Valentine’s Day this year falls on a Saturday, so I’m using that to my advantage and treating my sweetheart to a sweet breakfast in bed!  These vegan chocolate-espresso donuts are light and fluffy and covered with a blissfully pink blood orange sugar glaze (no need for food coloring!).  And to make them extra special, they’re topped with candied blood orange slices for an extra kiss of sweet citrus!  Cupid would totally give me a high-five!

Here’s the deal with this recipe…you get extras!  When you make the candied blood oranges – which are amazing! – the resulting syrup is infused with tons of floral, citrusy blood orange flavor…so don’t throw it out!  Save the syrup and use it on pancakes, french toast, ice cream or in coffee and tea.  And go ahead and juice a few extra blood oranges than you need for the donut glaze, freeze the juice into cubes, and use the cubes for a gorgeous blood orange gin & tonic or simply add them to a glass of champagne for a rosy hue.  Cheers!  Let’s get started!

The candied blood orange slices are so simple to make – boil sugar, water, and maple syrup, add in the orange slices, cook for 30 minutes then lay the slices on parchment paper to cool.  Keep the syrup!  Let the syrup cool then pour into a jar and keep in the fridge.  *Also, you eat the rind on these oranges…oh yes you do!

Next up, chocolate-espresso donuts!  Mix up the wet ingredients, mix up the dry ingredients and add them together.  For these vegan donuts, I make a vegan egg (1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons water, then let sit for 15 minutes), and I use cashew cream/milk mixed with vinegar to mimic buttermilk.  To give the donuts their midnight black color, which I like for the contrast with the pale pink glaze, I use black cocoa powder.  After they’re baked, let them cool completely before glazing.

While the donuts cool, make the blood orange glaze: sift powdered sugar into a bowl, add in melted vegan butter, fresh blood orange juice and a bit of corn syrup and stir until smooth.

Then it’s time to get your glaze on!  I spooned and spread the glaze on top of the donuts rather than dunking them.  Then did it a second time with what was left of the glaze.

Let the glaze set for 10 – 15 minutes.  Go write out your Valentine’s Day card, get the coffee ready, and feed the cats (otherwise they’ll be ALL over these donuts!).

To finish them off, cut the candied blood orange slices in half and lay one on top of each donut.  So pretty!

Happy Valentine’s Day!