Recipe: Bob’s Caramel and Chocolate Glazed Cake Doughnut

Every Thursday on the Good Food Blog we share a recipe from our archives.

JoAnn Cianciulli‘s book L.A.’s Original Farmers Market Cookbook: Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax chronicles how the market started as a dirt lot where farmers brought their trucks to sell produce. Now it’s home to stalls and shops featuring foods from around the world. She first shared this recipe for Bob’s Caramel and Chocolate Glazed Cake Doughnut on September 26, 2009.

Keep reading for the full recipe…

Bob’s Caramel and Chocolate Glazed Cake Doughnut

Adapted by JoAnn Cianciulli

Makes about 1 dozen doughnuts, makes 1 1/2 cups each glaze

Doughnuts

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Canola oil, for frying

Caramel Glaze

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/4 cup boiling water

1 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts

To make the doughnuts: Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, milk, and butter until well blended. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, stirring just until incorporated into a soft, sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour to make it easier to roll and cut. (Dough can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

To make the caramel glaze: Combine the sugar and water in a heavy pot over medium heat; it should look like wet sand. Swirl the pot over the burner to dissolve the sugar completely. Cook until the sugar melts into a syrup and begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook until the color deepens to medium amber, about 5 minutes more. Be careful, the sugar is really hot at this point. Remove from the heat and slowly add the cream a little at a time. It will sputter a bit so stand back as you pour. When all the bubbling has died down, stir to smooth out to a medium-thick glaze. Cool to room temperature. Mix in additional cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin out the caramel if it gets too thick.

For the chocolate glaze: Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Turn off the heat and mix in the confectioners’ sugar, it will be very thick and lumpy. Gradually stir in the boiling water to smooth it out. Set aside.

Heat 3-inches of oil to 360 degrees F. in a countertop electric fryer, cast-iron skillet, or deep pot.

Pat and roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about 1/2-inch thick. Using a large doughnut cutter or 4-inch ring cutter (use a smaller ring to cut out the hole,) stamp out rounds as close together as possible. Fry a couple of doughnuts at a time, keeping an eye on maintaining the oil temperature. As the doughnuts puff up and rise to the surface, flip them over with a slotted spoon, skimmer, or chopsticks; about 2 minutes on each side. Carefully remove the doughnuts from the oil and drain on several layers of paper towels or a brown paper bag. Cool slightly to handle.