Blood orange is my favorite citrus for baking. Just look how pink that glaze looks! And I only used a little juice. In addition to the color, the flavor of these donuts is divine! So if you need a little treat to bring to a potluck, picnic, open house, or other event, these festive blood orange donuts might be just what you need.
Donuts are a great to make for any event/ occasion for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they are (typically) nut free and you don’t have to worry about people with allergies. Secondly, they are quick and easy to bake, yet they have strong and complex flavors. And thirdly, they are easy to pack and transport to different locations. You also don’t require plates or cutlery for serving them.
This particular batter is as easy as it could be to make, yet it’s bursting with flavor. It takes under 10 minutes to whip the batter together, and only 10 minutes to bake the donuts. The blood orange zest adds a little bitterness that together with the spices and and the sweet glaze creates a delicious flavor profile.
For the glaze, you only need icing sugar and 4-5 tbsp. blood orange juice. That’s it! Isn’t it remarkable how such a small quantity of juice can create such a strong and vibrant pink glaze?
In addition to the glaze, I also made some crystallized blood orange slices for decoration. However, this step is optional.
Since they are quite small, the donuts can dry quickly. As a result, I recommend baking them the day you serve them, if possible. You can make the batter the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight. However, if that doesn’t work for you, you may bake them the night before. Make sure to also glaze them the night before. As the glaze hardens, it provides a barrier that keeps the moisture from leaving the donuts.
For baking these donuts I used a standard 6-cavity donut pan, which yielded 12 medium-sized donuts.
See more donut recipes here.
Here’s the recipe for the festive blood orange donuts:
Festive Blood Orange Donuts
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- zest from ½ a medium blood orange
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pan
For the glaze:
- 1 ¾ cups (200 g/ 7 oz.) icing sugar
- 4-5 tbsp. freshly squeezed blood orange juice
Optional: crystallized blood orange slices for decoration
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) water
- 4-5 blood orange slices, thinly cut
Instructions
Optional: crystallized blood orange slices for decoration
- In a pot over medium heat place the water and sugar. Mix until the sugar dissolves. Once it begins to simmer, add the blood orange slices for 10-15 minutes. Remove the blood orange slices and place them onto a cold surface (such as a cold plate). The syrup may be saved for later.
For the batter:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (350°F).
- Sift the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a bowl, add baking powder and mix with a whisk.
- Gently melt the butter over low temperature. Make sure the butter does not bubble. Once melted, set it aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Crack the eggs into another bowl, then add the sugar and beat them at high speed using an electrical mixer, for 2 minutes. Mixture is ready when almost triple in volume and light in color. Add the cream, vanilla extract, blood orange zest and salt, and whisk until incorporated. With a spatula, incorporate the flour mix in two-three steps, mixing after each addition. Add the melted, cooled butter and mix.
- Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes. Grease the donut pan, then pipe the batter into the pan filling ¾ of each cavity.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until the donuts spring back when lightly pressed. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the donuts to sit in the pan for 2-3 minutes before taking them out. Transfer to a rack and allow them to cool completely.
For the glaze:
- In a bowl mix the icing sugar and blood orange juice until the sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth. Dip the donuts into the glaze.
Optional:
- Serve them with candied blood orange slices and syrup prepared earlier.
