History

Apple Hill on the Camino-Placerville road in El Dorado County took shape in the 1960s when an apple-grower cooperative banded together to keep family farms in the Sierra foothills viable. The cider-donut tradition came from the Northeast US apple-cider mills and travelled west with the apple farmers; by the 1980s every Apple Hill farm had a donut stand and a press. The October season runs four weekends with traffic backed up on US-50 east from Sacramento, and the donut, fried in apple cider with cinnamon-sugar dredge, is the photograph everyone takes across the long-running grower anchors of the cooperative.

Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Makes 12 donutsHands-on 30 minTotal 2 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500ml fresh apple cider
  • 300g plain flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 60g brown sugar
  • 100ml buttermilk
  • 50g unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • Neutral oil for frying, 2L
  • 200g caster sugar with 2 tbsp cinnamon (for dredge)

Method

  1. Reduce the apple cider in a saucepan over medium heat from 500ml to 120ml, about 25 minutes. Cool completely.
  2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.
  3. In a second bowl whisk both sugars, the reduced cider, buttermilk, melted butter and egg until smooth.
  4. Fold the wet into the dry just to combine. Cover and chill 1 hour.
  5. Roll the dough 1.5cm thick on a floured surface. Cut 12 donut rings.
  6. Heat oil to 175C. Fry 90 seconds per side until deep gold. Drain on a rack 30 seconds.
  7. Toss each warm donut in the cinnamon-sugar dredge. Eat the same hour.

Tip from the editors. Reduce the cider hard so it tastes like apple syrup. If the reduction is too thin the donut tastes like a plain spice donut.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat apple hill apple cider donut

Apple Hill Apple Cider Donut in Sacramento

Freeport Bakery ★ 4.7

land-parkTue-Sun 08:00-15:00, closed MondayCalifornia cakes and pastries

Freeport Bakery on Freeport Boulevard in Land Park, Sacramento, runs a long-standing California cake counter with Lemon Zinger cakes that travel by post.

Worth the queue: Lemon Zinger Cake

2966 Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95818

Pushkin's Bakery ★ 4.6

midtownDaily morning to afternoonGluten-free and dairy-free baked goods

Danny and Olga Turner's Pushkin's Bakery on 29th Street, midtown Sacramento, opened 2013 as the city's defining gluten-free and dairy-free bakery counter.

Worth the queue: Salted Pecan Cupcakes

1820 29th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816

More cities are in research. Want apple hill apple cider donut covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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