King Bakery Plain Donuts
Cake donuts — chemically leavened, no yeast.
Ingredients
The 8 qt column is the source of truth. Every other column is scaled exactly from it. Columns run largest to smallest here; the original card ran the other way.
Stage 1: mix with hands until all the shortening is gone
| Ingredient |
8 qt |
6 qt |
4 qt |
3 qt |
2 qt |
1½ qt |
1 qt |
½ qt |
¼ qt |
| Sugar |
6804g |
5103g |
3402g |
2551g |
1701g |
1276g |
850g |
425g |
213g |
| Shortening |
907g |
680g |
454g |
340g |
227g |
170g |
113g |
56.7g |
28.3g |
| Salt |
113g |
85g |
56.7g |
42.5g |
28.3g |
21.3g |
14.2g |
7.1g |
3.5g |
| Baking Soda |
113g |
85g |
56.7g |
42.5g |
28.3g |
21.3g |
14.2g |
7.1g |
3.5g |
| Nutmeg |
113g |
85g |
56.7g |
42.5g |
28.3g |
21.3g |
14.2g |
7.1g |
3.5g |
| Vanilla |
118mL |
89mL |
59mL |
44mL |
30mL |
22mL |
15mL |
7.4mL |
3.7mL |
Stage 2: mix in with a whisk
| Ingredient |
8 qt |
6 qt |
4 qt |
3 qt |
2 qt |
1½ qt |
1 qt |
½ qt |
¼ qt |
| Eggs |
3785mL |
2839mL |
1893mL |
1420mL |
946mL |
710mL |
473mL |
237mL |
118mL |
| Buttermilk |
7571mL |
5678mL |
3785mL |
2839mL |
1893mL |
1420mL |
946mL |
473mL |
237mL |
Stage 3: mix in
| Ingredient |
8 qt |
6 qt |
4 qt |
3 qt |
2 qt |
1½ qt |
1 qt |
½ qt |
¼ qt |
| Bread Flour |
12701g |
9525g |
6350g |
4763g |
3175g |
2381g |
1588g |
794g |
397g |
| Baking Powder |
113g |
85g |
56.7g |
42.5g |
28.3g |
21.3g |
14.2g |
7.1g |
3.5g |
Notes
-
Two figures differ from the card, deliberately. Vanilla in the two smallest columns had been rounded to whole spoons. Everything else on this card — every weight in every column — scaled exactly, which is unusually clean for the collection.
| Column |
Card as written |
Used here |
| Vanilla, ½ qt |
1 tsp → 4.9mL |
7.4mL |
| Vanilla, ¼ qt |
½ tsp → 2.5mL |
3.7mL |
- The ¼ qt column already used grams on the original card — 3.5g for salt, soda and nutmeg — which is exactly ¹⁄₃₂ of 4 oz. Whoever wrote it had already started thinking metric at small scale.
- Batch size in quarts is literally quarts of buttermilk here — the 8 qt column takes 8 qt. That is what confirms the convention across the whole collection.
- Eggs at the ¼ qt column were written as a count (2 eggs), consistent with the bakery’s 16 large eggs per quart.
- Salt, soda and nutmeg are all the same weight at every size, which makes the mise-en-place easy but also easy to double up by mistake. Weigh them into separate bowls.
- Nutmeg at this level is the defining flavour of an old-style cake donut. Grate it fresh if you can — pre-ground at 113g will taste dusty.
- No frying temperature or time was recorded.
Appendix — Original card, as written
Plain Donuts 1/4 qt 1/2 qt 1 qt 1.5 qt 2 qt 3 qt 4 qt 6 qt 8 qt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mix with hands until all shortening is gone:
Sugar -7.5 -15 1-14 2-13 3-12 5-10 7-8 11-4 15-0
Shortening -1 -2 -4 -6 -8 -12 1-0 1-8 2-0
Salt 3.5g -1/4 -1/2 -3/4 -1 -1.5 -2 -3 -4
Baking Soda 3.5g -1/4 -1/2 -3/4 -1 -1.5 -2 -3 -4
Nutmeg 3.5g -1/4 -1/2 -3/4 -1 -1.5 -2 -3 -4
Vanilla -1/2tsp -1 tsp 1 tbsp 1.5 tb 2 tbsp 3 tbsp 4 tbsp 6 tbsp 8 tbsp
Mix in with wisk:
Eggs 2 1/4 qt 1/2 qt 3/4 qt 1 qt 1.5 qt 2 qt 3 qt 4 qt
Buttermilk 1 cup 1/2 qt 1 qt 1.5 qt 2 qt 3 qt 4 qt 6 qt 8 qt
Mix in:
Bread Flour -14 1-12 3-8 5-4 7-0 10-8 14-0 21-0 28-0
Baking Powder -1/8 -1/4 -1/2 -3/4 -1 -1.5 -2 -3 -4