Yes, I realize I posted this recipe yesterday along with that for those totally delicious Red Velvet Waffles, but it makes for rather a lot of cream cheese glaze.
A very fine cream cheese glaze.
One that it would be a shame to waste; so, since we were heading North for a week, I thought I’d mebbe just toss the jar into the cold pack with a few other goodies from home and see exactly to what I could add the glaze.
Later on in the spring, and through the summer and fall, the farm shops of Door County will be offering apple cider glazed doughnuts, which we like to bring home and toast in the oven before enjoying for a breakfast treat. This late winter week, nary a cider doughnut could be found, but the local 
market did have a box of store bakery made ‘cake doughnuts’ – really just the doughnut with nothing added – so we picked up a box and went back to our home for the week – a very nice cabin in the woods – to wait for the morning.
Morning dawned bright and sunny and cold, but inside, the fire was warm, the coffee Brazilian, and I had some doughnuts to toast and glaze.
INGREDIENTS
Glaze:
•8 oz cream cheese
•8 tbsp butter
•2 cups confectioners’ sugar
•1/2 cup whole milk
•1 tsp vanilla
•1/4 tsp black pepper (yes, really)
Doughnuts/Pastry/Waffles:
Your choice, really – this glaze is thick, but spreadable, so try it over French toast or mebbe even sweet or neutrally flavored bagels.
Place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and set aside to soften – I normally do this before I go to bed, cover the bowl, leave it on the counter, and deal with it in the morning. You do what you want.
Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment until smooth and fluffy.
With the mixer set on low, add in one cup of the confectioners’ sugar with 1/4 cup of milk, then the vanilla and black pepper. Continue to mix until it is mostly worked in to the glaze, then add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and milk and mix until smooth and creamy. This will be a thick glaze, so if you prefer a runnier one, go ahead and add additional milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you’ve reached your desired consistency. I can think that a thinner glaze would be nice to drizzle over a coffee or bundt cake or puff pastry.
A note on the pepper: no, you don’t have to add it, but you should; just a little dab o’ spice will help to bring out the rich, creamy flavors of the cream cheese and butter and vanilla.
If you’re doing doughnuts, here’s the deal:
Heat your oven to 350º, then arrange the doughnuts in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake the doughnuts for ten minutes, then turn them over and bake for another eight minutes or so.
Remove from the oven and dollop a big, honkin’ spoonful of the glaze over the top of each doughnut – using a knife to spread it around a bit.
Let the doughnuts rest for a minute or two to allow the glaze to warm and soften, then serve… yeh, with a knife and fork, it’s gonna get messy.
But sooo tasty!
Helpful hint: cinnamon dusted doughnuts work a treat here.