Easter is coming up fast. And with Easter comes the most delicious springy Easter desserts. Like these Robin’s Egg Carrot Cake Donuts. Uhhh, can we just take a moment to gawk at how beautiful these are?!
K cool gawk moment done.
Wait no they’re so pretty.
So what have we here. Well, it’s a baked carrot cake donut, which is moist enough that you really could eat the donut on its own, sans frosting. But then on top I made a classic buttercream that I dyed robin’s egg blue, then spattered with brown dye flecks for that classic robin’s egg look.
If you don’t have a donut mold, I would totally consider making this recipe into cupcakes. Omg yes wait BRILLIANT IDEA yes you totally should.
How to make homemade cake donuts
If you’ve made regular cake before, you can handle this carrot cake donut recipe. The cake donut itself is pretty straightforward: mix the wet ingredients in a stand mixer, then incorporate the dry ingredients and continue mixing until just combined. Bake the cake donuts for 15 minutes, and let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
While the carrot cake donuts are cooling, make the buttercream frosting. The buttercream is just room temperature butter, powdered sugar, whole milk, and a splash of vanilla. Let the mixer run for 2 to 3 minutes to really whip up the frosting. You may have to play around with the food coloring a bit to achieve just the right shade of robin’s egg blue. Add the food coloring in a drop or two at a time — remember, you can always add more but it’s impossible to take back!
(Although I doubt anyone will care if your buttercream is too bright. You’re serving cake donuts, after all!)
Frost the donuts once they’ve cooled completely, and then flick on bits of brown food coloring with a dry brush to get that lovely speckled egg effect.
How to store carrot cake donuts
Because these cake donuts are baked and not fried, they should stay fairly fresh for 3 or 4 days in an airtight container. (I’d store them in the fridge if I were you to preserve that creamy buttercream.) If you make a big batch of these, pop a few unfrosted donuts into the freezer to enjoy later. When you’re ready to eat them, set the frozen donuts out on the counter to thaw and make a new batch of frosting.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a donut pan with spray. Set aside.
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in carrots and mix until combined.
Meanwhile in a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Alternate folding in the flour mixture and the buttermilk until everything is combined.
Pour batter evenly into prepared donut molds, filling until the top crest of the mold. Bake for 15 minutes, then allow to cool slightly before inverting onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
for the frosting
Whip the butter in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, whole milk, and vanilla extract, whipping an additional minute. Add in 1 drop blue and 1/2 drop black food coloring. This should form a nice robin’s egg color. If it’s off, experiment with adding more blue and more black, but keep the color light.
Frost donuts by dolloping 3 tablespoons of frosting onto each donut. Spread evenly over the top, then use the back of a butter knife to scrape the frosting from the inside of the donut, then the outside.
In a tiny bowl, mix 4 drops of brown food coloring with 2 drops of water. Dip a dry 1-inch brush into mixture, then flick the brush over the donuts, creating desired egg effect 🙂
Keywords: carrot cake, moist, spring, easter, flavorful, the best
Oh my. I made these doughnuts for a “welcome to spring” breakfast treat. Perfection! They were moist and delicious. The robin’s egg blue frosting spoke to my spring theme, and the brown speckles ensured the doughnuts were festive. We loved that they weren’t too sweet, just sweet enough. Now that I have the doughnut pan, I will be trying the other Broma Bakery doughnut recipes.
I am so in love with these! Would love to know what food coloring brand you recommend for this shade of blue? And did you use both the brown and black – or just the brown in the recipe instructions? Thanks!
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
Oh my. I made these doughnuts for a “welcome to spring” breakfast treat. Perfection! They were moist and delicious. The robin’s egg blue frosting spoke to my spring theme, and the brown speckles ensured the doughnuts were festive. We loved that they weren’t too sweet, just sweet enough. Now that I have the doughnut pan, I will be trying the other Broma Bakery doughnut recipes.
Hey Terri! That is SO amazing to hear! I love these donuts–so happy you loved them too 🙂
I am so in love with these! Would love to know what food coloring brand you recommend for this shade of blue? And did you use both the brown and black – or just the brown in the recipe instructions? Thanks!
SO gorgeous!! Love the idea of making into cupcakes too!!
These are so pretty! Such a great idea! Sounds SO delicious!
How pretty are these?! Perfect for Easter brunch!