My love of baking is legendary but what you may not know about me is that I love politics. Before you click ‘unfollow’, hear me out: I’m not going to share my politics with you, nor bore you with stats. I just find elections exciting and the democratic process fascinating. Plus there’s always a cake stall for which I undertake a marathon baking effort.
So when a federal election was held last weekend I almost tackled the fund-raising committee at Miss8’s school to co-run the cake stall. For my international readers, let me share with you a truth about the Australian political process – no vote is as important here as the ability to buy a cake from a cake stall or sausage sizzle from a BBQ on election day. We Aussies like our democracy with a side-serving of fat J Most polling places, such as schools and halls, have a fund-raising effort and our school is no exception.
Every family in the school was given a cake box and asked to make something to sell. Miss 8, 10 and I filled nine boxes with bickies, brownies and cakes but what sold the fastest was doughnuts. Miss 10 made baked cinnamon sugar doughnuts that sold in a flash, Miss 8 made Caramello-filled bickies, and I made baked lemon donuts. If I do say so myself, these lemon baked doughnuts were utterly delicious.
I highly recommend baking these lemon doughnuts next time you feel a baking urge. They don’t keep long which isn’t a problem as they are so delicious you will want to scoff the lot on one sitting.
You will need a doughnut pan for this recipe.
GATHER:
2 cups self-raising flour
finely grated zest from one large lemon
¾ cup caster sugar
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil eg canola
glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
1 couple of tablespoons of boiling water
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180C and use non-stick cooking spray to thoroughly grease a donut pan.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar and zest and make a well.
In a large jug whisk together milk, oil and eggs then tip into the flour bowl. Quickly stir until just combined.
Fill a piping bag with mixture then pipe into each hole until two-thirds full.
Depending on the size of your donut pan holes, bake for between 8-11 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Set aside for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze: Sift icing sugar into a small bowl and add water in small drops, stirring all the time, to make a thick spreadable paste. Working quickly flick the glaze across donuts. Allow glaze to set before serving.
the hungry mum 
oooo yummm!
Thanks 😉
Oh no I vows early last week hungry mum and you just reminded me I missed the sausage sizzle! I hope you made a good return on those delicious doughnuts!
The perils of voting early – no cake stall! My mum did the same 😉 I can hardly wait for the state election so I can do it all over again!
Thanks for all your efforts at the school cake stall. We had Miss 10’s yummy doughnuts and Miss 8’s delicious cookies for breakfast on election day. I didn’t know there was such a thing as a doughnut tin – I’ll have to invest in one, as we have some lemons on our tree, waiting for the right recipe
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Thanks Robyn! I love election day and selling cakes is such a great way to spend a day. I am very excited that you are going to bake these doughnuts – please let me know how they go x
lemon anything is simply the best, I know these doughnuts are no exception!
Thanks Stephanie! Lemon lovers unite 😉
I’ve yet to make a baked doughnut. I have a feeling this would be a fabulous recipe to start with. I adore lemon
Thanks Katy! I hope this will be the recipe that tempts you…
These look wonderful! I have never made doughnuts either, but would like to try. Your post was so interesting hearing about the voting process where you live. I think having bake sales at the voting polls is an awesome idea! I wish we did that here. Sure would get more people out to vote if they knew it meant they could stand in line while eating a doughnut! 🙂 By the way, I love politics, too!
Thanks Shari! Election Day here is so easy and fun but still people gripe about having to vote. Before we had kids we used to drive from polling place to polling place, checking out the best cakes stalls 🙂
Oh I’d much rather a sweet treat then a sausage on election day, I wonder if we will have to go through all that again soon? If yes, I’ll be putting a call out for the places that have desserts available. Great recipe lady. I am on the look out for a donut pan. When I find it, will give these babies a whirl!
I am probably the only person in Oz who would be thrilled if we have to go to the polls again #DoubleCakeStallExcitement YOu need a donut pan, stat. Do you have a Wheel and Barrow store near you? Failing that, Amazon.
Hehe I didn’t know that about you! But seriously there weren’t as many sausage sizzles as there are usually. And that is sad!
Oh yes, I am a politics nerd 🙂 Combine it with a cake stall and election day is MY day!
I need to make these for my father-in-law, a doughnut and lemon lover! They look wonderful!
Baked doughnuts leave us feeling a little bit less guilty for our indulgences! 🙂 I love that you went with lemon here. It’s a great light option for those of us in the States experiencing a sweltering hot summer! Lovely recipes on your blog; thank you!
hey Stephanie, thank you for your kind words 🙂 I love lemon and it helps that we have so many lemons thanks to a raid on my mum-in-law’s lemon tree 🙂
“… eat them all in one sitting”? I live alone. Whether I eat them all at once or in batches, I’m still going to eat them all. Judging by their looks and your baking skills, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 🙂
Hehehe! On the plus side – you get to eat them all 😉 Glad to see you back, hope you;re doing OK.