DOUGHNUTS WITH BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY AND CHEESECAKE FILLING

BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE DOUGHNUTS

Hi, Hi, Happy Friday! Just in case you were looking for a wee baking / deep frying project this weekend, I have these balsamic blueberry and cheesecake doughnuts for you! I’ve made a bunch of doughnuts before, but I do have to say the filling on these is right up there as a contender for favourite ever. I love a fruit filled doughnut, and paired with a silky whipped cheesecake filling, these things are next level.

For the doughnut base itself I riffed on this dough that I made a few months ago, which is a leaner dough than I would usually work with, but made the most amazing fluffy doughnuts, perfect for stuffing full of delicious things. I switched out the milk for buttermilk, which gave them an amazing flavour, and popped an egg in there just to help keep everything together. If you only wanted to make a few doughnuts you could turn the rest of the dough into buns or rolls – it is super versatile so you can do with it what you like!

HOW TO MAKE BALSAMIC BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

I love making compotes out of slightly tired or frozen fruit – it is a great way to use whatever you have floating around in the fridge or freezer, and a great way to brighten them up a bit is to cut through the sweetness of the fruit by adding an acid. You can use lemon juice, but my favourite way to do it is to use balsamic vinegar! The balsamic gives a super interesting flavour profile to the filling, and I think it pairs so well with the blueberries. I used my favourite from Filippo Berio, and it worked so well. The filling is super easy to make – you just cook everything down, then strain out the fruit and reduce the liquid down just a bit more so that it is nice and thick and won’t run everywhere when you pipe it into the doughnuts. The fruit then gets mixed back in, and the whole thing is left to cool. It works with almost any berries – it’s just my favourite.

I paired the balsamic berry filling with a super smooth, silky cheesecake filling which is really easy to make – basically you just whip together some room temp cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, then a wee bit of cream to make it a nice consistency. It’s super yum as is, but pairs so, so nicely with the balsamic blueberry filling. I’m in love.