Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 2 quarts fat for frying
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Grab a large bowl and whisk the flour with the cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; put that bowl aside. In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk for 1 minute, just until the color looks a little lighter. Whisk in the sugar, melted butter, and buttermilk right away, and keep going for 1 minute more. Scrape the egg mixture into the flour mixture and bring it together with a large rubber spatula. Once the dough has formed, stop; this is not the moment for extra mixing.
2. Coat your work surface generously with flour, then scrape the dough onto it. Fold it over itself so it gathers into 1 mass, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Dust the top heavily with flour too, because this dough is sticky and a shy sprinkle will not do much, then pat it down. Roll it out until the slab is an even 1/2 inch thick. Dip your cutters in flour, stamp out the doughnuts, and move them to a tray that has been floured.
3. Set a large, heavy pot on the stove, tuck a thermometer into place, and pour in the oil. Turn the heat to medium. You’re aiming for 375 degrees F, so stay with the pot the whole time to hold that temperature steady and, please, because hot oil deserves your full attention. Put a paper-towel-lined cooling rack near the stove, and have tongs, spiders, chopsticks, or strainers ready, whichever tool you like for flipping the doughnuts and lifting them out. On another burner, put the milk in a small saucepan and warm it over low heat just until it starts to steam. Take it off the heat and add the confectioner's sugar. Add the pinch of salt and vanilla too, then whisk until the glaze is smooth. Transfer the glaze to a bowl, rest it above a small saucepan with water in it, and leave it for later.
4. When the oil is at 375 degrees F, lower in the doughnuts 1 at a time, stopping when the pot holds 3. Cake doughnuts drop to the bottom at the start; give them a little time, and they will float up. After a doughnut comes up to the top, let it cook for about 2 minutes, then turn it and cook the other side for 2 minutes more. Move the doughnuts to the rack you set up. Pull 1 apart to check the center; if it needs more cooking, return those doughnuts to the oil to finish, and let the remaining batches fry a little longer. Continue the same way with the rest, then let every doughnut cool.
5. For the glaze, set the water pan with the glaze bowl above it on low heat, stirring until it loosens back into a thick, fluid glaze. Take it off the heat. Using your fingers, carefully dip each doughnut into the glaze. Transfer the coated doughnuts to a fresh cooling rack so the glaze can set. As it dries, the coating will look clearer. They are best served right away.