Donut Coffee Cake

So, earlier today I ran across a recipe I found ages ago on a blog called Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. This recipe is for coffee cake that supposedly tastes like donuts. As in those old fashioned cake donuts which, believe it or not, are totally my favorite kind. So, you know what had to happen, right?

Got it in one.


Let the baking commence!

First for the recipe:

Donut Coffee Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Combine egg and buttermilk and add to butter and sugar mix. Combine dry ingredients and then add to the wet mix. Spread into a greased 9X9 pan and then sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until done.

Now, the UK is pretty much completely devoid of buttermilk. This is something I have found to my great irritation. Even when one can find it, the price of gold would be cheaper. I really don't understand why a country overrun with cows can't make reasonably priced buttermilk or any buttermilk at all, really. The stuff I found was actually imported from the US, of all things.

But I digress.

The point is I used milk with a splash of lemon juice. It works very well, as does milk with a splash of vinegar. Just don't use malt vinegar 'cause that, my friends, would be nasty.

One thing I found was that when you mix the sugar/butter mixture to the egg/milk mixture you get this gross mess that looks like curdled milk. I was absolutely SURE that this wasn't going to mix right and I'd end up with lumps, but once I added in the dry ingredients, it was fine.

(Look, Mom! No lumps!)

The question remains: Does it really taste like a donut?

Well, the batter certainly had that sort of cake donutty taste. I think maybe it comes from the nutmeg? No idea. But at least batter-wise it works.

(Sprinkling on the sugah!)

So, I popped it in the oven. (For me this meant Gas Mark 4. For those of you doing the whole centigrade thing, that's 180 degrees.) Thirty minutes later I had a perfect, lovely coffee cake.

(Baking perfection!)

Now for the truth!

No, it doesn't taste "exactly" like a cake donut and, being cake, it's missing that essential texture, BUT it definitely is reminiscent of the old fashioned donutty taste. It's also about one of the easiest coffee cake recipes I've ever used. Nom! Nom!

I give it a solid four stars out of five.

(Keep Calm and Carry On)