Pumpkin spice lattes are not my thing, but give me the flavours of pumpkin with all those autumnal spices in any other format and I’m sold. These little doughnuts are ridiculously easy to make, much faster than the traditional yeasted kind, so you can have them hot out of the fryer in less than an hour. These have got a soft, more cake-like texture thanks to the pumpkin puree – I use tinned for ease, but you could blitz up your own if you have some squash to use up.
Pumpkin spice mini doughnuts with maple cream
Prep 15 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 6
For the doughnuts
200g pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
200g plain flour
65g caster sugar, plus extra to finish
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon, plus extra to finish
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
A pinch of salt
50g unsalted butter, melted
Sunflower oil, for deep-frying
For the maple cream
200ml double cream
2 tbsp maple syrup
A pinch of salt
Mix the pumpkin puree, eggs and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the pumpkin mixture and melted butter. Stir until just combined, cover and leave to sit at room temperature for about half an hour.
Mix three tablespoons of caster sugar and a half-teaspoon of cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.
To make the maple cream, whip the cream and maple syrup to stiff peaks and chill in the fridge until needed.
Half-fill a medium-sized saucepan with oil and heat it to 170C using a thermometer; alternatively, test by dropping in a drop of batter – it should sizzle and float to the surface (if it browns in seconds, the oil is too hot).
Drop heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for a minute or two on each side, until they are deep golden in colour. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper. While the doughnuts are still hot, toss them in the cinnamon sugar and serve with the maple cream.
