I’ve been wanting to make these blood orange cardamom doughnuts for a long time. It all started back when I saw a picture of blood orange pound cake. I loved the color of the icing, and I knew I had to use it on doughnuts.

Then I started thinking about other toppings. I have a bunch of dried rose petals and I love how those look on baked goods, so I decided to use them.

Initially I thought about doing a blood orange doughnut with blood orange icing, but that seemed like overkill. I decided instead to do a cardamom spiced doughnut with blood orange glaze on top and lots of rose petals, because why not?

The best part about these doughnuts, besides how good they taste, is how adaptable they are. You can use the base with almost any topping. Not a fan of blood orange? Sub another fruit juice in the recipe for the icing. Chocolate would also be delicious on top of these doughnuts. I’m thinking of a Mexican hot chocolate doughnut now…

Here’s a song to get you started on your blood orange cardamom doughnut journey.

Blood Orange Cardamom Doughnuts

Ingredients

for the doughnuts:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp almond milk
1 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

for the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp blood orange juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray doughnut pans with nonstick spray and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground cardamom. Pour in the almond milk, applesauce, melted butter, and vanilla extract and mix until just combined. Remove the bowl and give the batter a couple stirs with a sturdy spatula. You don’t want to see any flour in the batter.

Use an icing bag, a plastic bag with the tip cut off, or spoons to fill the doughnut pans most of the way full with batter. Bake the doughnuts for about 10 minutes, or until the tops spring back to the touch. Remove the pans from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes, then turn the doughnuts out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the doughnuts are cooling, make the icing. Whisk blood orange juice into powdered sugar until the icing is your desired consistency. You might need to add more sugar or juice depending on what you want. Dip the tops of the cooled doughnuts in the icing and top with rose petals, sprinkles, or anything else you desire. Enjoy!