Spiced Cake Donuts

I'm pretty sure these donuts were the very last thing I managed to make before I flew to New York. This recipe comes not from the adorable book Doughnuts (I wish I could bake more from it but I don't have a fryer!); it's the recipe that accompanied one of the donut pans that I bought at the beginning of the year. Figuring that any recipe that comes with a product must be tested well, I decided to bake them for the few girls who were still here. These donuts are lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and so I decided that they would be best topped with cinnamon and sugar. Given that they only have 1 tbsp of fat in them, these are best eaten as soon as they are made, although they probably won't even make it to the next day. And although you  skeptics might be right that these are just little cakes disguised as donuts, the donut shape is pretty darn irresistible. These come together really easy with just a whisk, so there's no reason not to make them. If you don't have a donut pan, try making them as mini muffins.
Spiced Cake Donuts
from the Norpro donut pans

2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp shortening

Preheat your oven to 325. Lightly grease a donut pan.

Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl,

and whisk to combine.

Dump the remaining ingredients onto the dry goods,

and taking care not to overbeat, whisk until a cohesive batter is formed.

Spoon the batter into the pan. The batter yields enough for twelve donuts.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until they spring back lightly when touched and are a light golden color. Allow to cool for a minute before removing from the pan.

Either enjoy plain or melt some butter/margarine and dip each donut into cinnamon-sugar.