Baked Lemon Poppyseed Donuts with a Lemon Ginger Glaze

Ah, the dog days of summer. I am utterly shocked that we’re almost through the first week of August. August! It’s almost… I don’t even want to say it… FALL.

Eeep. Time flies when you’re having fun. Let’s enjoy these last few summer weeks to the fullest.

This year, forest fires have plagued our province due to a virtually rain-free few months. If you’re a regular here on Port and Fin, or if you live in BC yourself, you know this already. We’ve only had a handful of rain since May, which is incredibly irregular. Vancouver is nicknamed Raincouver, for heaven’s sake. Not this year, though. This year it’s been dry and arid for ages.

While I do love the heat and am enjoying the endless days of sun, I find it kind of sad. For an area that is usually a lush, West Coast rainforest, everything is so… dry. The pavement is perpetually scorching. The ground is dusty. Grass has turned to hay. Plants are brown and crispy. Leaves are already so dried out they’re falling from the trees as they do in September.

Plus, the forest fires are endless. Thousands of acres are going up in flames for silly reasons, most of them due to human error. A cigarette butt falling to the ground. A reflection from a mirror igniting a flame. A runaway spark from a campfire. (Campfires have been banned all summer, but there are still some who refuse to listen.)

Like I said, it’s sad.

We did happen to have two short days of rain the other week, but I say “rain” quite lightly. It sprinkled off and on, and while it was better than nothing, it didn’t do much to quench the earth’s thirst.

Still, while the rain fell, I took Parker the Pooch for a walk through a local trail and it made me euphoric. The smell of fresh rain, the sound of it on the leaves, the feel of it in the air. There’s a reason I live in Vancouver: I really love the rain.

Not that I don’t love the summer months. I am definitely enjoying these sunny, 27°C days. I’ll soak up as much as I can until the summer ends, and hopefully have enough bottled up to keep me happy through the winter months.

Until then, I’ll keep on baking all things summer. These baked lemon poppyseed donuts are light and fluffy, tart from the fresh lemons, and topped with a tangy and refreshing lemon ginger glaze. If they don’t say summer, what does?

I’ve always loved poppyseed anything, and growing up one of my favourite treats was a lemon poppyseed loaf from a local cafe. Every time my mom got her morning coffee, I begged her to pick up a lemon poppyseed loaf. If I was lucky enough to get one that day, I’d devour it in seconds.

There’s something so satisfying about lemon and poppyseeds together. They give me all the feels.

If you’re without a donut tray, these can be made into muffins. Just be sure to adjust the baking time as needed, baking until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

I highly recommend you splurge on a donut tray, though. I picked mine up for $10 and it’s such a fun way to amp up your baking. Baked donuts are actually awesome (see here), and since they’re baked-not-fried, you can feel good about eating two or three. Right?

That’s my logic, anyway.