Chocolate Fudge Cake Donuts

Martin was out of town all of last week, which meant me time in the kitchen. Last time he was gone, I think I ate cereal every night for dinner - just because I could. This time, I decided to go a bit healthier with a big pot of corn and potato chowder. Once that was prepared and waiting for dinner every night, I realized I also wanted to indulge in some kind of treat. You can't go wrong with chocolate so why not cook up a batch of donuts? Really intensely chocolate donuts.  Mine didn't come out as perfect looking as the King Arthur ones but they sure did taste great with a big glass of cold milk. Corn chowder for dinner and a donut every morning for breakfast. Not a bad way to pass the week.

There's nothing remarkable about making up this recipe. The batter comes out dense. So much so that you can't really pour it into the donut pan wells - the process is more like dumping a bit into an opening and then using your finger to spread it evenly around the circle.

The only other thing to note is the "dutch process cocoa" ingredient listing. Every time I come across this specification of dutch process, I find myself having to google which cocoas are and which aren't. This time I stumbled on a quote that will probably stick with me in the future - one way to tell if your cocoa is dutch process or not is the price. Nestle's isn't. A lot of the brands in the store aren't. When you find the box that's considerably pricier than the others around it, that's likely to be the dutch process. For me, it was Droste - not surprising given the dutch name, and the $2 surcharge for the fancy dutch processing.

Chocolate Fudge Cake Donuts
Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons vinegar, white or cider
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) melted butter or 1/3 cup vegetable oil

CHOCOLATE ICING, OPTIONAL (Icing optional? I think not, King Arthur)
1 cup chocolate chips
4 tablespoons milk or half & half

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the wells of two standard doughnut pans. If you don't have two pans, simply bake the batter in two batches.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. You may notice some curdling of the milk; that?s OK.
Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter or vegetable oil, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; there's no need to beat the batter, just make sure everything is well-combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s), filling them between 3/4 and full.
Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven, and after 30 seconds or so, loosen their edges, turn the pan upside down over a rack, and gently let the doughnuts fall onto the rack.
For sugar-coated doughnuts, immediately shake the doughnuts in 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; add 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder to the sugar for an additional touch of chocolate.
If you want to ice the doughnuts rather than shake them in sugar, allow them to cool completely before icing.
To make the icing: Combine the chocolate chips and milk or half & half in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat until the half & half is steaming and starting to bubble.
Remove from the microwave, and stir until the chips have melted and the icing is smooth.
Dip the top of each doughnut in the icing; or spread icing on the doughnuts.
Yield: 12 doughnuts.