PrintThe Serious Eats Doughnut Glossary
What's been unexpectedly interesting to me in all the doughnut reading and tasting we've been doing in preparation for National Doughnut Day (June 1) has been all the attendant terminology. So when Serious Eats overlord Ed Levine suggested I compile a doughnut glossary, I jumped in. With all the geographical differences and regional nomenclature, the task was almost as difficult as picking a perfect dozen. But here is a doughnut glossary of sorts. Consider it a work in progress, to be amended with suggestions from readers of all regions.
doughnut: First things first, a doughnut is a sweet deep-fried piece of ring-shape dough or batter. Though technically not doughnuts, those that are flattened spheres injected with jam, jelly, or custard are known as filled doughnuts. After frying, doughnuts may be embellished with any number of toppings, including glazed icing, powdered or granulated sugar, sprinkles, sugar and cinnamon, etc. Note: The variant spelling of donut appeared in the 1920s, according to doughnut scholar John T. Edge in his book Donuts, when "the New York–based Doughnut Machine Corporation set its eyes upon foreign markets." To help foster proper pronunciation in different languages, the company introduced this spelling.
cake doughnuts: A doughnut made of a special cake batter leavened with baking powder, baking soda, or a combination of the two—not with yeast. (See yeast-raised doughnuts, below)
cruller: A twisted cake doughnut, most often round in shape, but can also appear as a long, twisted doughnut (particularly in the U.S. Northeast).
doughnut holes: Small spheres of dough, typically one inch in diameter, fried and then glazed with icing, or rolled in a powdered topping, the most common of which are powdered sugar, a cinnamon–granulated sugar mixture, or sprinkles. The spheres may be formed from the dough punched out of the center of a ring-shape doughnut (hence the name) or may come from dough made expressly for doughnut-hole production.
French cruller: A cruller made of choux pastry.
old-fashioned: There are many variations, but what all seem to have in common is that they are cake doughnuts with a minimum of embellishment, if any. An interesting regional variation is the sort of double-ring old-fashioned that seems to be popular in the Northwest.
Berliner: Predominately German. A yeasted, marmalade- or jelly-filled doughnut topped with icing or powdered or granulated sugar.
Bismarck: Just another name for a Berliner (see above).
Long John: A long, almost rectangular, filled doughnut, often iced.
twist: A ring-shape yeast-raised doughnut twisted around itself, resulting in a long cylindrical doughnut. Depending on the number and tightness of twists, there may or may not be recognizable holes at either end of a twist.
yeast-raised doughnuts: A doughnut that uses yeast as the leavener in its batter. Yeast-raised doughnuts are lighter and airier and contain a bit more oil than their cake-doughnut counterparts. Think: Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnut.
If you have any regional variations you'd like us to include, please, as always, comment away!
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20 Comments:
I have never encountered a filled Long John.
me3dia at 6:46PM on 05/30/07
I just had one at Butler's Old Colonial Donut House in Westport, Mass. Filled with blackberry jam and cream. Delicious.
Ed Levine at 7:29PM on 05/30/07
my friends and i had this debate once, a long john is practically unheard of on the west coast. here they're just called chocolate bars or maple bars depending on the frosting.
yumsugar at 7:29PM on 05/30/07
I'm in Chicago. No filled long johns here. Not even from East Coast's Dunkin' Donuts.
me3dia at 7:56PM on 05/30/07
Here at the Donut Dip in West Springfield, MA, bismarks are kind of like a cross between jelly donuts and eclairs. They're long and slender like eclairs, but have jelly in them and, strangely, piped whipped cream along the length of the top.
AdamH at 9:31PM on 05/30/07
What about churros, beignets, zeppole, funnel cakes, youtiao, frybread, elephant ears, and beavertails?
kathryn at 10:52PM on 05/30/07
Yeah, definitely no filled long johns. Once it's filled, it's either a long jelly donut or an eclair. Sorry Ed, it's the truth.
capndesign at 12:56AM on 05/31/07
OK. Maybe we will revise the long john entry.
Adam Kuban at 10:05AM on 05/31/07
We've got a "dougnut day" in my parts, Central Pa/Penn. Dutch region- it's called Fausnaught Day, a german tradition...also known as fat tuesday.
Prairie at 10:19AM on 05/31/07
I remember "kinklings" from Frederick, MD, which I seem to remember were a Lenten specialty. They were square raised donuts with powdered sugar (or was it regular sugar?). They did not taste like regular donuts, they were less sweet. I miss them.
dksbook at 11:17AM on 05/31/07
I grew up on Long Johns, every year that we would go camping or to a cottage up in "cottage country" in Ontario, we'd get them...they are pretty good.
Lilartist at 11:23AM on 05/31/07
In the Detroit area there is a traditional Polish pastry called Paczki ( punch key ). The plural noun. It's simular to a jelly donut. These are made the thursday prior to Ash wednsday or Fat thursday. Long lines of Detroiters form in front of many Polish bakeries in Detroit and Hamtramck to indulge in this tasty Polish donut.
Colorado Jim at 12:16PM on 05/31/07
I think in some regions, the Dunkin Donuts name for doughnut holes is almost always used: Munchkins. I learned this recently from a former co-worker.
NYminknit at 12:32PM on 05/31/07
In Houston, at my local Shipley's they called the filled, cylindrical donuts Long Johns. So perhaps the filled Long John is a regional variation. And what about apple fritters? They're fried (and my favorite!).
homesicktexan at 2:47PM on 05/31/07
The donut holes in my area are called Timbits - from Tim Hortons. I have never heard of Munchkins, but then again Tim Hortons is a very popular in Canada.
Lilartist at 3:00PM on 05/31/07
Your cruller photo is what I (as a New Englander) would call a French cruller. Not a regular cruller.
megnut at 5:06PM on 05/31/07
Colorado Jim - we have paczki here too in western MA. Some bakeries sell them and the local supermarket chain has billboards for them.
Megnut - right on about the French cruller.
Now I want a chocolate creme donut. Damn you, Serious Eats!
AdamH at 8:35PM on 05/31/07
No Beignets? Zeppoles? Loukomathes?
jperlow at 12:16PM on 06/01/07
In South Arkansas (El Dorado, Camden & Magnolia) we have "Spudnut Shops" where the donuts (all varieties) are made with potato flour. I have yet to taste anything close to being a rival. Completely yummy whether or not they're hot and fresh or a few hours old and a little cold.
tugars at 12:20PM on 06/01/07
Ah, now it becomes clear this madness I attempted to wade through in creating a doughnut glossary. Perhaps its now clear why I couldn't find a proper one anywhere.
Adam Kuban at 5:22PM on 06/01/07