I have two opinions that I treat as facts: Old Fashioned style donuts are the best donuts, and Old Fashioned cocktails are the best cocktail. And they even have the same name. S0, in an effort to broaden my baking horizons with a new challenge, I have tried to combine them.

I was inspired by both Half Baked Harvest and Joy the Baker posting old fashioned recipes in the past couple weeks, and I had come up with this flavor a while ago. Old Fashioneds are relatively simple drinks, with not much going on flavor-wise other than orange, bitters, and whiskey. So, the base of the donut is a classic orange cake flavor, and the glaze has whiskey and bitters in it.

When Molly graduated college, she moved back home for a year, and I was naturally ecstatic. Our brother had just gone away to college, so I was facing three years of being an only child. But her moving back in gave me another year of having a sibling at home! I know she probably wasn’t as excited as I was, and it’s weird to think now that I am now the exact age she was then. I’m rambling but the point is I remember she was baking a lot that year (both at her job and at home), and one day I came home from school to a really intense smell of burn-y and oil-y. Turns out she was attempting homemade fried donuts! I remember it was not a resounding success, or at least had a lot of drama in the process.

The point of that story is that I went in to this experiment with a little trepidation, lest history repeat itself. But I really wanted to give it another whirl. And I am once again thankful that I am the youngest sibling who gets to watch my older sister do things and learn from them.

And it did sort of take over my entire tiny kitchen, and it did smell a bit deep-fried, but overall there was no burning oil and all the donuts were cooked, with no spurting oil burns on me. And the donuts turned out even better than I hoped! So I’d call it a resounding success. I haven’t been this proud about a baking endeavor in quite some time!

I even did this without an oil thermometer, so it really could have gone either way. The crumb and cake-iness turned out exactly like a regular old fashioned:

And there were definitely some little failures in the trial and error, but I think it just gave them character:

So the main lesson of this baking escapade is that it was very exciting to try out a new baking skill and push the limits of my baking talents! Donuts are something that always seemed far too difficult to make at home, so this feels like a major baking accomplishment for me. Take a risk! Try making donuts!

Old Fashioned Old Fashioneds

Author: Audrey

Ingredients

For the Donuts:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream or ricotta
Peanut, vegetable, or canola oil for frying

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar sifted
6 tbsp milk
a few splashes of bitters
2 shots of whiskey

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Instructions

In a small bowl rub together orange zest and granulated sugar until fragrant. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, using electric hand beaters, cream together softened butter and granulated sugar. Whip until pale and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until almost combined, but flour streaks still remain. Add all of the sour cream and bet on low speed to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low just until no flour streaks remain. Use a rubber spatula to finish incorporating the batter and to clean the sides of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

When you’re ready to roll out and fry the dough, first set yourself up for success. Generously flour a rimmed baking sheet and set aside. Flour a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper. Turn the chilled dough out onto the floured paper. It will be sticky! Flour the top of the dough and place a second piece of parchment or waxed paper on top of the dough. Roll into a 3/4-inch thickness. Carefully peel off the top piece of paper.

Flour a 3-inch round cutter and a 1-inch round cutter. Cut as many doughnut shapes as you can, flouring the cutter between each cut. Use an offset (or any) spatula to carefully transfer the doughnut shapes to the prepared baking sheet, separating the doughnuts from the doughnut holes. Gently gather and re-roll the scraps to create as many doughnuts as possible. Refrigerate while you heat the oil.

Place 2-inches of oil in a large shallow pan or a Dutch oven. Clip a fry or candy thermometer on the edge of the pan and bring oil to 340-350 degrees F.

While the oil comes to temperature, prepare the glaze.

Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a cooling rack over the paper towels.

Remove the doughnuts from the refrigerator and place 2 or 3 doughnuts in the hot oil. They will sink but begin to float after 10-15 seconds. As soon as the float, flip each doughnut and fry for 2 – 2 minutes 30 seconds. Flip and fry for another 2 – 3 minutes. Remove from the oil and place on the cooling rack. Allow to cool for 1 or 2 minutes until cool enough to handle, before dipping in the prepared glaze.

Bring the oil back up to temperature before frying more doughnuts in batches. Fry the doughnut holes for 3 minutes total.

Enjoy immediately though these doughnuts are also good the day after they’re fried. Store in an airtight container at room temp and toast leftovers in a toaster oven for a few minutes before serving

For the Glaze:

Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave
Stir in sifted powdered sugar until you reach a smooth paste consistency
Mix in milk until you get a smooth liquid
Add bitters and whisky to taste
If you start seeing powdered sugar chunks, pop it in the microwave for 20 second increments until they go away.