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1
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a standard sized 6 hole doughnut pan. (If you have 2 pans, great! Grease them both. But if you have one, like me, bake doughnuts in two batches.)
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2
Place the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and whisk until combined. Leave to one side.
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3
Place caster sugar, vanilla extract and egg into a medium sized bowl and whisk until thick and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the melted butter and mix until combined. Add the red food colouring, a little at a time, mixing in between until you get the right shade-you want a really bright red!
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4
Add the red mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until you have a thick batter. Add the buttermilk and mix until well combined.
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5
Place the baking soda and vinegar into a small glass and mix together briefly-it will fizz up a little. Add the vinegar mix into your doughnut batter and mix until well combined. At this stage, if your batter isn't red enough, add a little more colouring!
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6
Place the batter into a large piping bag, with a large plain nozzle attached (I used a 12mm) and pipe batter into each doughnut hole. Keep the piping consistent and smooth, you want to fill each hole about 2/3 full. Alternately, spoon the batter into the doughnut pan with a small spoon. I would advise piping though as it's much easier!
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7
Place doughnuts in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until well risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove from oven. Leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure the doughnut pan is cool before greasing again and piping the remaining 6 doughnuts into it and baking, if you're using one pan.
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8
Once all the doughnuts are completely cool, make the frosting: Place all frosting ingredients into a large bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 1 minute.
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9
Using a small angled spatula, or spoon, spread frosting over the top of each doughnut before adding whichever sprinkles/decorations you desire.
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10
Frosted doughnuts will keep in an airtight container, in the fridge for 2 days. Un-frosted doughnuts can be frozen for a month.
