Are Krispy Kreme Cake Doughnuts Made From Actual Cake?

Krispy Kreme doughnuts are irresistible. When a new store opens up in a city, customers will line up around the block to get a taste of those original glazed doughnuts. But that's not the only kind of doughnut the company sells by a long shot. Beyond its signature yeast-raised doughnuts, including filled varieties, Krispy Kreme also offers cake doughnuts. These doughnuts are denser and have a more crumb-like texture because they are made with a batter that is much closer to a traditional cake.

Most of Krispy Kreme's doughnuts use yeast. In the store, you can watch these doughnuts moving along on racks that travel through a proofer before cooking. The biggest difference between a yeast doughnut and a cake doughnut comes from the leavening agent. Although Krispy Kreme cake doughnuts aren't made with actual cake, their batter is similar to traditional cake batter, with some tweaks. In terms of a Krispy Kreme cake doughnut versus a cake you'd make at home, their cake doughnuts also include commercial ingredients like emulsifiers (lecithin) and preservatives (sodium propionate) to enhance texture and shelf life. Ingredients like dextrose and corn syrup solids can affect texture and moisture compared to the plain sugar in homemade.

Because cake doughnuts use baking powder as a leavening agent instead of yeast, they don't need to be proofed. That means you can enjoy a cake doughnut sooner than a yeast doughnut. If you happen to be in the store when they're making the cake doughnuts, you'll see the proofer is pushed out of the way and the doughnut batter is dropped directly into the oil for them to fry. The difference between a baked cake doughnut and a fried one is distinct and worth trying if you haven't already.

Krispy Kreme's menus change from store to store, but you can expect the majority of doughnuts to be yeast doughnuts because that's the doughnut the chain is famous for. Usually, only one or two cake doughnuts varieties will be available. Customers expect yeast doughnuts so much that they're often simply referred to as doughnuts. Cake doughnuts are the ones that get the modifier to explain what they are. One advantage cake doughnuts have is that the flavor is baked right in the doughnut itself. It's not just something added on top or after the fact. Every Krispy Kreme yeast doughnut starts with the same base dough. A cake doughnut can be mixed with chocolate, fruit, or anything, and all that flavor will be in every bite. Check out how the cake doughnuts stacked up in our review of Krispy Kreme's best doughnuts.

Data from Stellar Market Research indicates that yeast doughnuts are preferred over cake doughnuts by about two to one. Yeast doughnuts offer more versatility: The final product is lighter and fluffier than a cake doughnut and can be more easily topped, glazed, and filled. They also have a more uniform look than cake doughnuts, which finish their cooking with a more rustic appearance. Krispy Kreme's cake doughnuts aren't made from the exact batter you'd use to make a birthday cake at home, but it's pretty close. They're a nice change of pace if you're looking for something different from the usual lineup of doughnuts.