Mini Donuts with lavender, rose and hibiscus glazes

These cute little donuts remind me of The Simpsons cartoon donuts!  Tiny and perfectly round with bright glazes and sprinkles. By making a few different glazes, this basic vanilla recipe can be transformed into many different flavors and vibrant colors. This time, I have decided to add a feminine, floral spin to these miniature cuties by making three different glazes: lavender, rose and hibiscus.

Baked mini donuts
~makes about 60 mini donuts

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the hibiscus glaze:
5 dried hibiscus flowers
3 tablespoons hot water
8 tablespoons icing sugar

For the lavender glaze:
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
3 tablespoon whole milk
8 tablespoons icing sugar

For the rose glaze:
2 tablespoons rose water
6 tablespoons icing sugar

For decoration:
an assortment of sprinkles and/or dried lavender

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Prepare mini donut pans by lightly spraying with nonstick spray. If your cake pans are silicon, this step can be omitted.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Whisk until smooth with no clumps.

Carefully spoon batter into donut cake pans. Fill until three quarters full. Bake for 11 minutes.

Remove donuts from oven and unmold. Cool on wire racks.

To make the hibiscus flower glaze, soak the hibiscus flowers in hot water.  Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain and discard dried flowers. In a small bowl whisk together hibiscus liquid and icing sugar until smooth. Adjust consistency by adding small spoonfuls of icing sugar if it is too thin, and water one drop at a time if it is too thick. The glaze should be thick enough to adhere in a thick smooth layer on the donuts, almost like the consistency of porridge. Dip the tops of each donut in glaze and place on wire rack. Sprinkle with colorful nonpareils. Cool until glaze is set.

For the lavender glaze, boil milk with lavender in a small saucepan. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain and discard lavender.  In a small bowl, whisk together lavender milk with icing sugar. Adjust consistency with additional sugar or water if needed.  Dip the tops of each donut in glaze and place on wire rack. Sprinkle with dried lavender. Cool until glaze is set.

For the rose glaze, combine rose water and icing sugar in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.  Adjust consistency with additional sugar or water if needed.  Dip the tops of each donut in glaze and place on wire rack. Sprinkle with pearly sprinkles. Cool until glaze is set.

The mini donuts can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. They can be stacked once the glaze has hardened.

Friendly tip: do not attempt to glaze all your donuts before adding sprinkles! The glaze dries fairly quickly. Once it dries, the sprinkles will not adhere. I glazed 4-5 donuts at a time, then added sprinkles before the glaze has a chance to dry.