How To Make Donut Holes In A Cake Pop Maker

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This Donut Tree is so much fun to eat, make and display! Learn how to make a donut cake tower in this post, including step-by-step pictures.

Hi! My name is Jonathan (AKA Tina's partner AKA the lucky guy who eats of all the food that appears on The Worktop AKA @jonajooey).

Donut Hole Cake Pops

I'm not quite sure how we got here. I'm not typically the crafty type, or the one to spend much time in the kitchen.

But between a recent donut craving, trying to come up with a fun DIY project to do with my kid, and mama working on a Hosting a Baby Shower Brunch post (to be shared soon!), it led to me and BB making a Donut Tree together.

And let me tell you, it was so much fun (and easy!) I think we are going to make a donut tree again.

Homemade Donut Holes (3 Flavors)

My thought is that we will be making donut birthday cakes going forward. And come the holidays, a donut Christmas tree will replace our Gingerbread house traditions.

It takes 5 simple steps to make your donut cake tower. Step by step instructions and pictures follow, but here's the quick rundown:

The hardest part of this entire project is deciding on the perfect styrofoam to serve as the base for your donut hole tree. Depending on how many donuts you want to serve/eat, you can size the styrofoam accordingly.

Doughnut Hole Tower

I wasn't sure how many donut holes we would need, so I ended up buying 60 of them. But our 9.8-inch / 25 cm styrofoam could only fit 48 comfortably. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not complaining about the extra leftover donuts.

We do this because you can never be sure whether the styrofoam is food safe. You also prevent little specks of styrofoam from getting on the donuts.

Just to be on the safe side, we used a bit of simple icing to make sure the styrofoam tree base stays in place on the plate.

How To Make A Donut Hole Tree

Even for someone as challenged at cooking as I am, this was easy: Just add powdered sugar plus a tiny bit of water into a bowl and mix it so it's like a glue.

View this post on Instagram I’m definitely asking for extra rainbow rice on my ice cream next time 🌈🍦😂 __________________ #IceCreamLife #ToddlerLogic #LifeWithAToddler #ParentingComics #ParentingHumor #ParentHumor #MomHumor #Wholesome A post shared by jonathan (@jonajooey) on Jul 29, 2019 at 7:02am PDT Step four: Break out the donut holes and make donut holes with sprinkles

To make the donut hole cake a bit more festive, we decided to turn some of the donut holes into sprinkled versions.

Halloween Donut Hole Cake Pops

TIP: The next time I make a donut hole tree, I actually would do this step first so the sprinkled donuts have a chance to dry and are ready to go when you're putting the donuts on the tree.

Start from the bottom and work your way up. But, some finesse is helpful. So here are a few tips I can share.

It is easier to construct this donut hole tree with longer toothpicks at hand. With longer skewers, you can insert them further into the styrofoam cone for a sturdier hold on the donut holes.

Homemade Cake Donut Recipe

Longer toothpicks also let you break or cut them into varying lengths more easily. I'll explain why this is important in the next tip.

With the toothpicks, I found it helpful to break them into varying lengths depending on how high up the styrofoam base I was.

By the time you get to the top, the toothpick will poke out of the other side. Additionally, you're going to have so many toothpicks in that thing you might end up hitting another toothpick.

Birthday Cake Doughnut Holes Recipe

And another point from experience on getting the donut holes on to the styrofoam is to actually stab the toothpick into the styrofoam first, then stab the donut into the toothpick poking out.

As you work your way up the styrofoam, you'll notice that each donut sits on top in between the two donuts below it. It does get squashy at the top though, so just try your best.

If you have large gaps in your donut hole tree, fill them up with decorations! That way, no one will be able to tell.

Old Fashioned Sugar Donut Holes

I had a lot of fun making this donut tree with BB. You'll figure out pretty quickly what your toddler can and cannot help with.

If a good-looking donut tree is a concern, then make sure you help guide your toddler to using the pretty side of the donut. You'll notice on the donut holes where the glazing ends or where the dough was cut off. Those are the spots that you want on the inside of the tree.

Durafoam Cone White 9.85 inches India Tree Nature's Colors Carnival Sprinkles, 6 Ounce Fox Run Brands Bamboo Skewers, 4-inch (set of 200) 2-inch Honeycomb Balls

High Protein Chocolate Cake Baked Donut Holes

Now it's time for me to go make another coffee. Happy eating to everyone! To keep browsing around The Worktop, don't miss these toddler friendly breakfast ideas.

Donut holes vary in sizes, so plan accordingly. For smaller supermarket donut holes (and possibly even Dunkin' Donut munchkins), I would suggest purchasing at least 5-6 dozen.

I purchased 6 dozen, and ended up with 2 dozen extra. And we ate all the extra donut holes - no problem! 

Homemade Doughnut Holes Recipe With Whisky Dipping Sauce

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A breakfast lover and food blogger. Tina develops everyday breakfast recipes on The Worktop, and writes about all things related to breakfast and brunch. Read more about Tina Jui or drop an email to say hi.I’m a huge donut fan. If I can find a way to include them in my everyday, you know I’m going to take it. So it was only a matter of time before I found a way to incorporate donuts with cake! This easy donut hole cake hack not only saves you time, stress, and a messy kitchen, but it looks and tastes great too!

Don’t get me wrong, I love to bake, but sometimes I just don’t have the time or the energy to dive into a made-from-scratch celebration cake. But that’s where these awesome cake hacks come into play! I pick up a plain grocery store cake from the bakery and work my magic. Not only does the cake turn into something completely different and fun, but it’s SO EASY! (You can find other cake hack ideas at the bottom of this post too! 😉 )

Faking Cake Pops With Donut Holes

(If you can’t find a plain cake that’s already available in the bakery section at your local grocery store, talk to the employees behind the bakery counter. They can usually whip one up for you without much notice).

Begin by inserting a toothpick into one of the donut holes, as far into the donut as possible without popping the toothpick through to the other side. (About halfway)

Continue repeating the process, along the side and bottom of the cake. Get the donut holes as close to each other as possible to prevent being able to see the cake through the gaps.

Doughnut Holes With Sugar Glaze And Whatever Toppings Make You Happy Recipe

Once you have the entire section along the bottom of the cake covered, begin adding another line of donut holes, on top of the previous one, working each of the donuts into the gaps above the first layer.

Next, begin adding donut holes to the top of your cake, starting along the top edge. Make sure to fill in any gaps that show between the first top layer and the side layer.

Continue adding donut holes, working your way in towards the top center of your cake, until the entire top of the cake is covered.

Diy Donut Tower: A Pretty Alternative To Birthday Cake Beau Coup Blog

Add a few more donut holes to the top of the cake, creating a smaller peak of donut holes on the top. This final layer will add a little bit of dimension to the finished cake!

This donut hole cake would be cute for a kids birthday, a bachelorette party, or honestly, for anyone that just really loves donuts (& cake!)

You can stick with neutral colors like I did, or have a ton of fun with sprinkle donut holes, chocolate donut holes, or even mix and match! Regardless, this little beauty involves donuts, so you know it has my stamp of approval!

Baked Red Velvet Cake Donuts Holes

This grocery store cake hack is a super simple way to transform a boring cake into something totally fun and different, without having to bake a thing!

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