donut birthday cake

i didn't think i could improve upon the donuts in my last post, but alas i was wrong. after eating these wonderful little delights, my 5 turning 6yo boy told me he wanted these to be served in place of a cake at his birthday party. not only that, but he had to add his own improvements. he asked for cherry ganache. i searched the net high and low for such a recipe and never found one, but decided to experiment with some different things and came up with a cherry chip and a raspberry cream ganache to compliment the chocolate.

(for donut recipe and chocolate ganche recipe see previous article)

cherry chip ganache (for 2-3 dozen donut holes)

*6 oz (1 cup or 1/2 bag) of white chocolate chips
*1/2 cup (4 oz) heavy whipping cream
*1 tablespoon butter
*1/4 teaspoon vanilla
*1/8 cup minced candied (dried) cherries (about 24 cherries)

1. pour white chips into stainless steel mixing bowl.
2. pour remaining ingredients into small sauce pan on medium heat.
3. constantly stirring, heat until almost boiling (approx 180 degrees)
4. remove from heat and add to white chips in bowl.
5. whisk together until smooth.

6. dip donut muffins upside-down into granache until coated as desired.
NOTE: if you made the chocolate ganache i posted about before, you should know this one is a bit on the thick side, but it set up fine and it was quite tasty.

7. place on tray or in container to set.
glaze will remain sticky, but it shouldn't run.

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raspberry cream ganache (for 2-3 dozen donut holes)

*6 oz (1 cup or 1/2 bag) of white chocolate chips
*1/2 cup (4 oz) heavy whipping cream
*1 tablespoon butter
*1/4 teaspoon vanilla
*2 teaspoons raspberry extract

1. pour white chips into stainless steel mixing bowl.
2. pour cream, butter and vanilla into small sauce pan on medium heat.
3. constantly stirring, heat until almost boiling (approx 180 degrees)
4. remove from heat and add to white chips in bowl.
5. whisk together until smooth.
6. add raspberry extract and blend well.

7. dip donut muffins upside-down into granache until coated as desired.
NOTE: this ganache was very thin, but coated evenly. to give it more glaze per donut, hubby just drizzled more on with a spoon after the first coating set up. we tried the chocolate drizzle for added flair, but the chocolate ganache was too thick to drizzle - go figure :)

8. place on tray or in container to set.
glaze will remain sticky, but it shouldn't run.

NOW for the best part. we put these altogether to make a cake or a facsimile of one anyway. i took some lids from a bucket and a gallon jar and covered them in foil to make layers on top of my tupperware cake tray.