A cake doughnut is made from a chemically leavened batter rather than yeast dough.
Cake doughnuts usually rely on baking powder or baking soda for lift. Their batter is commonly mixed with ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and shortening, then shaped or deposited before frying. The finished texture is generally denser and more cake-like than that of a yeast-raised doughnut.
Yeast doughnuts, by contrast, depend on yeast fermentation and require time for the dough to rise. They are often lighter and more airy. The distinction concerns the leavening method, not whether the doughnut has a hole or a particular topping.
Cake doughnuts can be glazed, sugared, frosted, or flavored with spices and other ingredients. Because recipes vary by region and bakery, texture may differ, but chemical leavening remains the defining technical feature.