Lemon Ginger Zinger Doughnuts_5

Ari recently hosted a brunch bridal shower, for one of her best friends since high school. While brainstorming about what we could bake, we decided on making two different kinds of cupcakes. What breakfast/brunch isn’t complete without cupcakes? We agreed that coffee and tea flavored cupcakes would be appropriate… and delicious! Salted Caramel Cocoa Coffee Cupcakes were a shoe-in for the coffee flavor, but we had to do some investigative work into what the bride’s favorite teas were to decide on the second flavor.

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As it turned out, the bride’s favorite tea flavor is Lemon Ginger. We have many tea infused recipes from our tea party, but no Lemon Ginger. So, we had to put our recipe creation caps on. While we found one recipe online that had the right flavor profile, we didn’t like the texture it produced. We also decided it needed more of that spicy ginger flare, so we went to work. The resulting recipe is a delicious light lemon flavor with a ZING of ginger. Paired with our honey buttercream (minus the cinnamon) this cupcake was the bride’s version of cupcake heaven.

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Wait a second… you are probably wondering why you are reading about cupcakes in a doughnut post. Well, we have been wanting to create a signature baked doughnut to share with you, and this recipe worked perfectly. The cake base hasn’t changed a bit. However, we took the idea of a honey buttercream frosting and created a delicious Honey Buttered Glaze. Topped with crystalized ginger, these baked doughnuts take the cupcake!

Honey Butter Glaze

Ingredients: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon butter, pinch of salt. Directions: Whisk the powdered sugar, honey, and milk together until smooth. Set aside. In a sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Mix in the honey sugar mixture and stir until bubbling and warm, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and use the glaze immediately. Glaze by dipping the tops, or completely immersing, into the glaze saucepan or spooning the glaze over the tops. If decorating with sprinkles or chopped crystalized ginger decorate immediately after glazing. Glaze should/will set quickly.

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Intrigued by the idea of cupcakes for breakfast? Check out a few of our other Breakfast Series Cupcakes, including: Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes, My Morning Waffle Cupcake, and Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes.

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Lemon Ginger Zinger Doughnuts
Author: 
Recipe type: Cake, doughnut, cupcakes
Cuisine: Dessert or Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yields: 18
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 lemon, zested finely
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • ½ cup chopped crystallized ginger
  • Honey Butter Glaze
  • Chopped crystallized ginger to decorate
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease the doughnut pan.
  2. In a bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the grated ginger, lemon zest, and lemon extract until incorporated.
  4. Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture, scrape the sides of the bowl in-between each egg.
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternately, to the butter mixture. Mix just until combined. Turn off mixer.
  6. With a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the chopped crystallized ginger, until incorporated.
  7. Use a small spoon or piping bag to place batter into the prepared doughnut pan, fill to the inner rim, about ¾ full.
  8. Place in the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan, 4-6 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. While the doughnuts cool, make the glaze.
  11. Glaze doughnuts once they are completely cool. Return to the wire rack and sprinkle with toppings. Allow to set for about 30 minutes before stacking or serving. Doughnuts are best within 2 days.
Notes
Cupcakes: Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔ of the way full. Bake at 350°F for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched.

Baking note: This cake is pale in color. They will not appear golden brown once finished baking.