Brown - Donut Nation A Cross-Country Guide to America%3F%3F%3Fs Best Artisan Donut Shops

2015 by Ellen Brown

Photography 2015 by Steve Legato

Published by Running Press,

A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

Printed in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014948618

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-5605-5

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

Design by Jason Kayser

Edited by Zachary Leibman

Food styling by Carrie Purcell

Prop styling by Mariellen Melker

Typography: Eveleth, Gotham, and Mercury

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Dedication

As I look back on my career, the person who was pivotal to the direction my life took is Sheryl Bills Heckler, who hired me as a cub reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer and then moved me to Washington to work at USA Today. This book is dedicated to Sheryl, with my lifelong thanks for the faith she showed in my work and me.

CONTENTS

While writing a book and developing recipes are solitary endeavors, transforming them into an exciting book to hold in your hands is always a group effort. My thanks go:

To Zachary Leibman of Running Press who edited this book and brought it to fruition, and to Kristen Green Wiewora, who launched the book and saw its value.

To Jason Kayser, the talented designer at Running Press who made these photos so dramatic and enticing, and whose design makes this book a delight to hold.

To Steve Legato, whose talent as a food photographer is only matched by his great taste in jazz.

To Carrie Purcell, the gifted food stylist who made all of these decadent delights for photography, and her assistant, Monica Pierini.

To Mariellen Melker, who once again provided the perfect props for each donut and its setting.

To Ed Claflin, my agent, for his constant support, encouragement, and humor.

To my dear family for their love and support, especially to Nancy and Walter Dubler; Ariela Dubler; Jesse Furman; Ilan, Mira, and Lev Dubler-Furman; Joshua Dubler; Lisa Cerami; Zahir and Charlie Cerami; David Krimm and Peter Bradley.

To the many members of my vintage grapevine of food professionals who tipped me off as to where to find the countrys most delicious donuts, including Christine Chronis, David Leite, Roberta Klugman, Carol Haddix, Leslie Cooper, Tina Antolini, Debra Ponzek, Marilyn Harris, Karen Berman, Joan Nathan, and John Mariani.

To my many friends who nibbled donuts and provided moral support, including Constance Brown, Kenn Speiser, Fox Wetle, Richard Besdine, Vicki Veh, Joe Chazan, Kim Montour, Nick Brown, Karen Davidson, Bruce Tillinghast, Beth Kinder, Ralph Kinder, Sylvia Brown, Kathleen Hittner, and Barry Hittner.

And to Patches and Rufous, my wonderful feline companions, who kept me company from their perches in the office and endorsed all the cream fillings when permitted.

Donuts are the great American equalizer. Theyre blue collar, theyre white collar, theyre at gas stations, theyre on restaurant menus. Theyre at home in the boardroom and theyre at home at the bowling alley. They appeal to all ages and across genders.

You can enjoy donuts at any time of the day or night, and youre likely to find bakeries that will sell them to you at any hour. You can still find wonderful donuts for less than a dollar, and even the biggest cities most upscale bakeries sell them for just a few dollars. Donuts have not gone the way of the five-dollar cup of coffee and fifteen-dollar glass of house wine. While they may be the Champagne of confections, theyre still priced on a beer budgetand a domestic beer at that. None of those fancy microbrews.

Theres almost endless variety in the flavors and forms of donuts. Some days you may want a hearty cake donut, sometimes called a sinker, to dunk into your favorite cuppa. Other times you want one filled with jelly or custard, or maybe a pretty French cruller with ridges visible through the glaze. And while most donuts are round, shaped like rings or circles, you can get them braided, square, with or without holes, and as long rectangles. If you dont want to commit to a whole donut, you can always munch the holes; they, too, have a lot of variety.

The American donut predates the Revolutionary War, and almost all international cuisines contribute some sort of sweet, fried treat to our melting pot. In many parts of the world, the local version of the donut is still made in home kitchens. But in Western culture weve by and large outsourced our donut-making. In that regard, donuts are similar to fried chicken: though people still eat fried chicken, rarely do they actually fry it themselves.

During the last half of the twentieth century, both donuts and fried chicken suffered the fate of burgers, pizza, and a growing list of other casual fare massacred and mangled by fast food chains. The chains eclipsed the mom-and-pop donut shops, in the same way that the Golden Arches dwarfed the burgers at independent diners.

But the desire for handcrafted artisan donuts is growing by leaps and bounds. New shops featuring classic and modern donuts are opening in small towns and big cities, reawakening the countrys love of quality donuts. Donutsespecially fresh ones straight from the fryerare hot! And theres nothing like the anticipatory aroma when you walk into a donut shop that cooks the treats on site.

Ive had a wonderful time researching and writing this book. It was a delight to find donuts flavored with fiery sriracha sauce, resembling a pineapple upside-down cake, dusted with Chinese five-spice powder, or stuffed with foie gras. I have interviewed donut makers who are well-known national pastry chefs and others who are self-taught.

There are some exciting and delicious donuts being made in this country today. Luckily for us, the small shops that make their donuts, fillings, and toppings from scratch every day never really disappeared, and they have been joined by a new wave of innovative donut makers experimenting with whimsical forms and flavors.