Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me Donuts: Confessions of someone who hates to fry
Sun, June 25th of 2006
9:30 am
Hanging on the donut (mug) tree
Everybody likes donuts and if you tell me that you don’t, you either haven’t had a good one or you’re lying. There’s so much to like in a donut, whether it be crispy-tender or chewy-soft. Growing up, I thought that all donuts were cakey (a rise attributed to baking powder or baking soda), and I often regarded Dunkin’ Donuts as the best of them all; they were my reward-treat to myself all throughout high school.
Raised doughnuts a la Krispy Kreme or Gonuts Donuts, are lighter and fluffier because of yeast. These take longer to make, but are well worth every effort. It just depends on which texture I’m in the mood for. The donuts I buy from the neighborhood panaderia (bakery) are the old-fashioned, doughy types, which is what I make today.
I must say that while I love fried food, I never expected to make donuts. I hate to fry. But I’ve been asked to formulate a “fried dough” recipe, and because the term could mean any of a thousand things, I decide to make donuts.
in the fryer — love them bubbles in the centers
Frying is so boring. It leaves a stink in the house that lasts for hours, sticking to clothes and hair. Frying is also difficult to do well, I might add. Improper techniques result in the bad rap that frying has gotten: soggy, greasy food. But if frying is done properly, the food hardly absorbs the oil, resulting in well-cooked food that isn’t oily at all, with that gratifying crrrunch, to boot.
I still don’t like to fry but having a fryer makes the task more bearable: I just pop the donuts into the wire basket and submerge them into the hot oil. They cook about a minute on one side before I flip them over with tongs. Then I shake them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture before they’re set on paper towels. Here’s a secret: a pinch of nutmeg in either the donut dough or in the cinnamon-sugar mixture will make the donut flavor shine.
best friends: coffee and donuts
Donut dough should be wet to allow for more oil penetration and therefore, more crunch. On the flip side, donuts made with milk are denser, firmer, and less crisp.
Here are some of my tips for better frying, whether it be for donuts or fried chicken, or anything else you want to fry.
1. Always start with fresh oil, and fill a deep, heavy pan (or fryer) halfway with it.
2. Most books give instructions for attaching a thermometer but I’ve found that if you can keep the temp of your oil steady, the food won’t absorb so much. You can do this by…
3. …frying only a few pieces at a time and turn once for even browning.
4. Remove the food from the oil with tongs or a slotted spatula. Drain the food on paper towels or on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
5. Let the oil heat up a bit before frying another batch.
Other donut posts:
A Fan Pays Homage To Krispy Kreme
Donut In My Pocket
Hoop Donuts
A Donut Discourse, Or Why Gonuts Donuts Compares to Krispy Kreme
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I’ve always wanted to make dounuts! But I’ve been a little intimidated by the frying part, and I don’t have a fryer. Your’s look wonderful. I wish I could try one.
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Comment by Natalia — June 25, 2006 @ 11:53 pm
Just learned a weird thing recently: there are no donut shops in HK. Either that or the actual donuts they get have the taste and consistency of bitso-bitso. I was just amazed to hear stories of people hand-carrying dunkin’ donuts back to HK for pasalubong. I haven’t gotten to the bottom of the story of why donut franchises never got to set up there, but one story goes that the donut looks offensive (?!). In that case, I should set up a business there selling donut holes (munchkins) and cruller-type pastries -then sell the contraband from the back door (hehehe). –K
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Comment by Anonymous — June 26, 2006 @ 8:43 am
another major difference: Dunkin Donuts are baked while Krispy Kremes are fried. i personally like fried donuts. there’s something about its comfort food feeling.
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Comment by purplegirl — June 26, 2006 @ 1:01 pm
before gonuts came in, i ptaronized mr. donut and country style..but as you said, fried donuts like Gonuts border on orgasmic!!! when gonuts was new here, my hunny and i dropped by everynight for 1 month at the then- only gonut shop in the fort..we could gobble up 3 donuts each before we even get out of the fort…after a month, i gained 25 lbs…and those pounds were soooo difficult to lose =(
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Comment by sunshinier — June 26, 2006 @ 1:38 pm
im no donut fan. i wouldn’t know the difference between a fried and baked donut if it stared me in the face. but i LOVE cello’s donuts — the only one i could have more than a piece of in one sitting.
now, are they baked or fried?
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Comment by AnneMac — June 26, 2006 @ 2:19 pm
A few years back, the donut industry had accepted that that the Philippines was NOT a donut country. What kept them going was the insight that donuts were merely (and primarily) bought as “pasalubong.” They were handy, accessible, nicely packaged and very affordable.
And then, from out of the blue, Gonuts Donuts shattered this perception and created a whole new and amazing donut experience for us Filipinos. It truly takes a good product to shake and revolutionize the category and even change the way people think. And eat
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Comment by carol — June 26, 2006 @ 4:56 pm
I’ve always wanted to make my own donuts, not to mention onion rings, but I’ve never purchased a deep fryer. There is something so scary about all of that hot oil!
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Comment by bizofknowledge — June 27, 2006 @ 2:47 am
I want your donuts!
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Comment by Robyn — June 27, 2006 @ 8:10 am
Sunshinier — Oh no! That’s a LOT of pounds! I don’t mean to make you feel worse but man, I can’t imagine what that’s done to your heart. It’s good though that there’s a Fitness First now on top of Gonuts. And sister, I can enter your pain. I’m still losing ‘em pounds that settled on my hips…
Does anyone know how many calories each Gonut thingamajig has? I must say that the mocha lite is wonderful! Tastes like mocha birthday cake!
Must try…. And Krispy Kreme is coming to town soon…..
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Comment by Gigi! — June 27, 2006 @ 8:39 am
oh Donuts. My grandma makes these for me when we got camping. They are so good! Yours look delish too.
Glad I found your site. I’m a dessert obsessed person too!
Teddy
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Comment by funwithyourfood — June 28, 2006 @ 1:14 am
How funny that you say that everybody likes donuts- I really hate them- no really (not lying). The reason is that I once worked in a shop that sold donuts and it wasn’t a pleasant experience- the smell to this day makes me feel ill. Strangely enough I worked at a shop that sold curry straight after and I still love my curry so not sure what happened there!!
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Comment by emily — June 28, 2006 @ 2:29 pm