Back in Melbourne, Australia, the gym I went to had this huge love-hate relationship with doughnuts. As the men and women alike oggled at doughnuts on social media, I felt like I could provide them a healthier alternative, although the icing and caramel balanced out to being unhealthy. At least it wasn’t fried?

Since tim-tams are iconic to Australia, I bought a few dark chocolate tim tams to garnish on top of the salted-caramel glaze, to make the doughnut have a double garnish. I wanted my fellow gym goers to have an indulging kind of session after a normal gruelling workout. A healthy balance.

ingredients: 

DOUGHNUT

– 1 cup flour
– 1/4 cup cocoa powder
– 1/2 TSP baking soda
– 3 TBSP melted butter
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1/2 cup buttermilk
– 1 egg
– 1 TSP vanilla extract

ICING

– 1/4 cup melted butter
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1/3 cup heavy cream
– 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
– 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

CARAMEL

– 1  2/3 cup (330g) of granulated sugar
– 1 cup of heavy cream (don’t fill all the way – leave a cm)
– 1 cup water (don’t fill all the way – leave a cm)
– 2 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
– 2 1/2 TBSP (40g) of butter

– chopped tim tams.

the way:

– in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
– in another bowl, melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract.
– with a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
– with a spoon, scoop the batter into the doughnut pan about 1/3-2/3 full.
– bake for 13 minutes or until the doughnuts spring back when touched.
– let the doughnuts cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

while you wait, make the icing and caramel.

ICING

– heat 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan on med heat until the butter turns a light brown. Whisk in the brown sugar and heavy cream and bring to a boil.
– remove from heat and whisk in vanilla, and powdered sugar. Transfer to a bowl. If you don’t use it immediately, don’t worry, just give it a good stir prior to icing.

CARAMEL

– in a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Use a spoon and stir until the sugar dissolves, then this is important: toss the spoon to the side and stir by tilting and swirling the pan while the mixture boils. Slowly, you will see it starting to caramelize; keep swirling until all of it has reached a goldish-brown. Once it’s achieved that level, remove from heat.
– add in the butter and swirl it in. Don’t be frightened, the combination will create many bubbles. This is completely normal, just keep swirling.
– After your bubbles settle down, add the cream and stir it in.
– find your spoon, and add in the vanilla and stir it in with said spoon.

when the doughnuts are fully cooled, dip the tops into the icing, and then with a spoon, swivel the caramel across the top. Lastly, sprinkle your chopped tim tams on top. If you don’t have tim tams, you can use snicker bars.