Some thoughts about doughnuts

I was going to post about doughnuts yesterday, because yesterday, June 22, marked the 160th anniversary of the invention of the doughnut. I didn’t make it, but I don’t think it matters, because when I was doing a bit of Google research, no one is really all that sure exactly the when or the who or the how of inventing the doughnut. Maybe it happened on June 22, 1847, or maybe it didn’t. Maybe Hanson Gregory invented the doughnut or maybe not. Some say that he was aboard a lime-trading ship when he was 16. Tired of other forms of greasy dough and of the uncooked part in the center, he stamped out a hole in the middle. Others say he put it on the spoke of a wheel while he did something else, and others say angels appeared to him to provide the recipe.

But one thing is not disputed, and that is how much I love doughnuts.

While it is no secret that I love most forms of fried dough (see also: funnel cakes), doughnuts have a special place in my heart. Here is a brief timeline of doughnuts through my years:

--My mom had major doughnut cravings while pregnant with me. She worked in a bank and every day she ate a whole box of Krispy Kremes.

-- Based on the first point, Krispy Kreme was the main doughnut brand in my household. You really have to admire a place that will turn on a light for you, so that you can tell the best time to go. In college I kind of got into Dunkin’ Donuts, mainly because I had friends that liked to study there. There are people that argue that the coffee, the doughnut holes, and the cake-like doughnuts make Dunkin’ Donuts a better place to be than Krispy Kreme. I don’t really like these people or respect their eating habits. Krispy Kremes are like eating little pockets of miracle air.

--When we weren’t eating Krispy Kremes, we got to have French doughnuts for breakfast when we were growing up. My dad would fry us up some beignets, from Café du Monde mix. These beignets were the most delicious thing in the world, and also Jimmy Buffett-approved (“The coffee is strong at the Café du Monde, the doughnuts are too hot to touch. But just like a fool, when those sweet goodies cool, I eat till I eat way too much” – The Wino and I Know, 1974)

--In Seattle, there is a great place called Top Pot that has hand-forged doughnuts. They have sour cream or magic in them, I guess, because they are heavier than a Krispy Kreme. They are a filling doughnut, the kind you can eat for lunch. They are also sold at Starbucks. There are definitely times when I crave such a gourmet doughnut, but I’m probably looking more for that experience of light fluffiness, where you can sit with a Krispy Kreme and eat six in a row, or approximately 1000 grams of fat.

--When I was on vacation in Las Vegas, I tried the new whole wheat Krispy Kreme. It’s okay. It can make you hate yourself a little less for having a doughnut, but really, if you’re going to indulge, INDULGE.

--If the right kind of icing is involved, I will get a filled doughnut, but I prefer the ring doughnut.

--Doughnut wedding cakes….I support this idea.