You could smell the frying dough a block a way.
However, one of my best memories was tagging along as a “little kid watcher” on one of my little brother’s field trips to a apple orchard up in Michigan. The name of the place completely escapes me right now.
But, his teacher put me in charge of three kids, of course one being my brother. We were allowed to roam, pick apples, run around and enjoy their well equiped playground.
We ate our homemade sack lunches by the fast moving creek. The three amigos were pretty well behaved for 8 year old kids I have to say.
It was pretty cool, but it got a whole lot cooler when I realized they were making fresh, hot donuts and serving them with apple cider in this big old school wooden building that look like it was a good shaking from falling completely down.
We smelled the donuts before we saw the giant run down shack. The smell was incredible! We hurried inside to see what treats we could get our grubby little hands on. They had all types of donuts behind the glass of a giant counter. The plain ones caught my eye. Sometimes the most beautiful things to me are the simplest.
I asked my brother and his buddies what they wanted and when little hands shoved money in my direction I waved them off. “My treat guys!” I bought myself two donuts and a cider, and the boys picked one donut each and cider.
I paid for the lot, and then we gathered our goodies and headed back to the creek. They had tables inside but the day was just too sunny, and too warm for “that time of year” to hang inside.
I slowly ate one of my warm cake donuts. It was amazing, I found myself on number to as I watched the boys play. I finished up, and joined in until we were called to leave.
My brother actually thanked me for coming later on the way home.
It was a good day. I love cake donuts. Every time I smell one I think back to when we were kids and donuts, sunshine and a creek was all it took to make us happy.
Cake Donuts
Makes 12 donuts and 12 donut holes
Ingredients
2 cups of flour
¼ cup of sugar plus 2 Tablespoons
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1 ½ eggs (this needs some explaining)
½ Tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup regular milk plus 2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup of vegetable oil for frying (do not use olive oil)
Cinnamon sugar dipper
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of sugar
Directions
Grab a big bowl, and beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar until it’s a crumb like texture. Now toss in the eggs one at a time. Give the mix a good beat after each egg is added.
In another bowl combine the baking powder, flour and ¾ teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cover with cling wrap and put in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Flour your counter or cutting board with bench flour. Lightly roll dough out into ¼ in thickness. Cut with 3-4 inch cookie cutter or donut cutter.
Heat the oil to 365 degrees in a 10 inch, nonstick, frying pan. There won’t be a lot of oil because you are going to cook one side of the donut and then the other side. So you are shallow frying not deep frying.
Cook donuts two at a time, when one side is medium golden brown flip donut and cook the other side. Remove to a cooling rack and prepare cinnamon sugar mixture, by mixing the two in a shallow plate.
Let the donuts cool for 1 minute, then dip into cinnamon sugar and return to cooling rack. Enjoy.
Peace,
CK