I am an addict. One whiff of a doughnut, and my salivary glands go into overdrive as I toss all concerns about carbs, calories, trans fats and tooth decay out the window. American writer and humorist Mark Twain once advised it was essential to have one or two bad habits. A lack of bad habits could kill you. So as not to be nutritionally bankrupt, doughnuts and I remain the best of friends.
Americans consume 10 billion doughnuts annually, and the US doughnut industry is worth almost four billion dollars. However, we do not hold the North American record. There are more doughnut shops per capita in Canada than anywhere else on the planet. Although the doughnut in its current form is often seen as an American favorite, this tasty pastry has become Canada’s preferred national snack as well.
I suspect there are others of you with the same addiction. We just cannot pass by a bakery counter, donut shop, grocery store or convenience mart without the redolent smells of these warm, yeasty, greasy, fruity, iced, sprinkled or powdered doughnuts, luring us in like a siren’s song. It’s a national obsession. Why else would we have two National Doughnut Days?
Major holidays make claim to one day a year on the calendar, but doughnuts claim two. The first, held on the first Friday in June, was established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to raise funds for its charitable causes during the Great Depression. The second, less official but still honored by well-known doughnut chains, is celebrated on November 11. An extra day to indulge!
We have the Dutch to thank for these mouth-watering treats. Deep fried cakes, with a long European history, were introduced to America by the Dutch in the early eighteenth century. Made of yeast dough rich in eggs, butter, spices, dried fruits, and a dusting of sugar, the Dutch called them oly koeks (oily cakes). No one knows the exact date they first arrived in New Amsterdam (New York) but know they lacked the familiar round shap
e with a hole in the middle with which we are so familiar.
One of the first mentions of doughnuts appeared in a short story published in 1808 describing a feast of “fire-cakes and dough-nuts”. Washington Irving’s 1809 book A History of New York, from the beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty described balls of sweetened dough fired in hog’s fat and called doughnuts. The title was quite the mouthful but so were these enormous oily cakes. An English recipe book made mention of doughnuts in an appendix of American dishes. By the mid-nineteenth century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today’s doughnut and was seen as a thoroughly American food. The Greeks, Romans and Arabs would disagree.
Cooks in ancient Greece and Rome fried strips of pastries and coated them with honey or fish.
In Medieval times, Arabs started frying up small balls of unsweetened yeast dough and rolled them in sugary syrup. These Arabian fritters spread throughout northern Europe in the fifteenth century and were popular treats in Germany and the Netherlands. In Germany, where sugar was hard to come by, cooks stuffed their doughnuts with meat or mushrooms. From Europe, the Dutch settlers brought them to the New World. Nevertheless, as far as the world is concerned, the doughnut or donut is uniquely American.
The familiar ring doughnut is either yeast-based or made from cake batter. Not all doughnuts have holes in the middle either. Filled doughnuts are injected with jelly, fruit preserves, custard or cream. Once fried, most doughnuts are glazed or iced, topped with powdered or granulated sugar, cinnamon, sprinkles, nuts, coconut or today’s latest craze, bacon.
Stories abound as to how the doughnut got its hole. The one with the most press claims the prize. Captain Hanson Gregory claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 while serving aboard a cargo ship. Dissatisfied with the raw centers frequently found inside fried twisted doughnuts, he claimed to have punched a hole in the center of each with the ship’s tin pepper box. The holes allowed the doughnuts’ interiors to be fully cooked.
He taught this technique to his mother, Elizabeth Gregory who, according to Smithsonian Magazine, “made a wicked deep-fried dough that cleverly used her son’s spice cargo of nutmeg and cinnamon, along with lemon rind. She used hazelnuts or walnuts to fill the center and called them doughnuts.” In another reiteration, during one particular voyage, Captain Gregory’s ship encountered a squall. To keep both hands free on the ship’s wheel, he claims to have impaled his freshly baked doughnut onto one of the wheel spokes. This and other stories are best taken with a grain of… sugar.
Webster’s Dictionary calls it a doughnut. The shortened Americanized spelling is ‘donut’. The latter spelling has been around since at least the late nineteenth century, but it did not catch on until late in the twentieth century. That is when a Massachusetts-based company opened inside a revamped coffee shop called the Open Kettle and launched its now popular franchise with the catchy name, Dunkin’ Donuts. There are now 13,125 franchises in 32 countries selling 70 varieties of doughnuts.
Krispy Kreme founder Vernon Rudolph bought a secret yeast doughnut recipe from a New Orleans French chef, rented a building in what is now historic Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and began selling its Krispy Kreme doughnuts on July 13, 1937 to local grocery stores. The delicious aroma of frying doughnuts enticed passersby, who stopped to ask if they could buy some. So he cut a hole in an outside wall and started selling glazed doughnuts to customers standing on the sidewalk. The company’s “Hot Doughnuts Now” neon sign continues to be part of the brand’s appeal. Visitors to a Krispy Kreme shop practically drool as the warm glazed doughnuts roll down the conveyor belt.
No one knows what happened to the original holes in the middle, or who decided to capitalize on them. Soon however, the small balls of dough were dropped into hot oil from a nozzle or cutter and topped with glaze or powdered sugar. They have been sold as fritters, Dutchies, Munchkins, Timbits, moose turds, diabetes dots, and any number of other names depending on the region.
If there is such a thing as a designer doughnut, the latest trend, called the injectable donut, is a sugar junkie’s dream come true. Once the doughnut is formed, fried, glazed or iced, and filled with traditional fillings, a syringe injects a shot of flavoring such as maple bacon, espresso or liqueur into the heart of an already decadent doughnut. Customers inject their personal favorites and then down the rest, much like their favorite shooters. It is a sugary, salty, or caffeine rush.
So raise a cup of coffee or glass of milk to America’s favorite treat!
YEAST DOUGHNUTS
For the Dough:
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1/4 cup water (105–115 degrees)
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 5–6 cups all-purpose flour
- Vegetable oil for frying
For the Glaze:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4–6 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
Dissolve yeast in warm water in a medium bowl, let rest for 10 minutes. Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, slightly cooled butter, and 2 cups flour. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Cover and let rise until double, about 45-90 minutes. Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.
Turn dough onto floured surface and lightly coat with flour. Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin. Cut with floured doughnut or large biscuit cutter. Place cut dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double, 20-30 minutes.
While the cut doughnuts rise, make the creamy glaze. Heat butter until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.
Heat vegetable oil in deep cast iron skillet to 355 to 365 degrees F (use a thermometer here, it makes all the difference!). Slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil; drain on a double layer of paper towels. Dip the hot doughnuts into creamy glaze and cool on racks. Serve warm!