Baked Chocolate Mocha Doughnuts

Do you have a friend who will do anything to help you out no matter what? Are you that kind of friend? I have to admit that I am probably one of those lucky people who has a friend like that. I met her when we first moved to Albany 4-½ years ago and have been best of friends ever since. Because of the time of day that we would meet up, I must admit, that we have always been the friends who have a glass of wine together, but, if I didn't have to get up and go to the office on a daily basis, I bet we would have been that morning cup of coffee friends too because we both love our coffee!

Jill faithfully babysits our three kitties whenever Grumpy and I have to be away from home for more than a full day. She talks to them like they are her own kitties and I know she gives them a lot of treats and they certainly love her right back! Because Jill is so special to us, I decided that I was going to treat her to doughnuts and some McCafé Colombian Coffee.

I am a pretty picky girl when it comes to my coffee. I like a medium to dark roast best. What is funny is that I never was a "real" coffee drinker until I met Grumpy. After we started living together I had to put to use that coffee pot that I usually only pulled out when Dad was around. I remember many evenings on the front porch with a hot cup of cappuccino and Grumpy and every morning since we've been together has been a fresh brewed cup or two of coffee.

When I found the McCafé coffee made with 100% Arabica Beans in my local Wal-mart I decided that I was going to have to give it a try. I will admit, the packaging certainly attracted me, however, my affection of coffee, the fact that there were 8 different flavors made me decide I just had to try it! Kind of funny how that works isn't it? However even better, the coffee sold me once I tried it. I picked out two bags, one of the Colombian (medium to dark roast) and a French Vanilla. Every once in a while Grumpy will like a flavored coffee and French Vanilla is always his choice.

I found my McCafé Coffee in the same aisle you would find the tea, hot cocoa and creamer at my local Wal-Mart.

The McCafé Coffee also comes in coffee pods which would be my choice for my friend Jill's gift! Because Jill loves our kitties so much and is such a great friend for taking care of them for us, I thought it would be great to put together a gift basket that included some McCafé Coffee Pods for her the next time we visited.

After I came home with my coffee the first thing I thought of was doughnuts! I absolutely love my Mom's Fry Cakes but because I don't care to deep fry too often, I tend to bake my doughnuts. I started thinking dark chocolate baked doughnuts enhanced with the Colombian coffee I had just bought. I also thought about how dark and delicious Nanny's Mayonnaise Cake was and how I could perhaps make some baked doughnuts that combined the coffee and mayonnaise with the chocolate to get this wonderful deep, dark chocolate doughnut. I am very happy to say that I succeeded and the result was exactly what I was looking for and perfect to go with that cup of McCafé Coffee!

What would you do for your best friend who would go above and beyond to do something for you? Would you make that friend these Baked Chocolate Mocha Doughnuts?