I was a band geek in high school. I learned to read sheet music just after I started sound out the stories in Arthur and Clifford the Big Red Dog, so Mom signed me up for piano lessons as a 7-year-old, then flute when I turned 10. I picked up alto sax a little while later, bari sax as a sophomore, and oboe and English horn as a junior. Oh, and piccolo somewhere along the way too.
Yup, a BIG band geek.
The summer before senior year, two of my flute friends decided to try out the oboe too. We arranged to hold oboe lessons once a week at one of their houses, where I’d teach them the basic embouchures and fingerings.
On the second lesson, I knocked on the door to find the girls huddled over the kitchen countertop. A gallon of milk sat opened nearby, and they stared worriedly into a white mixing bowl.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“We’re… Uh… Making cookies,” one of them answered.
“We were using a mix,” the other girl explained. “But it looked too dry, so we added milk, and now it’s too wet… We don’t know what to do!”
I chuckled and replied, “Do you have any flour and baking powder?” We stirred in some of each, chilled the dough during the oboe lessons, and finished off the afternoon by baking chocolate chip cookies and dunking them in milk. But for the remainder of the summer, we decided to ditch the music and hold baking lessons instead!
My fluties first requested to make strawberry shortcakes from scratch. Since I had never baked—or even tasted—one, I turned to my trusty Cooking Light for a recipe (yup, that’s the one we used!), gathered the ingredients, and invited the girls over. I supervised while they followed the recipe exactly. Well, minus the part about light whipped cream… We stuck with the good stuff! And when the shortcakes came out of the oven, we barely had enough time to assemble and photograph them before devouring every last one!
By Christmas, the girls were completely self-sufficient, baking their own cookies and cupcakes from scratch (and giving me some as holiday gifts!). We stopped baking lessons soon after, but last week—years and years later!—one girl and I began reminiscing about those fun afternoons. The nostalgia hit me hard enough that I found myself pulling flour and sugar off of my kitchen shelves!
Instead of making the same thing, I put a little twist on it, turning them into strawberry shortcake donuts instead. With a thick layer of whipped cream in plate of the usual donut icing, these little treats taste just like I remember—sweet, juicy, and perfect for a summer’s day!
The donuts are sweet and tasty on their own, but the whipped cream is what makes them taste like shortcakes!
- Preheat an electric donut maker.
- Lightly spoon the flour into measuring cups and level with a knife. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white, oil, vanilla, milk, and sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the strawberries.
- Lightly coat the inside of the donut maker with nonstick cooking spray. Completely fill each donut slot with batter. Close the lid, and bake for 6-8 minutes. Remove the finished donuts from the donut maker, and let them cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Just before serving, top each donut with 1 teaspoon of whipped cream.
Notes: Be sure to dice the strawberries fairly small! Larger chunks interfere with the donuts baking properly.
For a vegan version, substitute 1½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for the egg; soy, almond, rice, or coconut milk for the skim milk; and coconut or cashew cream for the whipped cream.
These looks amazing! Think I will have the same results subbing in gluten-free flour?!?! Thanks!
Thanks Davida! I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t tried GF flours with these yet, so I don’t know if they would rise the same as with regular all-purpose flour. But I say it’s worth a shot! 🙂
What a fun idea! These look so yummy. I definitely don’t have a donut cooker (how fun do those sound?!) but I would maybe try baking them in a donut pan! And I loved your story. So fun. Definitely was a choir nerd in high school… My choir even gave me the name “Mamma Choir.” 🙂
Thanks Erin! My guy bought mine for my Christmas present — it was the sweetest story! (I posted about it earlier, but he basically drove 100 miles to find one. SO adorable!) I’d love to hear how they turn out in your donut pan! I’m never quite what to do about directions for baking them in the oven since I don’t have a pan. 😉 And that’s such a cute name from your choir!
these sound yummy!
Thanks Dina! It’s hard to beat strawberries and whipped cream during the summer. 😉
I can’t wait to try some of these . thanks for this site !!
My pleasure Louise; I really hope you like them! 🙂
I know these are meant to be made in a Donut Maker, but would they work to be made in an oven(like a regular cake I suppose)? If so at what temperature and how long?
Yes, you can bake the batter in a traditional oven! I’d recommend using either mini or standard-sized muffin cups. Bake them at 350°F, but since I haven’t done that myself, I’m not entirely sure how long. They’ll be done when the tops feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I’d start checking on the mini muffins around 9-10 minutes and the standard-sized muffins around 15-17 minutes. I’d love to hear how that works and what you think of them Jaynet!