Spring Beers, Spring Music. No Donuts.

My pal Laura - founder of the always awesome food and music blog, Eating the Beats - kindly invited me to pair some beers with her spring music mix. Have a look.

Valentine's Donut Experiment

Dunkin' Donuts rarely misses the boat on seasonal donuts - which usually means they dust off a holiday-appropriate vial of food dye and some corresponding sprinkles. But this year for Valentine's Day they've gone all out. HEART. SHAPED. DONUTS.

In a rather hilarious experiment, Men's Health editor Jason Feifer set out to see how girls respond to the gift of donuts for Valentine's Day.

Turkey Donut

Happy Thanksgiving.

Dough-bama

I know, you probably thought the doughnut shop was closed. But when the president makes an appearance at Top Pot, it deserves a post.

Thanks to Rick V for the tip.

Doughnuts on Screen: Treme

Finally catching up on Treme, David Simon's HBO series on post-Katrina New Orleans. I think I like it. Not as much as The Wire, but that's expected. I like the free form plot. It's like a long rambling instrumental at Preservation Hall which is probably what Simon intended. But more importantly: doughnuts! The episode Mrs. B and I watched tonight - I think it's #5 - featured the legendary Cafe Du Monde. CDM opened in 1862 and is probably the oldest continually operating doughnut shop in the country. All they serve is cafe au laits and beignets, piping hot, pillowy French doughnuts with a hollow center and a massive dusting of powdered sugar. I think they also serve juice and soda but no one orders any. The doughnut scene involved Simon's usual uplifting themes - domestic abuse, coke snorting - and resulted in the Annie character bummed out over an order of three.

Eat Manhattan iPhone App

Hi all. I took a break from doughnuts to write an iPhone app with Sutro Media called Eat Manhattan. It's a guide to dining in Manhattan - from dirt cheap to gourmet - and yes, it includes doughnuts! The Doughnut Plant. The Donut Pub. And more. Plus burgers, pizza, street carts, banh mi and lots of high-class chefs.

Check it out at the iTunes Store and become a fan on Facebook.

Back to doughnuts soon.

Turning Doughnuts Into Other Breakfast Foods

It's been forever since I last posted. But a recent doughnut breakfast has me motivated again.

Last month, Mrs. B and I were in Florida visiting the in-laws. Besides the doughnuts, highlights included my bi-yearly golfing outing with Mr. P - I lost eleven balls which is two less than last time - making daiquiris in a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville frozen drink machine, and seeing my fist live armadillo on the side of the highway.


Our first doughnut came from Abbe's in Northport, an endearingly divey little place in a strip mall. It happened to be the shop's birthday - doughnuts were only $.35 cents in celebration - and we sat outside in between a father/son kettle corn team and line of chain smokers waiting for doughnuts. The setting made for an interesting background odor.


We went with an orange. It wasn't so much speckled with fresh, local Florida citrus, as it was flecked with neon, Martian bits, which may or may not have had any taste behind the big, bold fried flavor of the cake dough. Aside from the lack of dicernable orange, not a bad doughnut.

Buddha Belly Donuts

But the better of the two doughnut encounters took place at Buddha Belly Donuts. Buddha Belly is modern and more urban than most doughnut shops. Mrs. P said it was more Ikea than Henredon, who must sell unmodern furtniture. The doughnuts are trendy and somewhat artisan to match; somewhere in between Voodoo and The Doughnut Plant.

Regulars

Buddha Belly Stools

First there was the peanut butter. A light, pillowy raised dough gave way to a super rich, creamy center. Together with the smooth chocolate frosting there was a definite Reese's Cup aspect to the whole thing.



The plain glazed was equally good. Simple, yeasty, sweet and light: the essential glazed descriptors.

So far so good. But the real shocker was Buddha Belly's incorporation of doughnuts into other traditional breakfast foods. I know the "everything with bacon" trend is getting stale, but still, a breakfast sandwich built on a doughnut is inherently WAY more appetizing than a caffeinated bacon sucker pop. We also ordered one with sausage and in both cases sweet glaze and savory pork were natural companions; throw in soft eggy eggs and gooey cheese and the result had Mr. P claiming, "That was one of the finest breakfast sandwiches I've ever had."


Better yet was the doughnut French toast. I'm not sure how this concept has eluded me all these years. But the airy, squishy, pliable dough of most yeast doughnuts is the perfect foundation for French toast. Similar to Hallah bread with the extra essence of fried. Buddha serves their awesomely addictive morning meal with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.



Next up: A backlog of pics from Top Pot in Seattle.

Abbe's Donut Shop
13625 South Tamiami Trail
North Port, FL 34287-2018
(941) 426-5758

Buddha Belly Donuts

1990 Main Street, Sarasota, FL

941-952-0700

Where Donuts Come From

Thanks to Suzanne for sending this along.

Charles Barkley Foiled

Last night on TNT's Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley thought he was drinking a doughnut milk shake. But no! It was foie gras. Barkley's sportscaster colleagues were slurping Krispy Kreme shakes from Flip Burger, former Top Chef almost-winner Richard Blais' Atlanta burger spot. But they slipped Sir Charles Blais' bird liver shake to which he responded, "It's not like a Krispy Kreme doughnut."

Watch the full exchange here:

Blognut Meets Bourdain. But Just For A Second.

Tonight Mrs. B and I saw former New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni interview Anthony Bourdain. Afterwards I asked Tony to sign my weird UK edition of A Cook's Tour and snuck in a favorite doughnut question before getting ushered to the meatball station by a Times employee.

Me: Great to meet you Tony. I have to ask, for reasons I don't have time to explain, in all your travels what's the best doughnut you've encountered?

Anthony Bourdain: My favorite doughnut? Huh.

Voodoo Doughnut in Portland Oregon.

Me: Great answer. I had my vows renewed there.

Bourdain doesn't respond verbally but chortles behind a slight smile, which I take to mean he either finds my unnecessary anecdote amusing or - more likely - is ready to move on to the next person who wants a book signed. I'm also paranoid about having called him Tony.

More importantly, Voodoo! Not the Singaporean prawn-fried noodle cake I was expecting. Bourdain visited Voodoo on the Portland episode of No Reservations so I figure it was the first thing to come to mind and get the feeling he hasn't spent a great deal of time thinking about doughnuts. Which is totally fine. Still psyched he mentioned a Blognut favorite. Plus the event was fun and I found out Diet Coke now comes in this awesomly-better-than-plastic metal bottle-can that isn't depressing like the metal Budweiser bottle-can.

Sustainable Donuts in Vermont

In Vermont you can buy locally made pepperoni at the Shell station. And local cheese. And craft beer. And in the event you forget the maple syrup while traveling, you'll be totally fine because every single establishment you stop in will have at least three kinds in as many sizes. Vermont could succeed tomorrow and be totally self-sufficient where food, drink and pepperoni are concerned.

In certain urban centers – I won’t name names - locavorism has almost become an affect, in the, “I’ll have the Hudson Valley Squab with pickled ramps grown on a roof in Queens and fertilized by ambient heirloom pigeon crap,” kind of way. (Fine, I’m talking about Chicago) But in Vermont, local-sourcing feels natural and refreshingly un-preachy. It’s expected. Assumed. And the quietly fervent regionalism extends to the often un-local donut. Which is why I’m pre-empting my remaining Pacific-Northwest coverage for a quick note on our Green Mountain donut encounters.


Mrs. B and I set out last Wednesday to celebrate our fourth anniversary by sitting in a cabin and toying with the notion of catching our own trout. It was essentially our twelve-year mark if you count the extended courting period and we didn’t catch a thing. Our cabin was 20 miles outside of Montpelier - the only state capital without a McDonald’s - and there were no donuts and no people, except for a friendly woman named Penny who arrived in a pickup one morning bearing towels. There were also lots of huge freaking spiders. It was awesome, but the donuts didn’t happen until we hit Burlington, where we spent our last two days eating, drinking and making jokes about Phish and weed.

Our first morning we trawled the farmer’s market downtown, discovering that Vermont donut dough is incredibly soft. Maybe it’s the water, or the hippies, but every donut we sampled – three vendors total – managed an incredibly soft, pillowy, easy-going dough. And unlike the hippies, all without a greasy residue.


First there was a kind old Church bake sale-type lady selling baked Vermont maple cake donuts. Baked donuts are generally incorrigibly turd-like. But not hers. Imagine the soft dough from above smeared with a smooth, sugary frosting mixed with real Vermont maple syrup. Plus a few sprinkles to distract from all the brown. It had all the flavor of a fried cake but with a lighter disposition and a toasty, caramel-y flavor which tasted totally natural, unlike the artificial tang of most “maple” donuts.

Next was an apple cider cake donut from Shelburne Orchards. Again, super soft and light, though with a slightly firmer fried exterior. There was a nice subtle apple flavor from the homemade VT cider and the cinnamon/sugar coating was in perfect proportion.

The best discovery came last. Dinky Donuts is headquartered in nearby Middlebury, but on the weekends also sets up shop at the market where they sell out quick. With the exception of the sugar, every ingredient in their donuts - the flour, the eggs, the fillings - is locally sourced. We sampled a cinnamon-sugar cake and a plum-filled raised.

The cake was, as expected, perfectly soft and impressionable, but with enough body to fight back. Like our apple cider, the cinnamon and sugar ratio was dead on and the small stature made it an ideal appetizer to the fruity main course.

I should mention that the Burlington farmer’s market is lousy with plums. Like Subarus, they grow lots of them in Vermont, some of which ended up inside our donut. The plum-filled was enormous with the inflated appearance of a maxed-out balloon. The firm, browned exterior gave way to a soft and airy dough which was heartier than most raised donut dough. Somewhere in between a typical raised and typical cake really. The filling tasted like, well, plums: surprising given the cloying nature of most donut innards. In all it was tart, fruity and mildly sweet; and it almost tasted healthy in a fried sort of way.


The plum was so good, a trip to Middlebury was in order. Next up: a visit to the brick and mortar Dinky’s to feed from the source.

Donut Review: Peter Pan's Red Velvet

Mrs. B and I are on vacation in Vermont for a bit. We will visit the Ben and Jerry's Flavor Graveyard which is surrounded by a white plastic picket fence and contains fake gravestones for - among others - Devil's Food Chocolate and Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz , the later of which has a Facebook thread devoted to bringing it back. So far there are six posts. While away Blognut correspondant Marc has stepped in with his take on the enticing Red Velvet from Peter Pan in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, my favorite donut spot in New York.


Purveyor: Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Donut: Red Velvet cake donut

Review: Imagine a really good chocolate cake donut with a light, sweet glaze. Now imagine it redder.

Conclusion: Unlikely to be distinguishable from a standard chocolate cake donut in a blind taste test. If you love chocolate cake donuts and are (a) not alarmed by intense food coloring, or (b) inclined to eat your donuts blindfolded, I wholeheartedly recommend this donut for you.

Ed. Note: Where's the cream cheese frosting? Also, thanks Marc.

Donuts on Screen: Top Chef

Just getting to this week's Top Chef. I thought Kevin and his beard might take it, or maybe Jennifer, but Bravo really likes having two brothers battle it out. One looks like Tony Hawk. Ashley probably won't take it but she did manage to make donuts out of cactus this week which is unbelievably awesome. Chefs love donut desserts like they love making foie gras hamburgers and getting tattoos, but this is the first I've seen involving succulents. So here they are. Cactus jelly donuts with orange creme anglaise. They actually look great with their pink and orange-y yellowish drizzle. And the judges seemed to like them OK because Ashley didn't lose. But just OK because she didn't win either. I also like when Tom leaves the tent to spit out Mattin's ceviche into the desert.

Donut Review: Toffee For Your Coffee

Last week Dunkin’ released Toffee For Your Coffee, the winning donut in the megachain’s recent "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. Mrs. Blognut and I are still bummed about losing. Not even top ten!

TFYC is in participating locations through October 6th and over the weekend I scored one from my local store in Carroll Gardens. Considering the bleak state of post-trans-fat Dunkin’ (less flavor, oily residue, etc) and their continued rebranding as a flatbread sandwich shop, the new donut isn’t bad.

The body is a sour cream cake dough. Mine was super soft with a hint of cinnamon and it seemed denser than other DD cake donuts. This might have something to do with the sour cream. I actually thought I detected a mild sourness, but this could’ve been my brain making stuff up and fixating on an ingredient it generally associates with potato skins. On top was a thin layer of see-through glaze for a sugary sweet foundation, but this was mostly eclipsed by toasty toffee and milk chocolate courtesy of the star ingredient: chopped Heath Bar. I’ve never actually had a Heath Bar because I find candy that doesn’t involve peanut butter displeasing. But I think I could get behind Heath. (Side note: most underrated candy bar = 5th Avenue)

A new Dunkin’ donut always calls for my DD coffee mug, which I break out exclusively for Dunkin' occasions. It’s big and wide and holds lots of coffee. And TFYC is actually a perfect dunking donut. It’s firm and dense enough to absorb the coffee with out falling apart or leaving soggy crumbs behind. And a hot cup of bold, chocolaty black – in my case, Stumptown Hair Bender – works great with the rich toffee and chocolate flavors. Action shot:

The verdict on Toffee For Your Coffee: Not bad for a pop-donut. Definitely deserving of a permanent spot on Dunkin’s rack and a first-class dunker.

Caught in the Act

Introducing "Caught in the Act," a new Blognut column featuring photos of people caught in the act of enjoying a doughnut.

Here's friend and crack freelance doughnut scout Marc taking care of a self-designed banana nut bread doughnut at the Fractured Prune in Baltimore. The other doughnut he created that day combined raspberry, mini chocolate chips, and - get ready - coconut. For the record this dude voluntarily eats something called "Gel Rings" and his favorite sandwich involves turkey, tomatoes, and raisin-walnut cream cheese. And they might actually be called "Jell Rings." Still gross, but having your great aunt's taste in sweets is part of what makes Marc an interesting, blog-worthy figure.

Correction: Marc's candy of choice is actually a Marshmallow Joy.

Dunkin's New "Toffee For Your Coffee" Hits Stores

Breaking news from Dunkin' today:

The winning donut in DD's recent "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest has hit participating stores through October 6th. The "Toffee for Your Coffee" was created by Jeff Hager of Hoover, Alabama. Hager beat out nearly 130,000 other contest submissions by topping a sour cream cake donut with glaze and chopped Heath Bar.

I'm no longer (that) bitter about losing, so look for a fair and balanced review of "Toffee for Your Coffee" in the coming days. And congrats to Jeff!

Bayless to Fry Mexican Doughnuts

Mexican food wiz and Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless is opening a churro spot in Chicago! Churros are long and crispy Mexican doughnuts covered in cinnamon and sugar - they're usually delicious unless purchased on the subway platform and I'm sure Bayless's will kill. He'll also be serving tortas, the often over-looked amazingly good Mexican sandwich that doesn't come on a tortilla. The place is called Xoco and opens September 1st. Also, make sure to buy Rick's Mexican Everyday cookbook, if only because in it he discusses weight lifting and there's a picture of him doing a headstand.

Doctor Fired For Bashing Doughnuts (a marginally less important healthcare debate)

We know: doctors don’t like doughnuts. But as Florida’s Dr. Jason Newsom found out when he posted anti-doughnut propaganda on a sign outside a Florida health department, doughnuts wield extraordinary power. Or at least county commissioners and lawyers who own doughnut shops do. My pal Kwas said it best: “This doctor went way too far.”

Read the full story here.

Even Buddhist Monks Like Donuts...

...or at least donut-related beverages.

These fellows are snacking on something delicious involving green and white-ish vegetables, carafes of hot liquid, and - over there in the bottom-right corner - a to-go cardboard box of Dunkin' Donuts coffee! I guess we know where monks stand in the Dunkin' vs Starbucks vs McCafe debate.

Pac-Northwest Donuts Part III: Just Donuts, Not Much Else

Post-foie-gras donut we strolled by the Willamette River which was relaxing except for maniac mountain bikers careening by at high speeds. Too unsettling, so we headed back to the Subaru and our Voodoos weren’t melted. Phew! Back at the Ace the lighting was dim, but we managed to capture their likeness pretty OK and started with this doughnut which, as you can see, has a handle bar mustache. Mrs. B thinks it was called the Mayor of Portland or some such.

Doughnut With Mustache

The dough was light and pocketed with air – even better than I remember – and had a bright cinnamon-tinged spice with plenty of yeasty, wheaty bread. Blanketing the top was a thick layer of sweet and sappy maple frosting giving the Mayor a shiny brownish complexion; inside a smooth and rich Boston Cream completed the perfectly executed union of dough, maple and dairy – like a portable pancake breakfast shooting a blank stare.

Marshall Mathers

The Marshall Mathers came next. Get it? Small M&Ms. Not much to get actually, but here it is in front of hip Ace Hotel artwork. Didn’t have high hopes for this one, but the colors caught my eye and Mrs. B seemed to enjoy plucking individual candies to feed her unparalleled sugar jones. Definitely one of the few Voodoo disappoinments. The standard cake dough was soft, nicely dense and tasty as usual, but between the gopped vanilla frosting and loads of mini candies: WAY too sweet.

Again, because bacon on a doughnut!

Had better luck with the Bacon Maple Bar, a Voodoo classic which deservedly gets mentioned whenever the press or Bourdain show up. Same outstanding raised dough and maple frosting as before, but elevated to new circles of donutdom by three ultra crisp strips of smoky bacon. Just like the previous pancake analogy, but now the syrup has crept across the plate and encroached the breakfast pork for that glorious morning mess of maple, sweet and meat.

Glazed.

And last: a plain glazed, my favorite. I remember Voodoo’s glazed being good, but not this good! Slightly firm exterior with an ideal fry and a thin layer of shiny, perfectly dry glaze (wet glaze is the worst). The center was incredibly vacuous and melted away instantly leaving a clean, light wheatiness behind. An absolutely perfect doughnut. Top five all time. And all without trans-fat.

Marshall, the Mayor and the 4th of July doughnut from Part II.

Next up: Sad to leave Portland, but lots more doughnuts