Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake Doughnuts

, from Issue #100. December, 2021
Photography by Josh Griggs.
Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake Doughnuts

This is definitely my best gluten-free doughnut recipe so far. They’re baked, which makes them light and delicious and makes it hard to stop at just one.

Makes: 16

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup milk
⅓ cup good-quality cocoa (I used Valrhona)
½ cup thick plain yoghurt
½ cup rice bran oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100 grams ground almonds
150 grams brown rice flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg

CHOCOLATE GANACHE
100ml cream
150 grams dark chocolate, chopped roughly (I used 72% cocoa)
1 teaspoon rice bran oil

Equipment: Grease a 6-hole doughnut tin.

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake.

Whisk the milk and cocoa together in a small saucepan over a medium heat until smooth. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then tip into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Add the yoghurt, oil, egg and vanilla to the cooled cocoa mixture and whisk together. Add the combined ground almonds, rice flour, sugar, baking soda and spices and mix well.

Pour the mixture into a jug, then fill the doughnut holes until almost full but not covering the centre stem, which will form the hole in the middle of each doughnut.

Bake for 12 minutes until risen and lightly firm when pressed. Don’t overbake or they won’t have the lovely lightness that you’re looking for.

Leave the doughnuts in the tin for a couple of minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Rinse the tin, then dry and re-grease between batches to make 16 doughnuts.

Chocolate ganache: Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just simmering. Take off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes, then add the oil and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Top each doughnut with chocolate ganache.