Here are some of our easy baking recipes for beginners as we are nearing Doughnut Week!
National Doughnut Week is upon us again. This year it runs from May 7th to 15th May and we have some cool baking ideas for you to try. We have got the perfect alternative recipes for multiple food allergies using our gluten free baking mixes and nut free Gnawbles that are free from all Top 14 Allergens.
The Children’s Trust will benefit from funds raised. Last year, when the week was during July, over £38,000 was raised for the charity, and so far the ‘week’ has helped the trust raise around £507,000 in total.
The ‘week’ was actually first launched in 1992 by Christopher Freeman, co-owner of Dunns Bakery. Since then, bakers, cafes and other small businesses around the UK have embraced the idea and supported the charity by running various doughnut-themed fundraising events.
History of doughnuts and WHY do doughnuts have a HOLE in?
- Doughnuts are quintessentially, American.
- They have an interesting past which includes an unappetizing Dutch cake, called ‘oily cakes’ which appeared in New Amsterdam in Manhattan.
- In the mid 19th century, a New England ship captain’s mum, made a deep-fried dough that used her son’s spice cargo of nutmeg and cinnamon, plus lemon rind. It was thought they were easy to store for long journeys. There is much discussion about why original doughnuts have a hole in the middle. One idea was, the captain’s mum put hazelnut or walnuts in the middle where the dough might not cook through, so they were literally, dough-nuts. Other people suggested they were easier to digest with the hole in the middle.
- The first doughnut machine was made in the USA in 1920 by Adolph Levitt, a refugee from Russia, who was already selling fried doughnuts from his bakery and needed a gadget to churn out the dough faster.
- The machines became more refined, and Levitt’s machines earned him $25 million a year, from wholesale deliveries and bakers around the country.
When did Krispy Kreme start?
- In the 1930s, the famous brand Krispy Kreme was born, and they sold to both wholesale and retail. By 1950, there were 29 Krispy Kreme stores in 12 states.
- Doughnuts are part of American life, and there are more than 25,000 doughnut shops in the US, with the average American eating 31 doughnuts a year, which is at least two to three a month. How many do you eat a month?
- The doughnut industry is also continuing to grow in the UK and around the world.
Of course, traditionally, doughnuts are not gluten free, and are often decorated with nuts or other food stuffs containing allergens.
How to eat gluten free during Doughnut Week
These days, there are many options for where you can buy gluten free doughnuts. We want to share with you some of our new, allergy friendly and easy recipes that are all nut free, gluten free, and suitable for vegans. Doughnuts are easy desserts for a crowd, with our easy baking recipes for beginners being the perfect way to try your hand at making them yourself. These recipes are great if you have an friends or family who stuffer from any of the Top 14 allergens as all of our products are free from.
Gluten Free Banana Bread Doughnuts
Serves 6: Prep: 5 mins; Cook: 30 mins.
Ingredients:
- 1 pack of Creative Nature Banana Bread Mix
- 40g Dairy Free Spread (softened)
- 3 Large Bananas
- 100g Vegan Milk Chocolate
- 50g Vegan White Chocolate
- 1 tbsp Sprinkles of your choice – check the ingredients for allergens.
- Doughnut mould
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas and add in your softened dairy free spread. Mix together until combined.
3. Add in the gluten free Banana Bread mix and combine using a wooden spoon.
4. Evenly distribute this into your silicon doughnut moulds.
5. Place them in the oven for 20 minutes and check to make sure they are cooked through.
6. Place the vegan milk chocolate in a glass bowl and melt over boiling water in a saucepan.
7. Once the doughnuts are cool, dip the top into the melted dairy free milk chocolate
8. Place these in the fridge for around 5 minutes to cool. Whilst you wait, melt the dairy free white chocolate as you did the milk chocolate.
9. When melted, using a teaspoon, gently make zig zags across the doughnuts with the white chocolate.
10. Decorate with sprinkles.
11. Place in the fridge for a further 5 minutes to cool. Enjoy!
Nut Free Gnawbles Doughnuts
Serves 2: Prep: 5 mins Cook: 5 mins
Method:
1. Melt the vegan dark chocolate and vegan white chocolate in two separate glass bowls over a saucepan of boiling water.
2. Add the pink food colouring to the vegan white chocolate and let it cool slightly for 2 minutes.
3. Take one of your gluten free doughnuts and dip it into the vegan dark chocolate. Crush some HazelNOT Gnawbles and sprinkle over.
4. Take your second gluten free doughnut and dip it into the vegan pink chocolate. Crush some Salted Caramel Gnawbles and sprinkle over.
Enjoy your allergy friendly doughnuts!