Pompompurin Doughnuts

Paws up if you love the sweetest of golden retrievers, Pompompurin! To celebrate this good boy, here’s a delicious recipe for baked Pompompurin donuts! Lightly spiced and made with rich milk, you’ll want to make plenty of these treats to share with friends like Muffin, Scone, Bagel and Mint! Each of Purin’s best pals are filled with cream caramel pudding—his favorite food! 
Bonnie Eng is a content creator & recipe developer based out of Southern California. She has a passion for cooking, baking, crafting and all things tea. To see more of her work, please visit her Instagram or blog.
Hugging Pompompurin Donuts

(Makes 4 paired donuts, plus a few extra donut holes.)
Ingredients:
Milk Donuts:
  • 1 ½  cup all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ½ tsp vanilla
Caramel Pastry Cream
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 6 Tbsp sugar, divided
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temp
  • 2 egg yolks
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp butter
 
Coating & Decorations
  • ¼ cup brown candy coating, melted
  • 16 caramel candies
  • 8 milk chocolate chips
  • 2 candy coating chips, unmelted
  • 1 cup pastel yellow candy coating, melted
  • ¼ cup green candy coating, melted
  • ¼ cup white candy coating, melted
  • ¼ cup tan orange candy coating, melted
  • ¼ cup tan yellow candy coating, melted
  • ¼ cup heavy cream, warmed
  • ¼ cup chocolate icing
 
Materials: greased donut pan, greased donut hole pan, wire rack, nonstick surface or parchment paper, 2 piping bags, piping tips (#20, #1, #2, & #5)
 
Directions:
1. Bake the Donuts. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In another large bowl, mix the sugars together with the butter and oil. Add the egg until well incorporated. Gradually mix in the flour, milk, and vanilla. Fill 4 ring donut cavities until they are 3/4 full. Use the rest of the batter to make donut holes, again filling each cavity 3/4 full. Bake the donuts for about 12-14 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
2. Make the Pastry Cream. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, 2 Tbsp of sugar, and 2 egg yolks. In a pot, melt (don’t stir!) the remaining 4 Tbsp of sugar over med-high heat until the sugar dissolves into an amber colored syrup. Lower the heat, then slowly and carefully pour in the milk. Raise the heat back to medium and allow the caramel to dissolve in the milk. Remove the caramel-flavored milk from the heat, then add a small drizzle to the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. In a thin stream, slowly add the rest of the milk into the cornstarch mixture, then pour this back into the pot. Over medium heat, stir constantly until a thick pastry cream forms. Mix in the butter, vanilla, and salt, then transfer to a bowl and cover. Store in the fridge.

3. Make Pompompurin’s Beret, Ears & Paws. To create a beret, spoon 2 teaspoons of brown candy coating onto a nonstick surface. Use a toothpick to create a circle that is roughly 1 ½” in diameter. Allow to dry. Shape his ears & paws from soft caramels. Dip each piece into pastel yellow candy coating. Allow to dry.

4. Create Pompompurin’s Donut Hole Pals. To create Muffin, Bagel, or Mint, use dabs of melted candy coating to attach 2 chocolate chip “ears” onto a donut hole. To create Muffin, only attach his left ear. To create Scone, attach 2 unmelted candy coating chip “mouse ears” onto a donut hole. Transfer the pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a #20 piping tip. Fill each donut hole with a squeeze of pastry cream. Set aside.

5. Coat the Ring Donuts. Top side down, dip each donut ring in melted pastel yellow candy coating. If necessary, thin the coating with a small amount of warmed heavy cream. Shake off any excess coating, then allow to dry. Just before the coating completely sets, attach his beret, ears, hands and paws.

6. Coat the Donut Holes. Coat each donut hole friend in the corresponding melted candy coating color. If necessary, thin the coating with a small amount of warmed heavy cream. For Muffin, after the white coating sets, dip the top right side of his face in brown candy coating, then attach a chocolate chip “ear.” For Scone, place a chocolate chip in the center of each of his mouse ears before the yellow coating sets.

8. Finish with Icing Details. Using chocolate icing fitted into a pastry bag, draw face details on all the donuts. Switch out between piping tips #1 (thin facial features), #2 (thicker facial features), and #5 (top of beret) to draw the features. Nest a donut hole pal in the middle of each Pompompurin donut, then serve and enjoy!