Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is such a classic, and if there is anything about a classic that I appreciate, it’s a template that can be reinterpreted in a lot of ways. It has been a hot second since I made baked doughnuts(not counting air-fried ones), so I figured, why not go that route? So I took a yellow cake batter that is speckled with brown butter and lightened with buttermilk, and baked those in mini doughnut molds. What makes these yellow cake doughnuts is the inclusion of egg yolk in the batter, which in addition to the heavy cream-based buttermilk and the brown butter, makes for a moist yet tender crumb. And for the icing, I wanted to go with a classic doughnut glaze made with water and confectioner’s sugar, but I added in chocolate, cocoa powder, and instant coffee to temper the sweetness – that not too sweet mentality is something ingrained in my dessert conceptualization process. If there is anything I have learned over my years of baking and caffenating, coffee is the perfect foil to anything that is sugar or cream-laden. And lastly, I used some flaky salt, more some additional crunchiness, and because the salt really helps the chocolate and coffee notes in my mocha icing really pop. What I love about this recipe is that it came together really quickly – the batter itself took maybe 3 minutes to make, and while the doughnuts are baking, you can actually knock out the icing and get a quick icing station together easily. For this recipe, a bit of specialty equipment is needed. You will need mini doughnut baking tins, piping bags(trying to get the batter into those mini doughnut tins without one is…well just a time suck that is not worth the output), an icing rack, and either an icing tray or a large sheet of parchment for your icing station. These doughnuts, from start to finish(with cleaning included) probably would take as much as 30 minutes, so they are a quick but fun bake if you need a coffee-forward snack!

Makes 24 mini doughnuts:
For the yellow cake baked doughnuts:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, browned
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp vinegar

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, buter, egg yolk, and vanilla. In a third bowl, mix the cream with vinegar. Alternate between fold the flour and the cream mixtures into the butter-sugar mixture until you form a batter. Transfer the batter into a piping bag. Line 2 12-tin(so 24 in total) mini doughnut baking molds with cooking spray and pipe the batter into the tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes. Allow the doughnuts to cool before turning out from the pan. Allow the doughnuts to fully cool before attempting to glaze.

For the mocha glaze:
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp instant coffee
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp melted chocolate
2 tbsp hot water
flaky salt, like maldon or fleur de sel

In a bowl, start by sifting in the sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, and salt. In another bowl, mix the vanilla, melted chocolate, and hot water until smooth and combined. Pour the ingredients together and mix until a smooth glaze is formed. Dip the cooled doughnuts into the glaze and transfer to a drying rack to allow the excess to drip off. Sprinkle flaky salt on top of each doughnut to finish.