Baked Raspberry Donuts with Raspberry glaze

These Baked Raspberry donuts with raspberry glaze and fresh raspberry filling have an exceptionally moist texture, delicious raspberry flavor, and an easy yet impressive decoration that will impress everyone. Baked donuts are effectively cake doughnuts that are super easy to make even if you are less experienced in the kitchen!

Have you realized that baked doughnuts have become a thing recently? They are considered to be simpler and healthier vs. traditional fried donuts while equally delicious, a must-try if I may say so myself!

Jump to:

• Difference between baked and fried donuts
• 7 reasons why this is the Best recipe
• Ingredient notes
• 4 Expert tips
• Equipment notes
• Recipe FAQs
• More donut recipes
• More Raspberry dessert recipes
• RECIPE CARD
• Baked Raspberry Donuts with Raspberry glaze

Difference between baked and fried donuts

Apart from the obvious fact that one is baked in the oven, the other is fried in hot oil, there are other major differences between the two.

Fried donut is typically made using high protein content bread flour and yeast as leaving agent. Similarly to bread, usually it takes a while to make them as first the raw dough needs to rise. They are more difficult to make however have an amazing pillow texture.

Baked donut or cake donut (like this Baked Raspberry

Donuts with Raspberry glaze), on the other hand, is effectively made using similar ingredients as cakes and baking soda or powder is making them rise. Making baked doughnuts is rather quick and simple, the shape of the donuts is uniform because they are made in a donut pan. They are also considered to be healthier than fried donuts that are made in oil.

And there is a 3rd version, the mochi donuts that are fried yet the texture is different from American fried donuts. Mochi donuts, well known as Pon-de-ring In Japan, are delicious mochi-like ring shape donuts with a signature bouncy and chewy texture and colorful chocolate ganache glazings on top. Check my Japanese mochi donut recipe!

7 reasons why this is the Best recipe

1. It is extremely easy – No fancy ingredients are needed to make this baked raspberry cake donut recipe, and it comes together super easily. Both the mixing process as well as the baking process are very simple even if you are a beginner in the kitchen. The trickiest part is glazing the donuts but I will teach you a few simple rules so you will be able to make beautifully glazed doughnuts every time going forward
2. It is super quick – Compared to yeast-based donuts, these baked donuts with raspberry glaze can be made much quicker. Once you mix the ingredients you can proceed with baking, no need to wait for the yeast to get activated
3. Your kitchen won´t smell oily for days – While I love traditional yeast-based donuts baked in oil, let´s be honest, after making them, the kitchen will smell oily for days! Since baked donuts are made in the oven without oil, there is no oily smell whatsoever
4. They are healthier - We all know that frying things in oil is not necessarily the healthiest baking method. These raspberry baked donuts are done in the oven, we can call them sort of healthy donuts
5. They are extremely delicious – Moist cake doughnuts filled with tangy fresh raspberries and covered with a super delicious raspberry ganache that is enhanced with rosewater (optional). These raspberry donuts will certainly impress everyone
6. Easier to glaze and decorate them - Since baked donuts are made in a donut mold (eg. check this Silikomart Donut mold) they are baked more even and neat meaning it is easier to glaze and decorate them
7. Can be filled and flavored - Given baked donuts are effectively cake doughnuts, you can freely fill or flavor them with almost anything. I used some raspberries and rosewater this time but citrus zest, nuts or even chocolate chip could be used too

Ingredient notes

For the donuts

1. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using European-style 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. In this Baked Raspberry Donuts recipe, the butter needs to be at room temperature which technically means soft enough to be able to cream but not too soft or runny so avoid last-minute microwaving
2. Sugar: I am using simple white granulated sugar. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article in here
3. Egg: Room temperature as always
4. Flour: Pastry flour works very well in this recipe with low protein content resulting in a delicate, tender texture but All purpose flour can be used too. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my article in here
5. Salt: Essential ingredient in all dessert recipes, its main function is to balance the sweetness of the cakes
6. Baking powder: Baking powder is responsible for the Baked donuts to rise. We will use a relatively small amount as no need for a high rise
7. Vanilla (optional): Please please avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract which has lovely vanilla bits in there too
8. Raspberry: Use fresh or frozen raspberries. Each Baked donut has 4 pieces of raspberry in them that make them wonderfully flavourful and also colorful.
9. Rosewater (optional): Please note that there is a huge difference between pure rosewater, pure rose essence, and all the other fake ones. Make sure to only use 100% natural pure rose products for your health and also for your desserts´ taste. There is also a difference between rosewater and rose essence. Rosewater is sold in a larger bottle usually and you have to use more of that vs. rose essence. I am using rose water in this recipe however if you have rose essence at home, that is a much more concentrated product, you only need to use a tiny amount of that to achieve the same taste. Rosewater is rather a "love it or hate it" flavor, so feel free to skip it if you don´t like it or adjust the quantity to add more or less according to your liking. If you haven´t tried it before, I really recommend starting using it in desserts, it pairs amazingly with raspberry, white chocolate, lemon, orange, litchi, etc.

Exact Ingredient quantities can be found in the Recipe Card at the bottom of this page.

For the natural pink raspberry glaze

1. White chocolate: These Raspberry Baked donuts will be glazed with a white chocolate-based raspberry ganache. Since white chocolate has a close to neutral flavor and color, it can be made into all sorts of ganache: raspberry, mango, coffee ganache, etc. The ganache will be as delicious as the quality of the chocolate you are using so always try to use the highest quality you can access. I am using Callebaut WhiteChocolate (callets)
2. Heavy Cream: Also known as whipping cream or heavy cream, has a fat content of 36% - 40%. The one I am using has 36% fat content. Avoid substitutes like vegetable-based “whipping cream”
3. Raspberry: I am using frozen raspberry. I hand blend it into puree and pour it through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Feel free to use fresh raspberries and apply the same technique. Raspberry will give a beautiful natural color and flavor to the glaze, how amazing is that?!
4. Butter: As above, use unsalted at room temp
5. Rosewater (optional): As per above. Quantity is up to you depending on how much you love rosewater, I am a huge fan!

Exact Ingredient quantities can be found in the Recipe Card at the bottom of this page.

For the decoration

1. White chocolate: I am using Callebaut WhiteChocolate (callets)
2. Freezed dried raspberry: It is more stable to use freezed dried raspberry, than fresh ones, however, feel free to use what you can access. Avoid using frozen raspberry for decoration
3. Rose petals: It is not a must but I like to decorate my desserts according to their flavour profile. Organic rose petals are available from Amazon

4 Expert tips

1. How to make moist Baked Donuts

This Raspberry cake Donut recipe contains 4 basic ingredients; butter, sugar, egg, and flour and the volume will be supported by baking powder. Besides the basic ingredients, I am also using rosewater and raspberries to make the donuts more fragrant. These doughnuts are extremely moist and flavourful and can be made really easily and quickly.

• Prepare your donut mold, I am using Silikomart Donut mould, a silicone version from Silikomart that is very flexible and require no greasing
• The baking temp will be 175 C / 347 F but preheat the oven +20C / 68F as the oven temp will drop when you open the door and place the baking tins in
• Use Digital oven thermometer to understand your real oven temp
• Ingredients must be all measured with a Digital scale
• All ingredients must be at room temperature, otherwise, they won´t properly emulsify if eg. if butter is too cold, the batter might even break
• Whisk together room temp butter and sugar with an Electric hand mixer for 5 minutes until creamy and pale
• Add in egg, one at a time, mix with a hand whisk after each addition
• Fold in rosewater and vanilla if using
• Sift in dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt
• Fold the mixture with a rubber spatula just until fully combined, do not over mix
• Pipe batter into your donut mold. Do not fully fill the mold as the donuts will rise
• Press 4 raspberries into each donut
• Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
• Depending on the mold you are using either let the Donuts completely cool in the mold or remove the doughnuts carefully to a wire rack shortly after baking. They can be fragile while they are hot, do not break them

Important that you chill them before glazing to make sure that the glazing will sit on them neatly.

2. How to make naturally pink raspberry glaze for donuts

There are several donut glaze recipes, my preference is chocolate ganache for 3 reasons:

1. I find the texture easy to control and therefore easy to glaze the donuts without making a mess. Please read the next section regarding tips on how to glaze doughnuts

2. With the added raspberry puree this glaze has a beautiful and natural pink color and raspberry taste

3. No need to add tons of powdered sugar, in fact, no sugar is added to this glaze, the sweetness will come from the white chocolate

How to make the raspberry donut glaze

1. Place finely chopped high-quality white chocolate into a bowl, or use Callebaut WhiteChocolate (callets)
2. Hand blend raspberry into a puree, and pour it through a sieve to get rid of seeds. Frozen or fresh both work
3. Mix raspberry puree and heavy cream
4. Heat cream & raspberry puree mixture until just simmering. If it’s boiling, the cream is too hot and could burn the chocolate. If it is not warm enough, it won´t melt the chocolate properly
5. Pour warm cream and raspberry mixture over the white chocolate
6. Let the two sit for a minute then stir and/or blend together
7. Add in room temp butter and rosewater (if using), stir again and/or hand blend

The texture at this point will be runny, you have to wait with glazing the donuts until it slightly cools to about 27C / 81F. In a 20C / 68F kitchen that might take about 10 minutes. However, don´t let it fully set either as once it sets, it will become too thick to glaze the donuts. Remember, the temperature is very important when it comes to baking even for something as simple as glazing donuts.

Note: You won´t need all the glaze that is mentioned in the recipe card below however since we dip the donuts into the glaze, we need to make a bit more glaze than what is actually needed. Any leftover glaze can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for a week or two and you can use it on pancakes, cupcakes, etc.

3. How to neatly glaze donuts

Glazing Donuts does not have to be a mess if you follow some basic principles that are mainly related to the "right temperature".

Make sure that your donuts are cold (5C / 41F fridge temp) so the glaze can quickly be set on them instead of running on the side. The glaze must be not too thin and not too thick, about 27C / 81F is the ideal temperature for this white chocolate-based raspberry ganache.

I recommend measuring the glaze temperature properly and trying to glaze one donut first and see how it feels. If the glaze stays stable on the donut, continue with the rest. If the glaze is too runny and does not set on the doughnut, stir it a few times and wait until the glaze further cools. If the glaze is too thick and not able to smoothly cover the donut, slightly warm it up with a hairdryer (do not put the ganache on the stove or into the microwave).

Process of glazing the donuts

• Place the glaze into a big enough container so you can comfortably dip the donuts into it, however, it should not be too big either as the glaze should have some "depth" when you will dip the donut into it
• Hold the donut with your fingers and dip it into the glaze. Move the donut a bit for a few seconds, then carefully remove it from the glaze. While still holding the donut with your fingers (glazing facing down), carefully remove any excess glaze from it with the help of your fingers on your other hand
• If the temperature was correct, the glaze should stay on the donut without running on the side, however, it will take some time until it feels "dry" as you touch it
• Place the donuts on parchment paper and let the glaze fully set at room temp, or in case your kitchen is too warm, place it in the fridge

Possible glazing mistakes:

The Glaze runs on the side of the donut – either the donut was too warm (not fridge temp) or the glaze was too hot therefore too runny to set on the donuts

The glaze is too thick and set it a “wrinkled” way – either the donut was too cold or more likely that the glaze was too cold (thick) therefore it sets too quickly

4. How to decorate the Raspberry donuts

Decoration can really take your Raspberry cake donuts to the next level and the sky is the limit! Use ingredients and flavors you anyway included in your dessert, eg. I am using freezer dried raspberries and rose petals here.

To have these two elements visually "pop-out" I melted some white chocolate, poured it into a small piping bag, made a very very tiny hole on the piping bag, and applied some stripes on the doughnuts first.

Few tips:

• let the raspberry ganache glaze set first before continuing with chocolate stripes
• place the freezed dried raspberries and rose petals onto the donuts immediately after applying the white chocolate stripes otherwise they won´t stick to it

Use your creativity and feel free to decorate your donuts according to your liking!

Equipment notes

For baked donuts - since it is not yeast-based dough - you will need a donut mold to bake them. I love my Silikomart Donut mould that is made of silicone, therefore, no greasing nor preparation is needed and the donuts always come out perfect without being stuck into the pan.

Besides a donut mold, it is not mandatory but highly recommended to have a thermometer to measure the temp of the glaze to avoid glaze running all over the donuts and making a mess. I purchased an Infrared thermometer gun last year and absolutely love it, it is the most accurate and convenient way to check the temperate whether I am making sugar syrup for the macaron, the glaze for this donut recipe, or tempering chocolate! You can also measure the temp with other kinds of cheaper thermometers, choose according to your preference.

I also recommend investing in some Piping bags, as a home baker, you will need it all the time as it is much easier and neater to pipe the batter into the mold than anything else like pouring or spooning.

Last not but least, for a consistent, happy baking experience always measure your ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. Cup measurement is an indicative figure only and not the most accurate to achieve best-in-class results.

Recipe FAQs

More donut recipes

Mochi Donuts - Mochi donuts, well known as Pon-de-ring In Japan, are delicious mochi-like ring shape donuts with a signature bouncy and chewy texture and colorful chocolate ganache glazings on top

Blueberry donuts - These are the Ultimate Baked Blueberry donuts with a blueberry glaze that is bursting in lovely natural blueberry flavor! The donuts are crazy moist and delicious, and on top of the glaze, they are also filled with blueberries, you will love them!

Chocolate donuts - A crazy delicious, must-try homemade doughnut recipe with chocolate in the dough, in the glaze, and also in the decoration (that might remind you of Brigadeiros)!

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Raspberry cheesecake - This No-bake Raspberry cheesecake recipe is so easy that I might as well call it no effort cheesecake! Silky, ultra-creamy lemony cheese filling meets raspberry compote in a crunchy, sweet crust that is enhanced with freezed dried raspberries for the ultimate luxurious taste

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RECIPE CARD