Chocolate and Marmalade Baked Doughnuts

I hadn’t made cake doughnuts for a while and thought I should dust off my doughnut pan which was languishing in the oven.
What flavor would I make though?It’s coming up for Halloween, and I have a Halloweeny themed Treat Petite this month – Orange and Black – so I used this for my inspiration.

I decided to make chocolate flavoured doughnuts and add in some marmalade into the mix. This way you get the chocolate flavor broken up with the subtle taste of orange, and as I used a rough shred marmalade, you get the odd bit of bitter rind as well, which tastes great against the sweetness. And for a bit of creaminess I added a little bit of mayonnaise!
I much prefer cake doughnuts over fried ones. These are not greasy and are really more like a ring shaped cupcake. In fact, you could just pop the batter into cupcake cases and bake them like that if you don’t have a doughnut pan.

To ‘frost’ the doughnuts, I was a bit lazy and just bought myself a jar of marshmallow fluffy stuff. You could make your own of course, but if you are in a rush, the jars are just as good. All I did was melt it a little bit in the microwave, stirred through some orange food colouring – totally optional of course – and then dunked the doughnuts headlong into the mallow. You could pipe the mallow on, or spread with a spatula if you are a total neat freak, but I liked the drippy effect. Very Halloween. To finish with I sprinkled on some black sanding sugar I had in the cupboard.
The doughnuts were crisp on the outside, a bit of a crust forms when baking, and they were very tender when I bit in. The flavor of chocolate is balanced perfectly with the bitter marmalade. It’s then complemented by the sweet mallow stuff.
These are tasty and messy in equal measure. Can you imagine tying these up at a Halloween party and the state children would get in, trying to eat them without their hands (or is that just a Scottish thing?).

Here’s how they are made….
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Chocolate & Marmalade Baked Doughnutsby S Vettese October-19-2015Cake doughnuts baked with cocoa and marmaladeIngredients

• 150 grams plain flour
• 50 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium egg
• 170 grams granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 60 grams light mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 125 ml milk (i used semi-skimmed)
• 100 grams golden shred marmalade
• half jar marshmallow 'fluff'
• Amount varies orange food colouring

Instructions1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and grease a doughnut baking pan.2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl.3. In a jug, beat together the egg, sugar, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, vanilla and milk until smooth.4. Microwave the marmalade for about 30 seconds until it is thinned and looser in texture.5. Stir the contents of the jug into the dry mix and stir until everything is combined. Add the marmalade and stir through completely.6. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or food bag with the corner snipped off and pipe the doughnut cavities about three-quarters full.7. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before easing carefully from the pan.8. Repeat the process if baking more than one batch. Allow to cool completely.9. Melt the marshmallow stuff in a bowl by placing it in the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds, until it is much looser in texture. Add orange food colouring, enough to get a shade you like.10. Dip the doughnuts lightly in the marshmallow and place on a wire rack, to allow the mallow to drip down. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if you wish to do so.11. Alternately pipe or spread the mallow on the doughnuts.12. Enjoy!DetailsPrep time: 20 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 18 doughnuts