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Donut Flavored Layer Cake With Maple Buttercream Frosting

Light and fluffy donut cake layers frosted with maple buttercream and a pink drip. This donut cake really tastes just like a real donut fresh out of the fryer! The perfect cake for donut fans everywhere!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 cups
Calories 750kcal

Equipment

  • Three 6"x2" cake pans

Ingredients

Donut Cake Layers

  • 14 ounces cake flour
  • 12 ounces sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 4 ounces vegetable oil
  • 10 ounces buttermilk slightly warm
  • 4 ounces unsalted butter softend but not melted
  • 2 ounces donut fat or crisco
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ounces melted butter for brushing onto baked layers

Maple Buttercream Frosting

  • 32 ounces powdered sugar sifted
  • 16 ounces unsalted butter softened
  • 2 ounce maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon maple extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon white food coloring optional

Pink Drip

  • 6 ounces white chocolate melts Guittard Vanilla A'Peels
  • 1 ounce hot water
  • 2 drops electric pink food coloring
  • 2 drops white food coloring

Decorations

  • 1 large cake donut storebought or homemade
  • 2 Tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

For The Cake

  • Preheat your oven to 335ºF and prepare three 6"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release. Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
  • Combine ½ of the buttermilk with the oil and set aside
  • To the remaining milk, add the eggs and the vanilla. Whisk to combine and set aside.
  • Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
  • While mixing on low, add in your chunks of softend butter and donut fat and mix until it looks like coarse sand.
  • While mixing on low, add in the buttermilk/oil mixture and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed to develop the cakes structure.
  • While mixing on low, slowly drizzle in the milk/egg mixture until combined and then mix for another 30 seconds until the batter looks cohesive and smooth.
  • Divide the cake batter into your three pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
  • Immediately press the domes flat with a tea towel and then brush the surface of the cakes with the melted butter. Allow them to cool until barely warm in the pan then transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Flash freeze the cake layers for one hour before decorating

For the buttercream

  • Add the softened butter to the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and cream until smooth.
  • While mixing on low, slowly add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until it's all combined and smooth.
  • Add in your maple syrup, maple extract, vanilla, salt and food coloring and mix until smooth.

For the drip

  • Microwave the candy melts for 1 minute
  • Add the hot water to the candy melts and let them sit for 3-5 minutes.
  • Add in the food coloring and whisk to combine until smooth
  • Let the drip cool to 90ºF before using it on the chilled cake.

Decorating the donut cake

  • Color 1 ½ cups of your buttercream pink
  • Fill your cake layers with about ¼" of the pink buttercream
  • Crumbcoat your cake and chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes
  • Add the final layer of buttercream, smooth with an offset spatula and bench scraper. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
  • Dip your donut in the pink frosting and add some sprinkles
  • Add the pink drip to the top of your cake and add some sprinkles.
  • Add the donut to the top of the cake with a cake pop stick or skewer

Notes

IMPORTANT: Make sure all your ingredients are at room temp and you're using a scale to measure. Substituting ingredients may cause this recipe to fail. (see notes at the bottom of the recipe)
Important Things To Note Before You Start
1. Bring all your ingredients to room temperature or even a little warm (eggs, buttermilk, butter, etc) to ensure your batter does not break or curdle. 
2. Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe. 
3. Practice Mise en Place (everything in it's place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
4. Chill your cakes before frosting and filling. You can cover a frosted and chilled cake in fondant if you wish. This cake is also great for stacking. I always keep my cakes chilled in the refrigerator before delivery for easy transporting. 
5. If the recipe calls for specific ingredients like cake flour, replacing it with all purpose flour and cornstarch is not recommended unless specified in the recipe that it’s ok. Substituting ingredients may cause this recipe to fail. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 750kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 150mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg