I do miss my childhood donut chain. It was "Flavor Maid Do-Nuts" in Kansas City. Somehow, nothing since has matched my memories of those glazed devil's food donuts.
Also it really sucks that they've eliminated French crullers from all but the rarest of stores. Sure you can seek them out, but that kind of defeats the whole point of having a chain you can pop into no matter where you might be.
Familiar is wonderful, especially when the alternative to a grilled cheese sandwich is a burned grilled cheese dipped in syrup.
And now they sell sugar desguised as Donuts.
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/26/651905960/dunkin-deletes-donu...
new england always had the best donuts. yes, donut lovers from other parts of the country, you can get a good facsimile of a donut, but they aren't the real deal.
any donut is good freshly cooked, because anything fried is good right out of a fryolator. But the true test of a good donut is if it's still good 6 hours later. No "apple cider donut" was ever good six hours later, but yeah, hot and fresh they are fun. you don't want to eat a dozen of them though, whereas a great perfect New England donut, you can eat a dozen and not feel bad after. In a pinch, you can eat a half dozen day-olds and they're still better than "other" donuts.
Krisp-E-Cream (i have no idea how they spell that) is a disgusting mess. put one in a microwave and see what happens to it... it's other-worldly, it's not of nature, its some weird plastic slurry with no structure of it's own, just ectoplasm (and who ya gonna call?) Now, I'm not saying donuts should be microwaved, but if a donut is microwaved, it should remain a donut and not be exposed as a hellish phantasm. Also watching them get the glaze on that carwash, so gross, nothing should be that sweet/fat. I'm not even going to mention Winch... nope, not gonna say it.
I'm not saying a 6 hour old donut is anything close to what a fresh donut should be, but if your donut is not delicious 6 hours later, it never was delicious, you've been missing out.
cake or raised? a good donut place makes both perfectly, which makes me think it's a combination of (1) chef's tastebuds and zen for what a donut or pastry should be and (2) something about frying it perfectly
no, bombalone and zeppole are never good, they tend to have a very tough hide rather than crisp but tender and delicate, and so greasy. and... how do I say this, do you asians want [your national dishes] cooked by some white guy? ok, well me neither, and I don't want my donuts from those strip mall shops in LA. It's cool that they still have a million of them, but they're not good. Not that there is anything inherent keeping anybody from doing a great job (Japanese are amazing at their take on French Pastry, and I like very much (not love, but it's not aspiring any higher, it's an inexpensive every day place) 파리바게트)) but without being palate trained on great donuts from childhood, Jiro can only dream of great donuts.
so, you're probably wondering where to get great donuts. Sorry, I have no idea any more. The last great place left was Butler's Colonial Donuts in Westport MA. but they closed at least a dozen years ago. But I can guarantee if there are any remaining places, they are in New England.
Luckily there is a local donut shop, one location only and it in my area. It is very good, far far better than any chain shop. Sadly they are the only private donut shop one left in the City. FWIW, I was there 2 days ago :)
bookofjoe•3mo ago