Chocolate Doughnuts with Cherry Cheesecake Glaze

It's Friday! Paleo chocolate doughnuts with naturally-colored magenta glaze, anyone?

I, for one, am super pumped about the color here. It's all about eating the rainbow, and aside from red cabbage, those purple hues can be kind of hard to find!

You may be surprised that this vibrant shade is all thanks to a mere handful of SIX frozen cherries (and, full disclosure, a tiiiiny bit of post-processing in Lightroom).

When I came up with the idea of a cherry cheesecake glaze for doughnuts, I was excited for it be pink. I was really surprised, though, when I ended up with this lovely shade of fuschia! The color may depend on the kind of cherries you use--I always buy frozen dark sweet cherries at Whole Foods (even though they're called sweet cherries, there's no sugar added) because I love to put them in smoothies, but my new favorite use for them is this delicious glaze.

The doughnuts themselves are simple, paleo chocolate doughnuts. You just need two bowls and a few minutes to whip them up--no mixer or egg-separating needed. They're not super sweet by themselves, which makes them the perfect counterpoint to this luscious cherry glaze.

This glaze also comes together quickly. I used a little bit of cream cheese to give it a cherry cheesecake flavor, but you can omit the cream cheese or substitute coconut cream and a dash of lemon juice if you're avoiding dairy.

These are great right away, but I like to let them sit for an hour or two so the glaze has time to seep into the doughnuts and make them extra moist. Then, just before serving, I sprinkle a tiny bit of vanilla salt on top. It's not mandatory, but it my book, the salty-sweet combo can't be beat. If you don't have vanilla salt, a sprinkle of Maldon will do the trick, too.

Chocolate Doughnuts with Cherry Cheesecake Glaze
Yield: 10 small doughnuts
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: About 10 minutes

Ingredients:

For the chocolate doughnuts (adapted from Running to the Kitchen):

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lightly packed almond flour
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or ghee

For the cherry cheesecake glaze:

1/3 cup frozen pitted cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar*
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) cream cheese, at room temperature
1-3 teaspoons milk of choice (optional)

Vanilla salt or Maldon, for serving (optional)

*The powdered sugar I use here is grain-free--it's made with tapioca instead of cornstarch--as is Whole Foods brand organic powdered sugar. You can also powder your own raw or coconut sugar in a spice grinder.

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease two six-cavity doughnut pans with butter or ghee.

Whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a medium bowl.

In a separate medium bowl, beat the eggs with the honey and extracts. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the butter.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Spoon the batter into the doughnut pans, filling each well a little over half full. You should have enough batter to fill 10 of the 12 cups, give or take a doughnut. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the doughnuts are springy to the touch. Let cool for five minutes in the pan, then carefully scoop out with a spoon and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, microwave the cherries for a minute or so until they're soft and juicy. Mash them a bit with a fork and press them through a strainer (or just pick out the skins) and discard the solids. Whisk 1 cup of the powdered sugar into the cherry juice. Add the cream cheese and mix with a fork until smooth. At this point, you can use the glaze as is, or add more powdered sugar to make it thicker. I spooned thickened glaze onto the doughnuts, then thinned out the rest of the glaze with a little milk and drizzled it on top for a fun ombre effect. Just do your glaze thing and have fun!

If you can resist, let the glazed doughnuts rest for an hour or two. For a salty-sweet effect, sprinkle on a little vanilla salt or flaky sea salt right before serving.

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