Maple Donut Cake Recipe
This maple donut cake recipe won’t fool donut lovers that you’re eating a fried donut. But it will satisfy your donut cravings.
And don’t blame me if you find yourself eating the maple glaze drippings with a spoon.
This maple-glazed buttermilk donut cake was created because mr. uglyducklingbakery is a donut lover. And he wanted Father’s Day donuts for the reddit 52 week baking challenge: week 25 – bagels and doughnuts.
Speaking of which, do you know why seagulls fly over the sea?
Because if they flew over the bay, they’d be called bagels.
Ba dum cha!
The story and adaptation
This recipe is a minor adaptation of an old-fashioned doughnut bundt cake recipe by Erin McDowell.
Tips and tricks for this maple donut cake recipe
The pan showed in the panels below is a savarin mold. It was previously my mother’s cake pan and seemed perfect for a doughnut cake.
The smooth sides of the savarin pan and a liberal coating of butter and flour resulted in an easy release of the cake (Panel #3).
You can use any bundt pan for this donut cake. If you are using a more detailed cake pan, be sure to butter and flour VERY well.
Also note that this recipe works for a 6 cup pan. If you have a larger bundt pan, please scale up the recipe.
FAQs about this maple donut cake recipe
It appears that Merriam-Webster considers “doughnut” the preferred spelling, although “donut” is an acceptable alternative.
A cake donut is a donut leavened with baking powder instead of yeast. An old-fashioned donut is a type of cake donut usually made with buttermilk.
No. But there is so much variation in how people measure that you are much more likely to get a reliable result if you weigh your ingredients.
Yes, you can freeze the completed cake, though if you can it would be better to freeze the whole cooled cake prior to glazing. Wrap it well in a double layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil.
If you have a bundt pan that holds 12 to 15 cups, just double the recipe, and expect that the cake will need to bake for longer. That’s 45 to 55 minutes according to the NY Times recipe. Or make donut muffins. Muffins will have a shorter baking time, usually 15 to 20 minutes.
Maple donut cake recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- 6 cup bundt pan (see notes)
Ingredients
Old-fashioned buttermilk donut cake
- 1 ¾ cup (220 grams) bleached all-purpose flour plus more for flouring the pan
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter plus more for greasing the pan
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
Maple glaze
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1½ cup (172 grams) confectioners' sugar plus more as desired for consistency
- ¼ cup whole milk or cream one tablespoon at a time as needed for consistency
Instructions
Old-fashioned buttermilk donut cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Liberally butter and flour your pan, particularly if using a bundt pan with lots of design.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom into a medium bowl.1 ¾ cup (220 grams) bleached all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a medium to large bowl if using a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes).½ cup (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- Add the eggs and vanilla one at a time, beating on medium speed for one minute after each addition, scraping down the bowl as necessary.2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the buttermilk and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl.½ cup buttermilk
- Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just mixed.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it evenly around the pan. Give the pan a few thwacks on the countertop to even it out and get out any air bubbles.
- Bake for ~30 minutes, until the cake is beginning to turn golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and without any crumbs. The cake will be just starting to pull away from the edge of the pan.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Carefully run a thin knife or spatula around the inner and outer edges of the cake. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack so that it is "upside down" (i.e. the cake that was exposed is now the bottom of the cake). Let cool completely.
Maple glaze
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. If the glaze is too thick, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until it is just pourable. If the glaze is too thin, add more confectioner's sugar.½ cup maple syrup, 1½ cup (172 grams) confectioners' sugar, ¼ cup whole milk or cream, 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Put the cake, still on the cooling rack, over a sheet of parchment or wax paper and pour the glaze over the cake, letting it run down both the inner and outer edges.
- Let the glaze dry (about 30 to 60 minutes).
- This cake is freshest within the 24 hours after baking, but it will keep at room temperature for one week, if it lasts that long in your house.
Notes
Nutrition
What’s next
If you make this maple-glazed old-fashioned donut cake, please leave a comment. Or let me know if you’re a donut lover too and want to see more donut recipes!
Check out other cakes, some simple, some fancy, from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives.
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Previous challenges:
Week 1: New Year new recipe – blueberry galette
Week 2: seasonal – Smitten Kitchen’s grapefruit pound cake
Week 3: Great British Bake Off – Kate’s sticky toffee apple caramel cake
Week 4: Australia – sausage rolls
Week 5: bite sized – bite-sized cookies
Week 6: Chinese New Year – mushroom bao
Week 7: new tool – baguette baker
Week 8: chocolate – chocolate peanut butter bonbons
Week 9: timed bake – under 1 hour! chocolate chip scones
Week 10: allergy/diet restriction – macarons
Week 11: quick breads – kale bread
Week 12: signature bake – purple cow bread
Week 13: enriched breads (kale and cheese babka fail)
Week 14: childhood favorite –fudgy triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting
Week 15: decorating challenge – purple velvet cake
Week 16: crispy crunchy – bacon cheddar popcorn
Week 17: p52 of a favorite cookbook, or your favorite blog – chocolate peanut butter drip cake
Week 18: pâte à choux – bacon cheese puffs
Week 19: veggies turned sweet – red velvet beet waffles
Week 20: plating – mini chocolate chip cookies
Week 21: Birthday Party! – chocolate orange cake
Weed 22: Scandinavian – Swedish apple cake v sourdough apple cake
Week 23: Layers – Pecan apple oat bars (post is pending)
Week 24: Tarts – rainbow fruit tart
Next week: Surprise inside!
