking molds, and baked some delicious apple cake batter into golden-brown doughnut-cakes! And with the glaze, that’s where I decided to have even more fun. I love the crunchy toffee surrounding a caramel apple, so I figured, why not make caramel apple doughnuts? So I took some more pressed cider, caramelized that with sugar, and carefully dipped the doughnuts into the caramel to create this crunchy, tanghulu-like shell around each doughnut. Tanghulu is a Chinese technique that involves dipping typically fruit into this hot sugar, and then the sugar will cool, creating this thin, crispy layer of sugar around it. Tanghulu has become really popular these days, and I would see it all the time at the night markets whenever I would visit Taiwan growing up. These doughnuts basically combine cider doughnuts, a caramel apple, and tanghulu into one delightful recipe!

For this recipe, it comes down to two components: an apple cake batter, and the cider caramel shell. A cheese grater(or a food processor) will be your best friend for this recipe, since the cider and the batter require you to grate down apples, and for the case of the cider, you will need to strain out the solids. With the doughnut batter, it is fully vegan, made with grated apple, and scented with cinnamon and cardamom to give them a pleasant fragrance and spice level. The doughnuts themselves should take minimal effort to make – I actually had the doughnuts made, baked, and cooling within 20 minutes. The caramel shell was…trying. Firstly, wear at least 2 layers of heatproof gloves. I made the mistake of wearing just 1 layer at first, and I still managed to get burnt. Secondly, use a sugar thermometer, since if the sugar is not cooked enough, it will never solidify around the doughnuts, and you will end up with sickly sweet, sticky, and soggy doughnuts. Lastly, when working with hot sugar, there is a sense of urgency, since if you do not move quickly enough, the sugar will solidify. I like to freeze my doughnuts solid prior to dipping them into the sugar, since that does help with dipping the doughnuts and the sugar setting around them quickly. If your sugar fully solidifies, add a little bit of water, and then reheat the sugar to 300 degrees F again. Keep in mind, the sugar may darken each time you do this, so working efficiently will help you end the painful cycle of dipping doughnuts into molten hot sugar and trying not to burn yourself. There are probably efficiencies that can be done with this recipe(skewing the doughnuts and dipping multiple at a time into the sugar comes to mind right away), but the crunch of the sugar and the soft, tender doughnuts are well-worth it! And the hilarious part is that this entire recipe was unintentionally vegan!

Makes 30 mini doughnuts:
For the apple doughnut batter:
5oz peeled apple, grated finely(roughly 2 apples)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
.5oz cider vinegar
1oz canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
A pinch of cinnamon
A pinch of cardamom

In a bowl, mix all of your ingredients together until a batter forms. Transfer the batter to a piping bag. Line 3 12-cavity mini doughnut molds with cooking spray and pipe the batter into each mold, only filling each mold 1/3 the way full. Bake the doughnuts at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the doughnuts to cool slightly before removing the doughnuts from the molds, then transfer them to the freezer for easier assembly.

For the tanghulu sugar:
2 apples
1 cup granulated sugar
.1oz corn syrup
A pinch of cinnamon
A pinch of salt

Grate the apples to the core, then press the grated solids through a sieve – you want to keep just the liquid. Pour the pressed apple juice into a pot and add the other ingredients, and heat them up to roughly 300 degrees F. Dip the exterior of the pot into a large heatproof container filled with room temperature water. While wearing at least two layers of heatproof gloves, carefully dip your frozen solid mini doughnuts into the still hot sugar, and allow the doughnuts to rest on a nonstick surface until the sugar is fully solidified.