Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Doughnuts

Soft baked richly chocolatey doughnuts, smothered in a mirror shiny deeply chocolatey glaze – surely a temptation to anyone?

Our house has been riddled with the most awful flu for the last couple of weeks – the girls have had loads of time off school unable to do anything but lie on the sofa and watch TV, and even now we’ve turned the corner to recovery they still don’t have any appetite or much strength. So, as we’ve been stuck in, I’ve been on a mission to cook things they might fancy to eat – things to tempt them to reignite their appetites and regain all that lost strength. We’ve had sweet corn chowder, savoury scones, homemade gingerbread, noodles and potato croquettes – small bites have been had, but nothing has really done the trick to re-fire the appetite. Until now! These doughnuts, with their stunning shiny glaze did the trick – at last, a small amount was wolfed down in seconds!

Chocolate Glazed Baked Chocolate Doughnuts

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

Makes 12

2 cups self-raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dairy-free milk

5 tbsp aquafaba (the water from a tin of beans or pulses)

2 tbsp dairy-free margarine, melted

1/2 tsp chocolate essence (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade
2. Grease a doughnut pan, or follow this method to use a normal muffin tray
3. Mix together the four, bicarbonate, salt, cocoa and sugar
4. Pour in the milk, melted margarine, aquafaba and essence and mix to form a smooth very runny dough.
5. Fill the doughnut pan, I find it easiest to use a piping bag
6. Bake for 7-10 minutes until well risen and a knife comes out clean
7. Cool on a wire rack

For the glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp dairy-free milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa.
2. Whisk in the milk and essence to form a glossy, smooth icing.
3. Spread on each doughnut and leave to set. Sprinkle with grated white chocolate, mini chocolate  chips or sprinkles, if desired.