When life gives you many, many lemons, you have to find things to do with them besides make lemonade. So when I happened upon a bunch of Meyer lemons, I already had a couple ideas in my back pocket. Meyer lemons, compared to your standard lemon, is a more orange hue compared to the yellow, and have a sweeter flavor – that makes them ideal for desserts or drinks, since you don’t have to add as much sugar to balance them out. I love using Meyer lemons in curds, ice creams, or vinaigrettes for that reason. I have been wanting to do air fryer cake doughnuts again for a while now, and figured, why not make them with some of the lemons? I could use the juice in the dough, making buttermilk with the lemon juice and heavy cream, just so that the dough can have that cultured dairy, which results in a tangier, lighter crumb, and a craggy, old-fashioned look. And then with the zest, I could use it in the dough as well to flavor it, since let’s be real here, almost all of the distinct flavor from a citrus fruit comes from the zest, since most citrus juices are just all varying levels of sour anyways. The juice in this case is also used in lieu of water for the glaze, since while Meyer lemon juice is sweeter than lemon juice, it’s still got some acidity, which will temper down the confectioner’s sugar in the doughnut glaze, guaranteeing that my glaze won’t be overtly or cloyingly sweet. All in all, these doughnuts took about 45 minutes to make from start to finish, so not too bad for a quick and cute dessert!

Makes 6 doughnuts:
For the doughnut dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2oz heavy cream
1 tbsp Meyer lemon juice
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
1oz canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, canola oil, egg, and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredients into your dry to form your dough. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using ring cutters, cut out 3-inch rings and cut out 1-inch holes. Re-roll the scraps of dough and repeat these steps until you have used up all of the dough.

Line an air fryer with cooking spray. Bake the doughnuts at 375 degrees F for 5 minutes. Then flip the doughnuts and repeat for another 5 minutes.

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp Meyer lemon zest
3 tbsp Meyer lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, whisk everything together until a smooth glaze forms. Dunk each doughnut into the glaze, then place them on an icing rack, allowing any excess glaze to drip off and set.