Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts

Oops!  I'm a week late and missed National Doughnut Day but doughnuts deserve to be eaten everyday.  Well, maybe not everyday, unless you happen to have an awesome metabolism or great will power because I don't know about you but I can never just stop at one!

National Doughnut Day may have inspired me to make some doughnuts but it was the poor neglected doughnut tin that I bought last year that prompted me to finally make some.  I have quite a few odd shaped bake ware gifted to me that I just need to try out or condemn to Goodwill. 

I also happened to have one or two pink lemonade cake mixes languishing in the cabinet that was purchased on clearance last summer. Is there really a difference between yellow and pink lemonade other than color?  I'm pretty sure there isn't but I could swear that pink lemonade taste better.  Why would pink taste better than yellow?  My head hurts.

I think I avoided making cake donuts because I dreaded cleaning the damn pan afterwards.  But you know what these babies just fell right out my pan (from Wilton). The pan is nonstick but I did spray it really good with cooking spray in between each batch too.  Filling each cavity was a breeze too because I used a plastic zip bag as a piping bag.  Glad I could just toss that thing in the trash when I was finished with it!

At the last minute I decided to add yellow food color to the glaze and sprinkle the cakes with colored sugar.  Not sure if I like the color but they tasted great so who cares?  My stomach sure didn't!

Feel free to use your favorite cake mix to make some doughnuts of your own.  I bet chocolate would be super tasty.  These don't come out dense like traditional cake doughnuts but light and fluffy like a cupcake.  Best part?  They're baked not fried!  So maybe it's okay to eat more than one;)

I'll be linking this recipe to these great linky parties !

Pink Lemonade Cake Donuts 

Ingredients:

FOR THE DONUTS:
2¾ cups Lemon Flavored Box Cake Mix (or use Pink Lemonade if you can find it!)
¾ cup Buttermilk
2 TBS Melted Butter
2 Eggs
pink food coloring (optional)

FOR THE GLAZE:
1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 TBS Whole Milk
1 tsp Lemon Extract (or Vanilla or Orange or Almond...etc.)

 Directions:

1.  Combine donut ingredients in stand mixer with paddle attachment (or combine in large bowl and combine with rubber spatula).  Mix ingredients until all large lumps are gone.  Little lumps are okay.

2.  Transfer batter to a large freezer type zip bag.  Cut off a small portion bags corner to make itinto a piping bag.  Pipe donut batter into greased donut cake pan cavities until 2/3 full.

3. Bake donuts in preheated 425F Degree oven for 7-9 minutes or until toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean.  Allow donuts to cool in pan 2-3 minutes and then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

4.  While donuts are cooling prepare glaze by combining glaze ingredients in a small bowl.  Stir until all lumps are gone.

5.  Dunk each donut into glaze and place on wire rack glaze side up.  If you want to add sprinkles do so immediately after dunking into glaze.  Allow glaze to harden before serving or consume immediately for a delectable mess and an opportunity to lick fingers;)

Chocolate Steel Cut Oatmeal

I love chocolate. I don't really understand people who don't. Than again I hate coffee and coffee flavored things. I imagine those who love coffee don't understand me. Coffee just tastes so bitter to me that I don't see the point. No amount of sugar and/or cream can mask that flavor.

Chocolate I understand and love. Well, sort of. I remember sneaking into my Mom's baking cabinet and snitching a piece of her Baker's Chocolate. I unwrapped that yummy smelling morsel and took a huge bite out of it. Boy did I regret doing that! It was so bitter it made my eyes water and I couldn't spit it out fast enough. I learned my lesson that's for sure!

Chocolate for breakfast just sounds so indulgent. My Dad would make us chocolate Cream of Wheat for breakfast on the weekends to eat while watching Ren & Stimpy as a family. He would just make plain Cream of Wheat and add in Nestle Quick chocolate milk powder and god only knows how much sugar. I still love to add chocolate to my cream of wheat and occasionally I can find the stuff with the chocolate already in it. I omit all that sugar and use a packet of Splenda now.

Breakfast Burritos

 

I used to hate eating breakfast, especially in high school.  I always thought it made me feel nauseated and even more hungry by lunchtime.   In college it seemed like I never had time to eat breakfast.  Now I absolutely must have breakfast before getting to work.  If not I am grumpy and so is my stomach and boy does it let me know!  The only problem is that with a husband and a roommate still asleep it's hard to putter around the kitchen quietly, especially in our tiny apartment.

Sweet! Corn. {Sweet Corn Hash}

After strawberry and asparagus season my favorite time of the year is sweet corn season.  Up in the Midwest where I am from originally that meant waiting till about mid summer.  You can find corn but believe me it wasn't good corn.  As we say, "That's fit to feed a hog!".  Just sayin'!

Living down here in central Florida has got me spoiled.  I splurged and bought some corn at the local produce market and was sure I was in for some disappointment.  Holy cow!  That corn was delicious!  So apparently I can get awesome sweet corn a lot earlier down here and for cheap?!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins & Derpy Hooves

Today I came home and decided to eat some strawberries.  I have been buying strawberries every time I go to the store which is often as I like grocery shopping and think it's fun to shop day to day (even though that really isn't really economical...but, hey, it makes me happy!).  What doesn't make me happy?  Coming home to mushy strawberries.  I will, and have, eaten green unripe strawberries.  Mushy berries though are icky.

Corned Beef Gravy

We always have corned beef to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  It's pretty yummy but leaves a ton left over when only feeding 3.  I tried buying the smallest portion I could find but in general they are all the same poundage give or take an ounce or two.  I hate wasting food but sometimes it is just me and Peter.  I have to try to think ahead about what I want to do with the leftovers and create multiple meals.

 Peter and our roommate were able to make some corned beef and hash for brunch the next morning and they both love it on sandwiches.  Unfortunately this did little to put a dent in our leftovers!  Then I remembered my Dad making us corned beef gravy on toast with those little packages from Budding.  It is so yummy!  A little salty but the plain toast balances it out.  I figured if it tasted good with those little packets of lunch meat it would be fantastic with my corned beef leftovers.

To make corned beef gravy takes a bit of gravy making skills.  Are you up to the challenge?

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Pizza

Once upon a time I lost my job and since it was a bad time for anybody to be out of a job I was extremely grateful to find a job at a certain Midwest convenience store chain. They have a very wonderful breakfast pizza that you can buy by the slice.  It came in bacon or sausage and the bacon pizza was delicious!  I never learned how to make it while I worked there but I think I made a pretty good guess in replicating it here.  I also learned a few things about being a gas station attendant.  I wrote these all down some time ago and just thought it was fun to look re-read and roll my eyes at my younger self=)

Sausage & Gravy Pizza aka Ugly Breakfast Pizza

For some reason I keep meaning to post this recipe for breakfast pizza but then decide no, It's my favorite and my creation.  I've never shared the recipe because I like being begged to make it for my family and friends.  This pizza is so so easy to make though and not hard to guess how it is made so I'm gonna guess that my friends and family are just lazy with a capital 'L'.  Really, it's that simple to make.

I based it on the breakfast pizza my elementary school cafeteria served. When you really want to channel the school cafeteria vibe shape the pizza into a rectangular pizza.  Actually if you do this the easy way and use Pillsbury pizza dough your going to end up with a rectangle anyways!

An Egg By Any Other Name

My most favorite breakfast in the whole wide world is poached eggs on buttered toast.  Unfortunately, I also think its a bit of a hassle to make during the week.  I just don't have time to get the water to a simmer and get the eggs cooked and actually have time to eat it before I leave for work.

I Hop for French Toast

I hate stale bread and I always end up with quite a lot of stale bread by the end of the week. I’m the only one in the house that eats sandwiches. I only eat them during the work week packed in my lunch tote. I like store bread bought bread because it’s convent, but let’s be honest, it’s not particularly tasty.

DBC March 2011: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

traditional style

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.