Masticha is a wonderful flavour used particularly at Easter when its aroma permeates all the suburban streets in Greece coming from the big tsoureki and small tsourekakia or koulourakia. You may however substitute the masticha with 1 tbsp vanilla paste.
I developed this recipe because I wanted donuts that stay moist longer and the extra virgin olive oil, honey and yogurt help achieve this.
Ingredients (makes 24 small donuts)
- 180g plain flour and extra for dusting
- 75g caster sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- A pinch of ground masticha
- 100ml semi skimmed milk
- 100g Greek yogurt
- 1 medium egg
- 25g honey
- 50g unsalted butter and extra for greasing
- 2 tbsp mild extra virgin olive oil
To decorate
- 150g icing sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- Dried flowers or sprinkles
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 C Fan.
Melt the butter and leave to cool.
Mix all the dried ingredients in a bowl, the first six listed above. In another bowl, whisk by hand all the wet ingredients, the last six ingredients on the list. Add the dry to the wet ingredients slowly mixing in with a spatula. Transfer to a piping bag.
Grease two x 12 donut baking tins and dust with flour. If you only have one, bake in two batches. Half-fill each donut mould, tap the tin on the worktop to eliminate any air bubbles and bake for 9-10 minutes. Leave for 4-5 minutes to cool and turn over onto a wire rack for the donuts to cool completely.
In a clean bowl whisk the icing sugar with the lemon juice. If more thinning is required, add some cold water, half a tsp at a time. Dip the top half of the donuts in the icing and decorate while the icing is wet.