So here’s a little intel about Donut Day — first it’s American. Second, since I’m Egyptian-Australian, I technically have nothing to do with it. But heck! I’ll celebrate it anyway! Happy Donut Day people (it was last Friday, but - also technically - it’s still cool to celebrate it, even now ;)). Here’s the rest of the intel; National Donut Day is originally celebrated on the first Friday of June of each year, succeeding the Donut event created by The Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938 to honor those of their members who served donuts to soldiers during World War. This very sweet, very noble, and very worthy celebration rings true even into the 21st century — and whether or not people know the story behind the Donut Day, well… I mean, these are DONUTS! I’ll celebrate them any which way I can :)
And that includes in a healthy sort of way… and by that I mean baked in the oven. While I was trudging through NYC in 2015, I came across a cake supply store that sold large non-stick donut trays and needless to say, I bought a couple back with me to Cairo. The trays allow me to whip up all sorts of donut flavours and experiment with different icings and additions. This time, I experimented with a seemingly unlikely lavender and rosemary combination that turned out as pretty and as deliciously English-picket-fence-gardeny-lavendarish as i imagined it would, dipped in lavendar-infused icing.
A little note on the lavender — I had picked up a bottle of dried lavender buds on my travels last year, and for this recipe, I ground them into fine fragrant powder in my mother’s mill. I’ve also used fresh chopped rosemary (there’s a small pot near my window) but you can totally go for the dried rosemary too (which i’d also grind in a mill if that were the case).
Notes:
Regarding substitutions, this recipe calls for heavy or solidified full cream; but feel free to use yogurt instead.
My only other comment on these donuts is that they don’t puff up as other batters do -- they'll be more cakey, and will have a thicker and heavier texture.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ baking powder
1 teaspoon ground lavender
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 teaspoon chopped dried rosemary)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
¼ cup milk
4 tablespoons melted butte
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Icing:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon ground lavender
1 drop blue food dye
2 drops red food dye
Method:
Grease a regular donut tray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, add both wet and dry ingredients together until combined.
Gently scoop into a piping bag, and pipe batter into donut tray until 3/4 full.
Bake in a pre-heated oven (on 180 decrees) for 12 minutes or until firm.
Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then turn out of the tray and onto a dry, heat-proof surface to cool completely before icing.
For the icing:
Mix all icing ingredients in a medium bowl until combined and light purple in color. Dip each donut face down into icing, and and leave to set.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
