Mini Rainbow Doughnuts (Baked)
The happiest little doughnuts in the world! No pesky decorating needed, because the beauty is all in the batter.
Servings 18 doughnuts
Ingredients
- 75 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 50 g caster sugar (US granulated sugar)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 125 g plain or all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (US baking soda)
- Generous inch of salt
- Pinch of grated nutmeg
- 60 ml buttermilk
- Gel or paste food colouring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F (160°C fan), and lightly grease a mini doughnut pan. Place the butter and sugar into a medium bowl and beat well with a hand-held electric mixer until light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer if you like, although due to the smaller amount of batter involved in these little doughnuts, it can be easier to use a hand-held mixer.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and beat well. The batter will curdle, but that's okay. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the bowl with the batter, and then add the freshly grated nutmeg. Mix together until fully incorporated.
- Add the buttermilk to the batter and continue to mix until the batter is smooth. Be careful not to over-mix, as you don't want the doughnuts to be tough.
- Spoon the batter into six smaller bowls, trying to be as equal as possible - there's no need to weigh the batter, I like to just eyeball it. Add a different food colouring to each bowl, mixing well to ensure that each colour is even.
- Either pipe or spoon the batters into the doughnut tin in a rainbow pattern, ensuring that each hole is about half full. Knock the doughnut pan on the table a few times to help get rid of any air bubbles, and then place in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes until a skewer or toothpick inserted into one of doughnuts comes out clean. Turn out of the pan fairly quickly, and then leave the doughnuts to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
The doughnuts should stay fresh for 3-4 days if kept in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months - defrost at room temperature.
Recipe inspired by Cupcake Jemma.