Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts - Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Dessert | Donut

Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts

  |  
February 11th, 2013

Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts will satisfy any chocolate craving with luscious frosting and a smooth, tender, yet slightly chewy doughnut.

Yield: 12 dougnuts

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: These doughnuts will definitely satisfy your chocolate craving. Texture: The frosting is lusciously thick and smooth while the doughnut it tender yet slightly chewy. Ease: Much easier than traditional yeasted and fried doughnuts! Appearance: These are certainly dark beauties. Piping the batter into the greased doughnut pans will ensure perfect ring shapes. Pros: A scrumptious chocolate doughnut in less than an hour total. Cons: None. Would I make this again? Yes, this recipe has the possibly for so many variations too.

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Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts

I spent yesterday catching up on The Walking Dead (don’t worry, I HATE spoilers) so I could watch the mid-season premier episode. Needless to say I spent a good part of the day on the verge of having a panic attack. When I first started binge watching this on Netflix I had a super vivid dream (or nightmare, really) that I was in The Walking Dead world. I didn’t wake up screaming or anything but I had this distinct, almost unshakable feeling of sheer exhaustion and desperation that anyone is such a doomsday situation must feel. The Walking Dead surprises you at any moment with a “walker” out of nowhere and I could NOT imagine what life without a moment’s peace would be like. Not to mention the foul odor that must permeate such a world and the total lack of any decent food. BLAH. What a nightmare. Good thing zombies don’t exist…

It IS a good thing that chocolate doughnuts exist, though. I definitely want to live in a world with chocolate doughnuts. Especially when they can be mixed up and baked in less than a half hour. I think even zombies would enjoy these doughnuts.

How to make
Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts

Yield: 12 dougnuts
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Chocolate Fudge Cake Doughnuts will satisfy any chocolate craving with luscious frosting and a smooth, tender, yet slightly chewy doughnut.

Ingredients

Doughnuts

  • 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted butter

Chocolate icing

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 4 tablespoons milk or half & half

Directions

To make the doughnuts:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the wells of two standard doughnut pans.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.
  3. In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter to the dry ingredients, stirring until well combined.
  4. Remove the batter to a zip-top plastic bag or piping bag, cut a hole in one corner, and pipe the batter into the doughnut molds, filling them between 3/4 and full. Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.
  5. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes. Loosen their edges, turn the pan upside down over a rack, and gently let the doughnuts fall onto the rack.

To make the icing:

  1. Combine the chocolate chips and milk in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat until the milk is steaming and starting to bubble. Remove from the microwave, and stir until the chips have melted and the icing is smooth.
  2. Dip the top of each doughnut in the icing; or spread icing on the doughnuts.

Recipe Notes

Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American
Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Lily — August 14, 2021 at 9:08 am

    Hi can I bake these on a tray on some greaseproof instead of a tin and just pipe them in a circle shape?

    • #
      Emily — August 17, 2021 at 9:03 am

      Hi, Lily! We haven’t tried that! While they should still taste good, they may lose their shape without the doughnut mold. Let us know how it goes!

  2. #
    alikane — April 23, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    These were amazing. The chocolate chips in the donut were the perfect chocolate touch. Everybody keeps talking about how delicious they were. I’ll be making these for the mothers day brunch!

  3. #
    Bernadette Yancy — November 7, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    I sail as Chef Steward on commercial ships and your donuts looks so delicious. I can’t wait to give the guys something else to run to breakfast for. Thanks for posting the recipe. .

  4. #
    Barbara — October 5, 2016 at 9:56 am

    What would you alter if you wanted to fry these donuts? I don’t have a donut pan.

  5. #
    Mary Frances @ The Sweet {Tooth} Life — September 20, 2014 at 7:23 am

    Thank you Tessa, for such an amazing donut recipe! For my first time making donuts, this was just what I needed. They turned out soft, a little fudgy, and full of chocolate. Thank you so much! We loved them!

  6. #
    Samantha Morelli — February 11, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    If you wanted to switch up the chocolate for a vanilla doughnut would you add more flour for the cocoa powder you are taking out?

  7. #
    Mimi @ Culinary Couture — February 11, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    Fudge doughnuts are my fave–I really need to invest in a doughnut pan!

  8. #
    Linda | The Urban Mrs — February 11, 2013 at 7:35 pm

    Oh, I’ve been dreaming of donuts lately and your post came just in time! Love itttt…

  9. #
    Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes — February 11, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    I love this photo – the colors are awesome! Probably because I’m a girly girl 🙂 Saw this on foodgawker and I was drooling so I came to tell you so 🙂

  10. #
    Jess Wakasugi {Life’s Simple Measures} — February 11, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    Came across this post at Tastespotting and it sounds absolutely wonderful! Who can pass up a chocolate-chocolate donut.

    I also browsed through some of your recipes and they look delicious! Absolutely love your photography. Glad to be your newest follower 🙂

  11. #
    Memoria — February 11, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    That photo is stunning! Wow. These donuts look amazing.

  12. #
    Tracey — February 11, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    My husband is obsessed with The Walking Dead, but I’ve never gotten into it. Maybe it’s for the best or I’d definitely be having nightmares 🙂 These doughnuts are the stuff of my dreams though, they look amazing!!

  13. #
    Diane @ Vintage Zest — February 11, 2013 at 7:10 am

    I’m sorry about this, but we change our minds for our Valentine’s Day dessert. This is the winner! I’ve been on the hunt for my next donut recipe, and this one looks amazing!

    Also, I can’t wait for my boyfriend to catch up with the Walking Dead because now the new episode is burning a hole in my DVR! I also find myself imagining being in their world, but most of the time I get mad at the characters for doing dumb things. I tried archery out for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was fun imagining I was Darryl. The guys even put up a zombie target for us to hit! My guy hit the brain dead on one time, and both of my hits were probably too close to the ear. Eek!

    http://vintagezest.blogspot.com/2013/01/weekend-review-lakers-movie-archery.html

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