Enchanting Mini Blue Donuts: A Whimsical Gluten-Free Treat with Butterfly Pea Flower
Discover the magic of these baked, gluten-free mini blue donuts, brought to life with the vibrant natural hue of butterfly pea flower powder. Perfect for any gathering, these delightful treats are elegantly decorated with a creamy honey glaze and adorned with delicate flowers and berries for a truly whimsical touch. They offer a wonderfully fun baking project to share with kids and make an ideal miniature dessert for an unforgettable afternoon tea party. Their unique color and delectable taste are sure to charm everyone who tries them.
Shared Culinary Adventures: Baking with Amelia
For years, cooking with my delightful little cousin, Amelia, has been a cherished tradition whenever she visits with her mom. Our kitchen has witnessed many joyous culinary explorations, starting from her early childhood. Our very first adventure, alongside my other young cousin, Lincoln, when they were both just four years old, involved crafting a vibrant batch of homemade playdough. It was messy, colorful, and filled with laughter, laying the foundation for many more delicious memories.
As Amelia grew, so did our baking ambitions. When she was seven, we effortlessly whipped up a batch of incredibly easy no-bake cereal bars. These simple, satisfying treats were a testament to how much fun and rewarding baking could be, even for young hands. Each visit brought new recipes and new opportunities to bond over spatulas and mixing bowls.
Now, I’ve had the immense pleasure of baking with a teen-aged Amelia, who has blossomed into a spirited and engaging 15-year-old high school student. She’s not only a bright academic but also an impressive athlete, excelling in both ice hockey and field hockey. Her love for the outdoors is infectious; she’s eagerly anticipating her fall semester, which includes an intensive environmental studies program. This program promises a myriad of wilderness adventures, from challenging hikes and overnight camping to backpacking and canoeing. Beyond her academic and athletic pursuits, Amelia also has a passion for downhill mountain biking and zipping around our yard on the quad, embodying a true zest for life and adventure.
And wonderfully, she’s also turning into an aspiring baker, bringing her boundless energy and curiosity into the kitchen!
Our Magical Baking Project: Gluten-Free Butterfly Pea Mini Blue Donuts
During Amelia’s visit, we eagerly planned a delightful Fairy Garden Afternoon Tea Picnic. To complement this whimsical theme, what could be more fitting and enchantingly fairy-like than these adorable mini blue donuts? To achieve their captivating true blue shade, we harnessed the natural power of powdered butterfly pea flowers in our baked mini cake donuts. This “magic” powder is truly a marvel in the kitchen. When used as-is, as we did for these donuts, it imparts a beautiful, natural blue color. However, its true magic reveals itself when you introduce an acid, like lemon juice, causing it to transform into a vibrant magenta pink – making it incredibly fun to use in drinks like lemonade for a dramatic color shift.
Butterfly pea flower powder is a fantastic natural food coloring with no discernible taste, ensuring the pure flavor of your baked goods shines through. It can typically be found online through various retailers or at specialty health food stores and Asian markets. Its natural properties make it a healthier alternative to artificial food dyes, aligning perfectly with a desire for wholesome ingredients. These unique donuts are not just visually stunning; they are a treat for the taste buds, too.
These little donuts are both whimsical in appearance and utterly delicious in flavor. A subtle hint of nutmeg gives them that comforting, traditional cake donut taste, while the rich, creamy honey glaze elevates them to a truly decadent level. One of the best features of this recipe is its adaptability: while our version is proudly gluten-free, using a high-quality gluten-free flour blend, you can easily substitute it with regular all-purpose flour if you don’t have dietary restrictions. For decoration, Amelia’s artistic touch shone through as she delicately adorned these two-bite dainties with vibrant blue borage flowers and tiny snippets of white cilantro blossoms. Any small, edible blossoms from your garden, or even just a fresh blueberry paired with a small mint leaf, would create an equally stunning and appetizing presentation.
Step-by-Step: Let’s Make Our Mini Blue Donuts!
Come along and join Amelia as she embarks on the baking journey to create these enchanting mini blue donuts! We start by preparing our ingredients with careful attention to detail. Amelia’s first task is to measure out the butter, which then needs to be melted and set aside to cool slightly. This allows it to reach the perfect temperature before being incorporated into the batter, ensuring a smooth and evenly mixed dough. While the butter is cooling, she meticulously measures out the dry ingredients. A crucial step for the butterfly pea flower powder is to sift it. This natural coloring agent can sometimes contain small lumps that, if not removed, won’t dissolve properly in the batter, leading to an uneven color distribution. Amelia skillfully uses a whisk in the sieve to combine the dry ingredients, ensuring everything is well aerated and lump-free. Alternatively, a fork or spoon, or even your hand, can be used to sift and combine these ingredients.
The true magic unfolds the moment you introduce the wet ingredients to the dry mixture. As Amelia gently stirs, the batter begins its stunning transformation, gradually turning into a mesmerizing, deep blue hue. This visual spectacle is always a highlight, especially when baking with children, as it truly brings the “magic” of the butterfly pea flower to life. Just look at that vibrant, beautiful batter – it’s almost too pretty to bake!
Precision and Fun: Piping the Batter into Pans
For perfectly formed, uniformly shaped mini donuts, piping the batter into the donut pans is the recommended technique. This method ensures each donut has a clean, consistent ring shape. To prepare for piping, carefully scrape the enchanting blue donut batter into a piping bag. If you have one, use a large round tip (about ½-inch or 1 cm opening) to create smooth, even circles. Alternatively, a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag works just as effectively: simply snip off one corner to create a ½-inch hole, and you’re ready to pipe. Gently squeeze the batter into the mini donut wells, aiming for a smooth, continuous circle. It’s important not to overfill the wells; filling each only halfway will yield approximately 24 adorable mini blue donuts, ensuring they bake perfectly and maintain their delicate texture.
Once the pans are filled with our vibrant blue batter, it’s time to usher these little blue beauties into the oven. As they bake to golden perfection, there’s always a moment for some lighthearted fun! Baking should be an enjoyable experience, and Amelia certainly knows how to keep things lively in the kitchen. A little bit of clowning around, perhaps balancing a spray can on her head, adds to the joy and creates unforgettable memories, making the waiting time for those delicious donuts fly by.
The Grand Finale: Frosting and Decorating Our Mini Blue Donuts
Once the mini blue donuts have cooled, it’s time for the crowning glory: the exquisite cream cheese honey glaze. To prepare this heavenly topping, start with softened cream cheese and beat it until it’s perfectly smooth and lump-free. Then, carefully sift in the icing sugar and an additional touch of butterfly pea flower powder. The second addition of the powder ensures the glaze also boasts a beautiful, ethereal blue hue, perfectly complementing the donuts themselves. Finally, beat in the liquid honey and pure vanilla extract until the mixture is light, fluffy, and creamy. This luscious, sweet glaze provides the ideal canvas for decoration.
With a small spatula or knife, spread a generous, luscious swirl of this heavenly blue frosting over the top of each cooled mini blue donut. The contrast between the baked donut and the smooth, vibrant glaze is simply irresistible. This is where creativity truly shines, allowing for personalized artistic touches on each mini treat.
The final decorative touches transform these already beautiful mini blue donuts into truly special treats. Amelia’s exquisite choice of a single fresh blueberry, a delicate borage flower, and a tiny cilantro blossom on each donut made them look truly stunning and unique. Her preference for simplicity in decoration resulted in an elegant and eye-catching presentation. However, the possibilities for embellishment are endless! You could experiment with any small edible blossoms from your garden, such as pansies, violets, or even rose petals. For a simpler yet equally charming look, a fresh blueberry paired with a small, vibrant mint leaf offers a lovely contrast of color and flavor. These finishing touches not only enhance the visual appeal but also add a delicate freshness that perfectly complements the rich glaze and cakey donut base.
The Perfect Treat: Mini Blue Donuts for a Tea Party
Our preparations for the Fairy Garden Afternoon Tea Party Picnic were filled with excitement and creativity, and these enchanting mini blue donuts were undoubtedly a highlight of our delicious spread. They brought a magical touch of color and whimsy that perfectly captured the essence of our themed gathering. Beyond the donuts, Amelia also crafted a wonderfully fun and summery gluten-free almond sponge cake, which she lovingly decorated with an assortment of fresh berries, edible flowers, and fragrant herbs. It was a truly pretty creation that tasted as delightful as it looked, serving as a beautiful centerpiece for our picnic table. For those curious to learn more about the cake recipe and to dive into the full enchanting story of our magical picnic, you can find all the details here. Sharing these homemade delights, especially with such a meaningful theme, made the entire experience even more special and memorable.
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Guten Appetit!
Mini Blue Donuts
Margaret Bose Johnson
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20 minutes
10 minutes
15 minutes
45 minutes
Afternoon Tea, Baking
Canadian
24
mini donuts
60
kcal
Equipment
-
2 mini donut pans
with 12 (2-inch/5 cm diameter) donut wells in each
Ingredients
for the mini blue donuts:
-
3
tablespoons
(45 ml) butter, melted and cooled -
¾
cup
(100 g) gluten-free flour blend
or regular flour for non-gluten-free -
¾
teaspoon
baking powder -
1½
teaspoons
butterfly pea flower powder -
¼
teaspoon
nutmeg -
⅛
teaspoon
fine sea salt -
½
cup
(120 ml) milk -
1
large
egg -
⅓
cup
(70 g) sugar -
2
teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
for the cream cheese honey glaze:
-
4
oz.
cream cheese, room temperature
(½ of a 250 g/8oz pkg) -
¼
cup
(30 g) icing sugar
(powdered sugar/confectioner’s sugar) -
1
teaspoon
butterfly pea flower powder, sifted -
2
tablespoons
liquid honey -
¼
teaspoon
pure vanilla extract -
24 blueberries and small edible flowers or small mint leaves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400℉ (200℃). Prepare two 12-hole mini donut pans by greasing the wells thoroughly with baking spray, or by applying softened butter using a pastry brush for even coverage.
- Melt the butter completely, then set it aside to cool slightly while you prepare other ingredients.
- In a spacious mixing bowl, sift together the gluten-free flour blend (or regular flour), baking powder, butterfly pea powder, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. Whisk these dry ingredients thoroughly to ensure they are well combined and lump-free.
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the large egg, milk, sugar, the cooled melted butter, and the pure vanilla extract until a smooth, uniform liquid mixture is achieved.
- Form a well in the center of your combined dry ingredients. Pour the whisked wet egg mixture into this well, then gently stir to combine everything. Be careful not to overmix. Allow the batter to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes; this critical step allows the butterfly pea powder to fully dissolve, revealing its vibrant blue color, and for the flour to properly hydrate, resulting in a tender donut.
- Carefully scrape the rested batter into a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip. If you don’t have a piping bag, a sturdy zip-top plastic bag with one corner snipped off to create a ½-inch hole will work perfectly.
- Pipe the batter into continuous rings into the wells of your mini donut pans, ensuring each well is filled only halfway to allow for proper rising and shape.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the mini donuts appear dry on top, have a slight golden hue around their edges, and spring back gently when lightly touched. This indicates they are fully cooked.
- Once baked, carefully tip the donut pan over onto a wire cooling rack, allowing the donuts to release. Let them cool completely before proceeding to frost and decorate them. Once cool, generously frost each with the Cream Cheese Honey Glaze and adorn with a fresh blueberry and small edible flowers (or mint leaves) for an extra special touch.
To make Cream Cheese Honey Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until it is exceptionally smooth and completely lump-free. Alternatively, you can achieve this by beating vigorously with a sturdy spoon.
- Using a small fine-mesh sieve, sift in the icing sugar and the butterfly pea flower powder directly into the cream cheese mixture. Sifting the butterfly pea powder is essential, as it can be quite lumpy and difficult to incorporate smoothly otherwise.
- Continue to beat in the liquid honey and pure vanilla extract until the glaze is wonderfully smooth, creamy, and evenly colored. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
- This recipe yields approximately 24 mini donuts, each about two inches in diameter. The exact quantity may vary slightly if your donut wells are larger.
Notes
You may find that you have some leftover cream cheese honey glaze after frosting all 24 mini donuts. This delightful excess can be stored in the refrigerator or frozen for future use. It makes an excellent topping for pancakes, muffins, or cakes, or can be enjoyed as a sweet, creamy spread for bagels or toast.
Nutrition
Serving:
1
donut
Calories:
60
kcal
Carbohydrates:
8
g
Protein:
1
g
Fat:
3
g
Saturated Fat:
2
g
Polyunsaturated Fat:
0.2
g
Monounsaturated Fat:
1
g
Trans Fat:
0.1
g
Cholesterol:
15
mg
Sodium:
49
mg
Potassium:
18
mg
Fiber:
0.5
g
Sugar:
5
g
Vitamin A:
96
IU
Vitamin C:
0.2
mg
Calcium:
20
mg
Iron:
0.2
mg
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