Baked Chocolate Donuts with Tart Raspberry Glaze

Good god we are DROWNING IN DONUTS. It’s like a ball pit, except oddly enough, not as disgusting (point being – ball pits are filthy). There have been four different versions of these chocolate donuts, along with a honey lemon chia variety thrown in (when I ran out of cocoa powder) that went into the bin after I realized that the new buckwheat honey I bought kind of smells like a foot. But now I am here, a couple days before Valentine’s Day, sitting in front of a batch of the most glorious, chocolately, deep, dark, donuts with a sweet and tart raspberry glaze that will just about melt your heart.

Valentines Day – Desserts are KING

So I’ve spoken about our Valentine’s Day traditions here before, but let’s go back a little further and talk about those days before love, marriage, and SVU marathons on the couch. Valentine’s Day can be a mixed bag. And I’ve definitely spent a number of them in various states of denial, joy, depression, rebellion, ennui (a LOT OF ENNUI), and maybe even occasionally something resembling rage. But regardless of how I felt about the manufactured romance, twitterpated couples, and various shades of pink from year to year, I was always pretty jazzed about the treats. Big surprise – she came for the food. Damn straight I did! Because at the end of the day you should be in love with YOU and treat yourself accordingly.

Dark chocolate donuts with tart raspberry glaze

So today dear friends, I’m putting up a decadent treat that I have literally spent weeks researching, testing, re-testing, re-testing AGAIN, and then finally slathering in a hot pink glaze that would make Lisa Frank blush. Why all this time devoted to donuts? Well simply because I love you, and I wanted to show you the best way I know how. Plus, chocolate and raspberry is one of my all time favorite flavor combinations, as seen here. I mean it’s a deep, dark, fudgy chocolate donut draped in a punchy, fruity glaze? Excuse me while I take a moment.

But really, the juxtaposition of sweet and tart gets me every time. If you’re not a fruit with chocolate person I totally hear you, and you should check out these peanut butter babies, or cream cheese maple delights, but if you’re like me then these will make your heart skip a beat, fill you with butterflies, and make you just about fall in love. And who doesn’t like falling in love?

How to make the best baked chocolate donuts

You don’t make these as many times as I did and not have some knowledge to show for it. Here are some helpful tips I learned along the way so you don’t have to make four dozen donuts (I mean unless you’re into that sort of thing).

• Butter is king here. I tried it with coconut oil, vegetable oil, grapeseed oil – all no dice. Butter has better flavor and a higher water content which keeps things from drying out.
• Don’t overbake these – seriously, the difference between a dense, rich, chocolately donut and one that you might choke on is really a matter of a couple of minutes. Just a little over ten  was the sweet spot for me, but your oven might be a little different that mine, so I’d go for the touch test instead. If they just barely spring back when you press them lightly they’re done – they’ll still feel very tender though.
• You’ll notice that the glaze in the pictures looks a little different on some donuts. This is because the first batch I made with half and half rather than lemon juice (which is what ultimately ended up the in the recipe). The half and half was fine, but it really just read as “sweet”. The lemon juice really gives this glaze a tart punch which I think you need to balance out the rich chocolate flavor. If you’re more of a sweet on sweet person though, feel free to substitute the same amount of milk, heavy cream, or half and half in place of the lemon juice.
• Glazing a donut is a little uncouth – it’s ok. The best way to glaze them is to just drop the donut face down into a shallow bowl of glaze, then pick it up carefully and let it set, glaze side up, on a cooling rack. You will make a mess, but I think that’s part of the fun.

So there is my Valentine to you. It’s sweet, a little punchy, and demands to be seen (perhaps like me on certain days). I hope you love them just as you do the best people in your lives – openly and without abandon. Show them you care in whatever way speaks to you, and remember to show yourself a little love too! Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

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