Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cake Donuts

These Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts are UNREAL. This old fashioned sour cream cake donut recipe makes doughnuts with insides that are soft, tender and cakey, crispy outsides, and a classic sweet glaze topping to finish it off!

The donuts were easy to make and only required a short time in the fridge. I cut them out like cookies, and then they hung out in the fridge for a little longer. In under 2 minutes, I had perfect old-fashioned donuts! Now that I know that this Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cake Donut Recipe is this easy, it's kind of dangerous.

I smell trouble. Oh no…that’s just fryer oil heating up…

Some people have a fear of flying, but I have a fear of frying, which, when you think about it, is a way more rational fear.

Until culinary school, I had never fried anything. While in culinary school, I managed to fry only 3 things: beignets, churros, and brioche donuts. All on the same day; all to varying degrees of doneness. Lovely.

At work, the guys on the line found watching me fry stuff so comical that I seriously considered selling tickets to the show. The first time I fried Brussels sprout leaves I damn near fainted. On this particular occasion you could probably hear their laughter in the dining room.

But fast forward 6 years through several line cook positions and being a pastry chef for several restaurants, and now I can confidently share all my secrets!

Why do you put sour cream in donuts?

The fat in the sour cream helps keep these donuts soft and tender. All the moisture in the donuts is provided by the sour cream, and it keeps the dough together without making the dough overly wet. When the dough is overly wet, the donuts will be a much tougher texture.

Can you bake these sour cream cake donuts?

As this photo evidence shows, no. If this recipe is baked, the donuts will be dense with an unpleasant taste and texture. This is because baked donuts are actually cake. The batter will be more like cake batter and less like dough.

Tips for making sour cream donuts

• Keep the dough cold. Roll and cut it quickly to keep the baking powder from starting to react with the sour cream. Double acting baking powder will react again when fried, but let’s save all the expansion power for later, shall we.
• Use canola oil or some other neutral tasting oil that has a high smoke point.
• Place your fried donuts on a wire rack over a baking sheet or towels to catch the extra oil. This will keep the bottoms crispy. There will be no soggy bottoms on our donuts!
• Dip the donuts in the glaze while they are still warm so you don’t need to heat up your glaze. People say to use chopsticks. Come on. Isn’t life hard enough? Just use your fingers. It’ll toughen them up. It’s good for you. My Dad taught me that.

How to Fry Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts like a Pro

• Monitor your oil temperature. 340° F is too cold – I don’t care what ChefSteps says; it’s too damn cold. Your donuts will be greasy. 380° F is too damn hot. The outside will be dark and awful while the inside is still gooey. Umm gross. 350°-360° F is your target range. Adjust your heat as it approaches the boundaries. Don’t be afraid to turn off the stove. This is the great thing about frying. If the oil temperature isn’t where you want it, just wait. So liberating.
• Do be careful. The oil looks so happy and peaceful in there, but I can assure you that 350° F oil is VERY hot. I have the scars from work to prove it. Carefully use the slotted spoon to place the donut in the oil and to remove it. I gently drop it in the oil with my hand so that it slips inside, but I have been trained to have no fear.
• Test for Doneness: While time and color are great indicators of doneness once you have honed in on maintaining the perfect oil temperature, a cake tester will be your best friend while you are getting to that happy place. Think of the first one like a tester pancake; if it’s a little raw or a little dark, no big deal. Adjust and carry on.
• Just a little Scientific PSA: May I remind you that oil and water do not mix. When water gets into hot oil, it splatters violently. If this happens, back away. Quickly. This is easily avoidable if you dry all your utensils after rinsing them off. If there is any water collected on the top of your dough, which there shouldn’t be if you properly wrapped them, then blot it off before putting it in the oil.

Ingredients needed for Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cake Donuts

• All Purpose Flour: I prefer to use all-purpose flour in the majority of my donut recipes because it has the perfect amount of gluten for developing a strong network but remaining tender and soft.
• Granulated Sugar: Sugar is here for sweetness but also to add leavening when beating with the eggs. It helps create a soft, tender, light texture.
• Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is less salty than table salt and a teaspoon weighs less than other finer ground varieties.
• Egg Yolks: The egg yolks are here to add fat, moisture and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and shortens some of the gluten strands to keep the donuts cakey and tender. Beating in the eggs just enough will add a little or a lot of leavening depending on the desired texture. Eggs also emulsify the batter and keep everything texturally perfect.
• Butter: Unsalted butter allows you to control the flavor of the dough while still adding all the buttery goodness!
• Sour Cream: This should go without saying here but sour cream is essential in sour cream cake donuts. This is all the moisture in the donuts and is what will hold the dough together without making it too wet (read: tough)
• Baking Powder: Double acting baking powder will react instantly when it is mixed with an acid, which is sour cream here, and then again when it is heated. Baking soda will not leaven these as well especially if making the dough a day or two in advance. It will react once and then it won't have much left once it hits the oil. Dense donuts anyone?
• Canola Oil: I use canola oil for frying but another neutral flavored oil with a high smoke point will do like crisco.

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cake Donut Recipe Substitutions

• Sour Cream: I use a high-quality, full-fat sour cream because it is thicker and has a more tangy flavor. The fat in the sour cream helps keep these donuts soft and tender. You cannot decrease the fat and expect the same results. Will it work with low fat, yes.
• Baking Powder: Double acting baking powder will react instantly when it is mixed with an acid, which is sour cream here, and then again when it is heated. Baking soda will not leaven these as well especially if making the dough a day or two in advance. It will react once and then it won't have much left once it hits the oil. Dense donuts anyone?
• Egg Yolks: While you could use whole eggs instead of the egg yolks in this old fashioned sour cream cake donut recipe, the texture of the donuts will be impacted. You are adding moisture from the whites without fat and that is just going to make a tougher donut. Take the moment to separate them and then make a pavlova for dessert.

Donuts: Frequently Asked Questions

Chef Lindsey's Recipe Tips

If you were to take away one tip from this post, remember this one. Stay calm and keep going. If the dough feels too sticky, add more bench flour. If your first donut comes out doughy and dark, lower the temperature and test with a cake tester.

Recipe

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cake Donuts

Chef Lindsey

These Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts are tender and cakey on the inside with a crispy outside that's topped with a classic sweet glaze.

PRINT RECIPE Pin Recipe

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Chill Time2 hrs

Total Time3 hrs

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 13 Donuts

Calories 453 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

MetricUS Customary

For the Donuts:

• ▢ 240 g Granulated sugar
• ▢ 36 g butter
• ▢ 90 g egg yolks
• ▢ 380 g sour cream
• ▢ 600 g pastry flour (All-Purpose flour is fine )
• ▢ 15 g baking powder
• ▢ 12 g kosher salt
• ▢ 96 oz Vegetable Oil (for frying, can also use shortening)

For the Glaze:

• ▢ 100 g whole milk (100ML)
• ▢ 4 g kosher salt
• ▢ 400 g powdered sugar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

 

To Make the Donut Dough:

• In a large bowl sift together the pastry flour and baking powder. Whisk in the salt to distribute. Set aside.
• Line a large mixing bowl with plastic wrap and then spray the surface of the plastic wrap. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the granulated sugar, butter, and yolks on high speed until the mixture lightens and the volume increases, about 2 minutes.
• Stop the mixer and add the sour cream, then mix on medium until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.
• With the stand mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the bowl a large spoonful at a time. Add the next spoonful when you only see a few large streaks of flour left in the bowl. Stop the mixer when the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. You want to do this as quickly as possible so that not too much gluten develops, which will make tunnels in your cake and it will be tough.
• Transfer the dough to the plastic wrap lined bowl, spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray and then fold the edges of the plastic over the top to cover.
• Refrigerate for 60 minutes. At this point the dough can be held in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To Cut & Fry:

• Line a baking half-sheet pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with nonstick spray and set aside.
• Lightly dust a work surface with flour. While the dough is still in the bowl dust the top of the dough with flour. Turn the dough out onto your floured work surface, floured side down. Lightly dust the top with more flour.
• Working quickly to keep the dough cool, roll out the dough to ½ inch thick.
• Brush any excess flour from the top of the dough. Use a 3-inch and 1 ¼ - inch ring cutters to cut the donuts and holes. Lightly tap the rings in flour before cutting each donut. Place the donuts and donut holes on the prepared sheet pan. [After I cut all my donuts, I went back and cut more “holes” with the small cutter from the scraps of dough. Waste not, want not!]
• Cover sheet pan with plastic wrap, but be sure not to let the plastic touch the top of the donuts. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. I let mine chill overnight at this step.
• While your donuts chill, make the glaze. In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, powdered sugar and salt. Cover the glaze with plastic wrap directly on the surface. You can heat up the glaze over a pot of simmering water on the stove if you want it thinner. I dipped my donuts while they were still very hot, so I didn’t need to do this.
• Pour oil into a fryer or a Dutch oven, making sure the oil is at least 2 inches deep. Heat your oil to 350° F. Adjust your heat to keep the temperature between 350° - 360° F while frying. You will need a clip-on fry/candy thermometer for this. I heat my oil up to 360° F before adding a batch of donuts because the cold dough will lower the temperature of the fryer oil.
• Gently place 3 donuts in the fryer, keep the remaining donuts in the fridge. Once they rise to the surface, cook for 30 seconds and then flip them with a slotted spoon. Fry until the bottom develops a nice golden brown color, about 80 seconds. Flip it again and then fry for another 80 seconds or until the color is a nice even golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack set over a sheet pan or paper towels. Donut holes fry for 30 seconds then flip, then another 60 seconds, then flip, then another 40-60 seconds. They will puff up and be golden brown all over. You can cook them for the same amount of time as the full donuts but they will be a little dry. [Before I fried all of my donuts, I tested one and broke it open to make sure it was cooked. ]
• Once the donut is just barely cool enough to handle (I only waited about 20 seconds but I have no feeling left in my fingertips…), dip the donut in the glaze and place back on the wire rack. Dipping a hot donut will give you a nice, even glaze that isn’t too thick or too thin!
• Store in an airtight container overnight but they are best consumed the day they are fried…with coffee.

Keyword breakfast pastry, cake donuts, chocolate, donuts, doughnuts

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Before You Go!

With this knowledge you can go forth and make my other donut recipes!