Red Velvet Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Glaze

For the doughnuts:

1. In a large bowl, stir egg and granulated sugar until combined. Add melted butter and red food coloring and mix well.
2. In a separate small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the baking soda, the buttermilk, the cider vinegar, and the vanilla extract. Slowly add this into the egg/sugar/butter/red food coloring mixture and combine thoroughly.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder and stir a few times to aerate. Slowly add this into the bowl of batter and stir until just combined. If the dough is too soft, add extra flour. Dough should be stiff and hold its shape when rolled, but should not rock-solid.
4. Fill a large, deep pot with a few inches of oil and/or shortening and heat until the oil temperature is in the 350-375 F range. Do not exceed 375 F.*
5. On a floured surface, roll dough out to 1/2″ thickness. Cut out shapes with one large round cookie cutter (in the 4″ neighborhood) and then cut holes in the middle of them with a small cookie cutter (in the 1″-2″ neighborhood). Fry in batches of 3-4 doughnuts at a time, about a minute per side. Remove the cooked doughnuts to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Repeat the frying process until all of the dough is cooked.

For the glaze:

1. Using a hand or stand mixer set to low, combine the softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar, and 1/4 cup milk. When the mixture is smooth, add the rest of the confectioner’s sugar and the rest of the milk and beat until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add more milk until a drizzling consistency is achieved.
2. Set the doughnuts on a cooling rack that you’ve placed on top of a sheet tray (to catch the drips) and either dip the tops of the doughnuts in the glaze and rest (unglazed side down) on the cooling rack, or drizzle glaze over the tops of the doughnuts. Allow glaze to set or eat immediately. Glaze will take a while to fully dry.**

*Please take extreme caution when frying. Remember that dumping cold dough into the hot oil will cause it to splash, so place doughnuts very gently in the oil. Never leave your hot oil unattended and do not let the oil reach temperatures higher than the recommended 375 F.
**Doughnuts are best within a few hours of frying, so I would recommend freezing whatever you do not eat within 12 hours of frying.