Read Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles Online
Authors: Erin McKenna,Tara Donne
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #Health
Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles (19 page)
Bake for 8 minutes, rotate, and continue baking until the donuts are golden
brown, about 8 minutes more. Let cool in the molds for 5 minutes if sprinkling with
toppings such as cinnamon sugar, or 15 minutes if using glaze or icing. Run a knife
around the donuts in the molds, lift them out, and place them on a baking sheet.
Coat them with your choice of
topping
.
Makes 12
Donuts are still new enough to me that I see ideas for toppings in just about everything. Fleshing out odd pairings is one of my favorite pastimes. It’s that type of excitement you can pursue for days and weeks and months and then, right when you think you’re out of ideas, something genius comes along that makes all the effort entirely worth it. Here are several of BabyCakes NYC’s most popular donut toppings. Some require Vanilla Icing to get them to adhere to the donut. In every case, I find it is easiest to put the mixture in a wide bowl so that dunking the cakes isn’t too much of a fuss.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Place the coconut and agave nectar in a small bowl and mix using your hands. Be sure all the coconut is coated with agave. Pour the coconut mixture on the prepared baking sheet and spread it evenly. Bake for 5 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove and cool for 10 minutes. Dip the donut in Vanilla Icing, then roll in the toasted coconut.
Enough for 12 donuts
Graham Cracker Crumble
¼ cup vegan
sugar
¼ cup vegan gluten-free chocolate chips
Place the graham crackers, sugar, and chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse until all ingredients are crumbled to the consistency you desire. Dip the donut in Vanilla Icing, then roll it in the graham cracker crumble.
Enough for 12 donuts
Sprinkles
1 cup vegan sugar
2 tablespoons food coloring of your choice (India Tree preferred)
Place the sugar and food coloring in a small bowl. Mix using your fingertips until all the sugar is coated in coloring. Add extra coloring for more vibrant color, or more sugar to tone down the hue. Dip the donut in Vanilla Icing, then coat it in sprinkles.
Enough for 12 donuts
Cinnamon Sugar
¾ cup vegan sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Use as desired on your donut.
Enough for 12 donuts
This is the best and easiest way to get your jelly donut fix without pulling out a pastry bag or developing some other fancy-but-messy stuffing procedure. I specifically use sugar for this recipe because I think it holds the jam together nicely, and I prefer to finish it with powdered sugar.
⅓ cup melted refined coconut oil or canola oil, plus more for brushing the trays
1 cup vegan sugar
¾ cup white or brown rice flour
⅓ cup garbanzo and fava bean flour
½ cup potato starch
¼ cup arrowroot
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
½ cup hot water
⅓ cup
homemade blackberry jam
or store-bought blackberry preserves
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Brush 2 six-mold donut trays with coconut oil and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flours, potato starch, arrowroot,
baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Add the ⅓ cup coconut oil,
the applesauce, vanilla, lemon extract, and hot water and mix with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are combined. Fold in the jam just until the batter takes on a swirled pattern.
Using a melon-baller or tablespoon, drop 2½ tablespoons of batter into each donut mold. Using a toothpick, spread the batter evenly around the mold.
Place them in the oven for 8 minutes, rotate, and continue baking for another 8 minutes, or until the donuts are golden brown. Let cool in the molds for 5 minutes if sprinkling with toppings such as cinnamon sugar, or 15 minutes if using glaze or icing. Run a knife around the donuts in the molds, lift them out, and place them on a baking sheet. Coat the donuts with your choice of topping (see
Dressing Up Your Donut
).
Makes 12
Donuts are usually fairly judged by both the quality of their crumb and the imagination of their topping, but this is one donut you will want to eat straight out of the oven as is. The chocolate swirl creates an interesting balance to all the spice, while also adding a smooth yet crunchy texture.
⅓ cup melted refined coconut oil or canola oil, plus more for brushing the trays
1 cup vegan sugar
¾ cup white or brown rice flour
⅓ cup garbanzo and fava bean flour
½ cup potato starch
¼ cup arrowroot
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup vanilla extract
½ cup hot water
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Brush 2 six-mold donut trays with coconut oil and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flours, potato starch, arrowroot,
baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum, salt, ginger, and baking soda. Add the ⅓ cup coconut oil, the applesauce, vanilla, and hot water and mix with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are combined. Fold in the chocolate sauce just until the batter becomes marbled.
Using a melon-baller or tablespoon, drop 2½ tablespoons of batter into each donut mold. Using a toothpick, spread the batter evenly around the mold.
Bake for 8 minutes, rotate, and continue to bake for another 8 minutes, or until the donuts are golden brown. Let cool in the molds for 5 minutes if sprinkling with toppings such as cinnamon sugar, or 15 minutes if using glaze or icing. Run a knife around the donuts in the molds, lift them out, and place them on a baking sheet. Coat the donuts with your choice of
topping
.
Makes 12
What follows is a guide to several of the items you will find in the ingredient lists of these recipes. I did not include every ingredient, as many—baking powder, say, or applesauce—are by now near-universal items in vegan and gluten-free pantries. However, if you are having difficulty locating a particular ingredient or understanding its function, I am happy to report that most health-food markets carry vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free alternatives for just
about everything these days, and that the staffs at such places are an increasingly useful resource to help guide you through.
AGAVE NECTAR
Agave nectar, a sweetener derived from the agave plant, is a syrup that’s light amber in color like honey, but much lower on the glycemic index. Many people with sensitivities to sugar prefer agave because they find it doesn’t cause their blood sugar to shoot up the way table sugar or honey or maple syrup does. In baking, substitute two-thirds the amount of agave per cup of sugar so you end up adding fewer calories to your baked goods.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Made from pulverized apples, this is used in combination with
rice milk to create a substitution for buttermilk.
ARROWROOT
As a thickening substitute for cornstarch, this creates a desirably chewy texture.
COCONUT MILK
Substituting
coconut milk for rice or soy milk creates a creamier result but leaves a hint of coconut flavor.
COCONUT OIL
I’m saying this again because it truly bears repeating: This is our favored fat in the bakery.
Coconut oil is high in lauric acid, so it strengthens the immune system, stores in your body as energy instead of fat, and supports the proper functioning of your thyroid, thus stimulating your metabolism. Please use the refined, unscented variety and be sure to melt it for these recipes!
FLAX MEAL
This buzz ingredient in the health industry is actually great for adding texture to baked goods.
GARBANZO AND FAVA BEAN FLOUR
One of my favorite gluten-free flours, this is highly effective in giving baked goods rise and a light crumb. Because the taste can be strong for some recipes, it is often mixed with
rice flour for a more delicate result.