I love the texture of Mister Donut's cinnamon sugar rolled cake donuts and I've always wanted to replicate that mouth feel in a cupcake or muffin. Good thing I came across the lovely Not Quite Nigella's Jam Donut Cupcake recipe. I used self raising cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Instead of caster sugar I used granulated sugar. Mine didn't have the puffy donut look but they taste great nevertheless.
Strawberry Jam Donut Muffins
Makes 8
Ingredients
300g (2 cups) self-raising cake flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
1 large egg
175ml/6 fl oz buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 teaspoons good-quality strawberry jam (I also tried this with Bonne Maman’s Four Fruits when I ran out of strawberry and it was good although admittedly, less authentic)
To brush on top and then roll
100g/3.52 ozs unsalted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a cupcake tray.
2. Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add a pinch of salt and the caster sugar. In a jug, combine the vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture and stir to only just combine. It will be thick and puffy. Place a tablespoonful of the mixture in each muffin hole and make an indent in the centre. Fill each indent with a teaspoon of the strawberry jam.
3. Cover the jam with the remaining cupcake batter. I found that these slightly overflowed and that the tops stuck together but then after taking it out, it contributed to the puffy donut look. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, melt the butter and cool slightly. Combine the extra sugar and the cinnamon in a large bowl. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, brush each muffin lightly with the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Serve while still a little warm.
Recipe adapted from Not Quite Nigella's Jam Donut Cupcake recipe.
