• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Contact
    • Services
      • Contact
  • Recipes
    • Recipes Visual Index
    • How to Make Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker
    • Kitchen Cheat Sheet
    • Kitchen & Pantry Essentials
  • Order Cookie School!

A Cookie Named Desire

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Order Cookie School!
  • Recipes
  • Services
×
Home - Cake

Published: Aug 7, 2019 · Modified: Jul 19, 2023 by Amanda Powell · This post may contain affiliate links.

Donut Cake

Jump to Recipe
donut cake logo

Part giant baked donut, part perfectly moist cake, this delicious treat is the best of both worlds.

donut cake whole overhead on wire rack

Why you'll love it

This donut cake is so much fun to make, decorate, and eat! Donuts on their own are a delicious treat, especially when they're incredibly soft and fluffy. This particular cake is a baked version of my jelly donut only the size of a bundt cake so you can share with everyone.

It uses pantry staple ingredients and there is no frying involved, so that makes putting this particular cake together easy and fun.

This cake has a dense, tender crumb that is just like your favorite jelly-filled baked donut. A flavor that lightly spiced and has a light tang thanks to the yogurt and buttermilk. A fun glaze that is just like your favorite iconic dessert. A new, fun way to make use of your round Bundt cake.

donut cake with punk frosting and sprinkles on copper wire rack

Key ingredients

The original recipe for this donut cake is actually a baked donut recipe that I love. I multiplied it to fit inside a Bundt pan. This is how we get that true donut flavor. What is important is to make sure you are using the right ingredients. These are some of the key ingredients you need.

  • Flour - I like to make by baked donuts with cake donuts, but since this is a larger version that needs more support, especially for the jelly filling, I recommend all-purpose flour.
  • Nutmeg - The classic old-fashioned donut uses nutmeg in their doughnuts, so we add a bit here to emphasize that classic flavor.
  • Butter - You need unsalted softened butter for the recipe to give it a rich flavor.
  • Yogurt - Yogurt helps support the buttermilk in tenderizing the cake and adding moisture and tanginess.
  • Buttermilk - Buttermilk gives the recipe its signature tanginess. If you don't have any available, you can easily make buttermilk for the cake.

How to make

The best part about donut cakes is how easy they are to make. It takes only a few minutes to prepare the batter and have it in the oven!

Baking a donut cake isn’t any harder than baking a regular bundt cake. In fact, it is a little easier because there aren’t a ton of crevices to grease and flour. We make the batter in the same way we do any other cake or baked donut, then pour it into our plain, ring mold baking pan.

collage of steps to make donut cake
  1. Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl.
  2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy before beating in the eggs and vanilla.
  3. Mix together the yogurt and buttermilk in a separate bowl.
  4. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk mixture into the butter, beginning and ending with the flour.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, then top with the jelly, making sure the jelly doesn't touch the sides of the pan.
  6. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out with crumbs attached to it.
  7. Leave cake to cool for a few minutes before removing. Leave on a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Make the glaze, and pour over the cake. Finish with sprinkles and serve!

If you want to make a plain donut cake, you can skip the jelly!

close up slices of cake

How to decorate

You can really get creative with how you decorate a donut cake. I wanted to get a classic look with mine, but you can use cocoa powder in your icing, or use other types of flavors. 

If you’d prefer to skip the icing, a nice dusting of powdered sugar would work as would a mix of powdered sugar and cinnamon, or even a thinner glaze to make a glazed donut.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make this gluten-free?

It’s fairly simple to make a gluten-free donut cake. The best way to do so is to use a gluten-free baking mix. I love the mixes that offer a 1:1 ratio of gluten-free baking mix to all-purpose flour. Fortunately, you can find gluten-free baking mixes at most grocery stores now. My best tip is to give the gluten-free flour a few minutes to absorb the liquid in the batter better.

How to store?

You should store the cake in an airtight container for up to five days.

cake sliced for serving with extra sprinkles

Recipe Card

donut cake sliced for serving with extra sprinkles

Donut Cake

Amanda Powell
There is nothing more delicious than a giant donut cake
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Additional Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins
Course Cake
Cuisine American
Servings 14 slices
Calories 389 kcal
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients
  

For the Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plain yogurt room temperature
  • 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
  • ⅔ cup strawberry jam

For the Icing

  • 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • food coloring
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 hulled strawberry mashed
  • Sprinkles
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a ring mold baking pan. 
  • Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. 
  • Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
  • Add in the eggs and vanilla, then beat well. 
  • Mix together the yogurt and buttermilk in a small bowl.
  • Add in one-third of the flour mixture and gently mix in. Add in half the yogurt mixture and mix in. Add in half the remaining flour and mix, then the remaining yogurt mixture. Fold in the last of the flour mixture. 
  • Pour in the batter into the mold. Top the batter with the strawberry jam making sure the jam doesn't touch the edges.
  • Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
  • Allow to rest for 20 minutes, then remove the cake and transfer to the wire rack to cool completely. 
  • Make the icing by beating together the ingredients together until well-combined. 
  • Drizzle over cooled cake, then top with sprinkles.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 389kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 5gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 342mgFiber: 1gSugar: 38g
Keyword cake, donut, strawberry
Tried this recipe?Tag me on Instagram! @acookienameddesire #acookienameddesire

More Cake Recipes

  • close up of slice of coffee cake
    Peach Coffee Cake
  • Moist Chocolate Coffee Cake Recipe
  • close up sheet cake slice being taken
    Strawberry Sheet Cake
  • overhead slices of coffee cake on board next to ingredients
    Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

About Amanda Powell

Baker, photographer, and sometimes world traveler behind A Cookie Named Desire. Obsessed with helping people live life sweetly with delicious food to share with the special people in your life and creating lasting memories.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John Nail says

    August 16, 2019 at 2:58 pm

    You have in the ingredients 2/3 cup strawberry jam. However, you do not have it in the directions. I added it and the cake required much longer cooking time and came out very moist. I'm wondering if it was just an error in the ingredients. The cake was very tasty even though it fell apart.

    Reply
    • Amanda Powell says

      August 18, 2019 at 9:05 pm

      Hi! That would be an error with my editor. The jam should be dropped on top of the batter after you've added it. It will sink down as it bakes and shouldn't affect baking time. Oven temperatures do vary, so it could be that it could've done with a slightly higher temperature, unless there was an issue with the batter. Was the batter on the thinner side, or thick, but voluminous? It should have a thicker consistency.

      Reply
  2. Heidi Clark says

    August 08, 2019 at 9:14 am

    I l-o-v-e this donut cake, Amanda!! Soooo adorable! The rose gold cooling rack is so pretty in your photos!!

    Reply
4.42 from 12 votes (12 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hey, I'm Amanda!

I am the baker and photographer behind A Cookie Named Desire. I'm a cookbook author, food science nerd, world traveler (sometimes) with a major weakness for cookies and cheese.

Read More

Reader Favorites

  • S'mores Stuffed Cookies
    S'mores Cookies Recipe

  • homemade cookies scattered out on baking sheet
    Milano Cookies Recipe

  • cookies piled together on rack
    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • avocado chocolate peanut butter smoothie in a glass
    Avocado Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

  • Making salt water taffy at home is actually easier than you think
    How to Make Salt Water Taffy

  • finished jelly donut shots on a tray
    Jelly Donut Shot

Autumn Favorites

  • black forest mug cake
    Black Forest Mug Brownie

  • lucky charms marshmallows inside hot chocolate mug
    Hot Chocolate Bombs

  • pumpkin spice syrup in jar
    Pumpkin Spice Syrup

  • Plate of coconut chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk
    Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Footer

^ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • About Me

Copyright © 2024 A Cookie Named Desire

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.