Wordsmith.org
Posted By: TheFallibleFiend doughnut, donut - 06/20/02 10:38 AM


My grandma used to make 'em homemade in the evenings and we'd watch Mission Impossible together while tossing 'em down. My grandpa's favorite doughnut as the KK cruller - a week old cruller was better than the freshest anything else.

We move to northern va and there's no Krispy Kreme, so I go to the local places and the Dunkin Donuts. They're not as good, really. Not what I would call a doughnut. But in the last few years I discovered one hidden away and I've also seen 'em in the local grocery. I recently introduced a friend to KKs. He says they shouldn't even call 'em doughnuts - but something much better. (Well, we argue about everthing else - why not this?)

I've never quite understood why doughnut holes are not called dough balls or something like that. I've never understood why a doughnut was called a doughnut, because it doesn't look very nuggetty. But I had a fleeting insight into the obvious yesterday and it occurred to me that it was doughnut as opposed to doughbolt. No idea of the etymology, but this seems plausible.

k


Posted By: Sparteye Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 01:49 PM
FF, none of my usual sources discussed the etymology of "doughnut", except to observe that it is a combination of DOUGH + NUT. According to the Word Detective, doughnuts were originally made without the holes, so the simple explanation seems to be that they were nutshaped and made of dough, hence, dough nuts.

http://www.word-detective.com/back-j2.html#doughnut

One other possibility: one of my etymological dictionaries discusses the use of "nut" as a color; dough nuts are usually nut brown, so that might have re-enforced the association between nuts and the fried dough.

And for the non-cooks in the crowd: the holes are put in doughnuts to make them cook evenly. A large doughnut will not be cooked in the middle if not punctured with the hole. The shape of a cooked hole is basically the shape of doughnuts as originally made.


Posted By: belligerentyouth Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 01:52 PM
> A large doughnut will not be cooked in the middle if not punctured with the hole.


But if it has jam in the middle of it......

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 02:46 PM
But if it has jam in the middle of it......

Absolutely, Belligerent One!

I never knew anything but jam doughnuts (i.e. dough balls with raspberry jam in the middle) until I went on holiday to Canada around 1975. "Ring" doughnuts didn't get to the UK until about 10 years after that, as far as I'm aware. Accepted that my awareness can lack something sometimes

Curious, isn't it?






Posted By: wwh Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 02:51 PM
Dear BY: Surely you don't think the jam is in before the doughnuts are cooked? I'm quite
sure it is injected after they have been cooked. Like cream in a cram puff.

Posted By: maverick Re: d'oh, nut! - 07/22/02 03:44 PM
around 1975. "Ring" doughnuts didn't get to the UK until about 10 years after that...

erm, hate to tell you this my fishy friend, but I ate ring doughnuts from around 1967/8 in Maidstone, Kent - and not mere cardboard specials, but split open laterally and filled with fresh cream in addition to jam... [/dribble] :)

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 04:05 PM
Dr Bill > I'm quite sure it is injected after they have been cooked. Like cream in a cram puff. (EA)

That gives me some interesting imagery. I just couldn't pass it up.

Posted By: of troy Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 04:16 PM
i think i have read that the nut of donuts is from knot or knob, as in a dough knot.. and yes, the hole in the doughnut is to make it cook more evenly..

it's is less of problem with raised (yeast based dough) donuts -- and jelly filled ones are almost always of this kind, but more of problem with "cake-like" or soda leavened dough nuts -- these tend to be heavier, and can be leaden..
the very opposite of KK's (Krispy Creme's for non-USers-- a brand of very light, raised donuts)

FF, didn't some of this come up when we discussed Tim Hortons? have you searched for Hortons? or Tim bits? i think it was in a sports thread of all places, and it wasn't me who brought it round to food!

Posted By: maverick Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 04:25 PM
it wasn't me who brought it round to food!

uh~huh?

:)

Posted By: TheFallibleFiend Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 04:39 PM

FF, didn't some of this come up when we discussed Tim Hortons?


I don't remember discussing Tim Horton's. Interesting - dough *knots*.


k


Posted By: Marianna Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 05:14 PM
For me, it was quite the other way around. I never knew that there existed doughnuts without holes until I went to the UK a few years ago. And cream or jam fillings were unheard of! But I ascribed this culinary quirk to the well-known British dottiness (doughtiness?? nuttiness??). Now I see that it all goes much much deeper... :-)

FWIW, as far as Spanish people are concerned, if it ain't got a hole, it ain't a "donut"! A bun, maybe...

Marianna

Posted By: sjm Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 08:15 PM
>A large doughnut will not be cooked in the middle if not punctured with the hole.

Curious. Doughnuts are a specialty of Rarotongan cooking, and no matter how large they get, they always seem to be cooked just fine without a hole in them. A meal of roast goat folllowed by some Raro doughnuts - oh to be in Oceania!

Posted By: RhubarbCommando Re: d'oh, nut! - 07/22/02 08:22 PM
around 1975. "Ring" doughnuts didn't get to the UK until about 10 years after that...

erm, hate to tell you this my fishy friend, but I ate ring doughnuts from around 1967/8 in Maidstone, Kent -

... and I remember serving them (and eating them!) in my Dad's transport café in the late 1950s.
They were certainly commonplace in London by then - and I think they were popularised by American Servicemen either during or just after the 2nd World War.

Posted By: RhubarbCommando High Noon - 07/22/02 08:26 PM
And we mustn't forget how popular donuts were made by that greta song, (from the late '40s, I think)

"Do nut forsake me, Oh my Darling ..."




[on second thoughts - maybe we should forget it . . . ]

Posted By: consuelo Re: doughnut, donut - 07/22/02 09:55 PM
The spice in a doughnut dough is nutmeg. Arrrrgh! Now I want one!

Posted By: wwh Re: High Noon - 07/22/02 10:08 PM
From a site about history of doughnuts, it is pointed out that doughnuts
began with small batches of dough left over from making bread. The
Pilgrims learned this is Holland, and brought the idea with them to
Massachusetts. In 1847, a boy asked his mother to make rings, because
he didn't like soggy centers. So, the ring doughnut was born. At first
doughnuts were yeast raised, and cooked in hot fat. When fat became
a dirty word, the cake doughnut was developed, the raising achieved with
baking powder. Or both baking powder and yeast, as in Martha Stewart recipe.
If you take one look at the recipe, you are almost certain to forget making your
own. It's a lot of work. The one thing I couldn't find out is how commercial donuts
have so little oil on them.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?M35F14351 Wait a few seconds for it to work.

Posted By: of troy Re: High Noon - 07/22/02 10:39 PM
The one thing I couldn't find out is how commercial donuts have so little oil on them.

it has to do with the chemistry of frying.. the best (read least greasy/oily/fatiest) fried food are fried twice..

frying is a form of dry heat.. (just like baking) food should go into very hot fat to sear (seal the surface) then the temperture should be lowered to allow the food to cook with out burning..the searing heat of the first cooking seal the surface, and prevents oil from permeating the dough.

so first submerge the doughnuts in very hot oil (something the best doughnut resist, because they are air filled.) then remove and cook again in hot oil till they are done...

duel cooking -- is one of the sciences of cooking...

but KK's are especialy good because they are a very light yeast raised dough.

second note
The Pilgrims learned this is Holland, where they were living and learning skills. most were barred from membership in english guilds. the Mayflower brought over Master Knitter, and Master Weavers, and other Masters at guilded crafts. (i am interested in textiles, so i know these for sure.. it took six years of training to become a master knitter.) They did not bring gold smiths, because they said no need, but did bring silver smiths. all these masters had mastered their crafts in Holland, a country with more religious tolerence than england (especially to foriegners who were not planning on staying beyond there training.)

in the early 1650's there were informal agreements between New Amsterdam and the New england colonies, against the french and indians. Since the french were more interested in trading with the indians, and not in settling land, they often had better relationships. Connecticut's tail that juts into NY is an artifact of this.. the snip of land from stanford to greenwich was originaly part of NY, and traded to Connecticut as part of joint defence treaty.

Posted By: Sparteye Re: doughnut, donut - 07/23/02 01:18 AM
More on the etymology ...

From Take Our Word for It:

The earliest occurrence of the word is in the work of Washington Irving (1809). He had to define the word, so we can assume that it was not a widely known dish at the time, at least to his audience. And, interestingly, he defines doughnuts as "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat". This suggests that doughnuts were not named after knots or nuts and bolts, but instead after nuts like walnuts or pecans. They were balls of dough that, when fried to a deep golden brown, resembled nuts. Doughnuts only took their torus shape to overcome a problem inherent in balls of dough - uncooked centers. Removing the centers ensured that the doughnuts would be cooked throughout.

Similarly, from The Origin of Things:

Now for the origin of the word. In the early 1600s, the Pilgrims learned how to make olykoeks and gave them a new name...doughnuts. The new name came about because the little balls of dough looked like walnuts.






Everyone's discussing the why's and wherefore's of the large hole in the center of the doughnut...but did you ever pause to ponder the small hole in the side of a jelly or creme donut, and how it got there? Well I'll tell ya....

Having suffered a short tenure of a few month's employ at a South Jersey Dunkin' Donuts way back when, I learned a thing or too about the doughnut making process...for all the good it would do me later in life! Anyway, when the jelly donuts come down the line, you grab one in each hand, and there's a machine with two metal prongs extending from it...so you insert a prong into each donut and the jelly is squirted inside! Make of it what you will! and I know you will!



Posted By: Rubrick Re: High Noon - 07/23/02 01:20 PM
And we mustn't forget how popular donuts were made by that greta song, (from the late '40s, I think)

"Do nut forsake me, Oh my Darling ..."


And don't forget that classic line from Raising Arizona: "You want to find your kid? Call me. You want to find a doughnut? Call a cop."

Posted By: RhubarbCommando Re: High Noon - 07/23/02 02:03 PM
I wouldn't call the polliss anything that I could write down here!!

Posted By: jimthedog Re: doughnut, donut - the smaller hole - 07/23/02 04:18 PM
Having suffered a short tenure of a few month's employ at a South Jersey Dunkin' Donuts way back when, I learned a thing or too about the doughnut making process...for all the good it would do me later in life! Anyway, when the jelly donuts come down the line, you grab one in each hand, and there's a machine with two metal prongs extending from it...so you insert a prong into each donut and the jelly is squirted inside! Make of it what you will! and I know you will!
Well, considering that a bit of cream is always poking out of that hole...




Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: High Noon - 07/23/02 04:45 PM
And we mustn't forget how popular donuts were made by that greta song, (from the
late '40s, I think)

"Do nut forsake me, Oh my Darling ..."


Rhuby thus documents La Garbo's first and only appearance in a Western, playing a sidewalk pastry vendor with a heart of gold.

Posted By: Bean Re: High Noon - 07/23/02 04:53 PM
Mmmm, what a great thread to return to after an absence!

I had a bunch of things to add, most of which I've forgotten.

1. What USns call jelly doughnuts I called a jam-buster. (In general I never use the word jelly, because my mother continually pointed out we rarely eat jelly, but often eat jam. Therefore my sandwiches are peanut butter and jam sandwiches. But I digress.) They don't seem to know the word jam-buster in Newfoundland so I often have trouble ordering one at Tim Horton's, I just don't know what the heck they're called here!

small batches of dough left over from making bread

2. A great Newfoundland word along the lines of the original concept of doughnut is touton, deep-fried bits of bread dough, usually eaten with butter and molasses. (Touton rhymes with floutin', not crouton, with a "Canadian-raised" ou sound.)
3. In the west, we were served similar things known as (a) elephant ears, or (b) beaver tails, and eaten with jam, icing sugar, syrup.... These were flatter and crispier than doughnuts but are definitely from the same genus.

Posted By: wwh Re: High Noon - 07/23/02 06:17 PM
How many AWAdtalkers know what "spider cake" refers to?

Posted By: paulb Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 11:41 AM
Rhu -- I've just got back from screening 'High noon' to a very appreciative audience. It was made in 1952 and even after 50 years it still packs a punch! The song 'Do not forsake me …' which was used throughout the film won the Oscar for Best Song (written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington; sung by Tex Ritter).

And was that Garbo or Gynt you had in mind ['that greta song']?

Posted By: RhubarbCommando Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 12:10 PM
In reply to:

And was that Garbo or Gynt you had in mind ['that greta song']?


Actually, it was a typo for Garter - I was thinking of Polly, from Under Milk Wood



(and thaks for the provenance data, which I didn't know - certainly hadn't realised it was sung by Tex Ritter)

Posted By: Rubrick Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 12:19 PM
[tomgue]

Ah, a new word coined! And just exactly how do you pronounce it, Rube?

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Chopped Liver - 07/24/02 12:41 PM
Rhuby,
You'll note I *also made the Garbo connection farther up. That's OK, I'm used to it.

Posted By: Jackie Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 12:46 PM
Rubrick, obviously Rhuby's tomgue was occupied seeking cream in a hole...

FF, as you probably know, I can drive a couple of miles and watch Krispy Kremes being made; row after row of them, sliding warm and steaming off the conveyor belt...
maverick, my drool has joined your [/dribble] :).

Posted By: Rubrick Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 12:50 PM
obviously Rhuby's tomgue was occupied seeking cream in a hole...

Ooooerrr..... I think this belongs over on the double entendre thread in Today's word of the day

Posted By: RhubarbCommando Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 02:12 PM
Thanks for pointing it out - I fear that my fingers do get a bit tomgue-tide at yo,rd



Posted By: Hyla Other-named confections - 07/24/02 02:48 PM
Bean says: we were served similar things known as (a) elephant ears, or (b) beaver tails

I know an elephant ear as a baked rather than a fried goodie. It's roughly heart-shaped, kind of like the shape of two elephant ears laid against each other (guess they'd have to be severed from the elephant's head, but let's just skim over that part) and glazed with a bit of sugar syrup. I've heard them called palmiers as well, but I think that's a slightly different shape of the same thing.

I wonder if the elephant ear Bean refers to is what I call fried dough, and what my Midwest-raised sweetheart calls a funnel cake - a flat piece of dough fried in hot oil and sprinkled with powdered/confectioner's/10x sugar and cinnamon. (could this be Bill's spider cake as well?)

Posted By: Rubrick Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 02:59 PM
How many AWAdtalkers know what "spider cake" refers to?

Is it merchandise to accompany a recent movie blockbuster?

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a spider cake. Eat it and you too can experience spidey's powers.

Posted By: TheFallibleFiend Re: High Noon - 07/24/02 03:14 PM


FF, as you probably know, I can drive a couple of miles and watch Krispy Kremes being made; row after row of them, sliding warm and steaming off the conveyor belt...


I could watch (and have watched) for hours on end, cup after cup, byte after byte.

k


Posted By: Bean Re: Other-named confections - 07/24/02 04:18 PM
fried dough

Your description sounds right, Hyla. So now we have

elephant ears (farmers of German descent in Saskatchewan) = beaver tails (Manitoba) = fried dough (self-descriptive) = funnel cake (US Midwest)

The toutons to which I referred are much less flat, more like a donut in size, but not so puffy. Crunchier and denser than a donut.

Serendipitously, I was reading a 25-year-old book about Canadian English today at lunch, and in discussing words peculiar to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, they mention fosnoh, fosnut, fassnack, from Fast nacht "fast night" or "night of fasting" as a word for donut. BUT, they add that the German vocabulary features which include this word are also found in German-settled areas of the US, esp. Pennsylvania, and parts of western Ontario.

Anyone here know/use any of those three words for donut, and if so - where are you from?

Posted By: Hyla Re: Other-named confections - 07/24/02 04:25 PM
All this torus-related discussion brings to mind a couple of things:

While on a work trip to Dallas some years ago, I came across a diner that served something called a "spudnut" - a donut made from potato flour, rather than wheat. They declared it to be much lighter and tastier than a typical donut - but it seemed like just a donut to me.

Topologically, we're all donuts.

Posted By: Verlangen Re: Other-named confections - 07/24/02 04:52 PM
Topologically, we're all donuts.

Huh?? This begs further discussion.



Posted By: of troy Re: Other-named confections - 07/24/02 07:53 PM
I got that one, Hyla, verlanden, if you took donut, made say of clay, and in the center hole, inserted a curved, shaped straw (something the silly drinking straw they have for children,) then squished the clay aound the straw, and shaped it like a mannikin.. from a mathematical point of view, you would still have a donut, or torus. if you could gently remove the straw, with out damaging the mannikin shape, it would be even more donut like.. even though, you could no longer see through the hole, as you can on a donut..

and aren't humans really shapeded like that? don't we really have an opening, that starts in our mouth, and ends and the other end of our body? Our arms and legs, simple bumbs from the outer ring.. and the inner ring? the alimentary canal from one end to the other-- a bit bent and twisted, like the straw, but really a hollow tube that runs through the middle. So topologically, we are all donuts..

Posted By: Hyla Re: Other-named confections - 07/24/02 08:40 PM
Perzackly, dearest Helen.

Posted By: maverick Re: totally tubular - 07/24/02 11:03 PM
All y'all can git the hay-all away from me with Juan's jam-injector is all! [/KK]

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Intromission - 07/24/02 11:10 PM
Then there are crullers.

Posted By: of troy Re: Intromission - 07/24/02 11:38 PM
i like the french ones best! In NY, there are 2 basic crullers, a long cruller is a cake like (read: dense, leaden, soggy with grease) and french crullers.. made from a pate a chou-- (cream puff dough) they are light, and airy, and have a very crunch crust!... and they are always lightly glaced, Not the same as KK, but pretty damn good!an they are formed with a pastry tube, and have deep ridged edges..so there is lots of crust!

Posted By: maverick Re: pate a chou - 07/24/02 11:42 PM
Bless you :)

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 12:28 AM
>pate a chou

Some sort of cabbage/goose liver blend? Hi Bel!

Posted By: consuelo Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 01:39 AM
In Mexico, they have churros. They sound much like the deep-ridged crullers of troy described. They are also rolled in cinnamon sugar and accompanied by frothy hot chocolate.[wiping the slobber off the keyboard-e]

Posted By: Bean Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 11:56 AM
The only thing I know as a cruller is a light, glazed, donut-like object shaped like a tractor tire. This sounds somewhat like your French cruller, helen - is that a good description of the shape? (I always called them tractor tires when I was little because I couldn't for the life of me remember the name. We used to have this weekly family pilgrimage to Tim Hortons* after church, and my Dad liked the crullers.)

OK, here's a word-related question: my husband's favourite donut (and I mean favourite - last week they appeared to be out and he sent the little worker-fellow searching for more "in the back") is a Boston cream. It's got custard injected, instead of jam (yuck! I hate them!), and chocolate icing on top. To all: do you guys know this kind of donut? Is it called a Boston cream? Do people in Boston eat it, or did they invent it? Or is it just a misleading name, like French fries?

*Canadian donut/doughnut chain, usually just referred to as Tim's, named after an NHL player, has the best coffee and we can't figure out why the taste is so different from other places, everyone east of Manitoba walks around in the mornings with a Tim's cup in hand

Posted By: Rubrick Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 12:50 PM
my husband's favourite donut (and I mean favourite - last week they appeared
to be out and he sent the little worker-fellow searching for more "in the back") is a Boston cream. It's got custard injected, instead of jam


The few Scots on this board (and jmh, of course) will be salivating when I mention the word fudgies. They are very like what you have described here, Bean, but absolutely delicious. Substitute fudge for the custard....... Yum!

Posted By: wwh Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 12:58 PM
Is "intromission" a kinky form of dunking?

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: d'oh, nut! - 07/25/02 01:01 PM
... and I remember serving them (and eating them!) in my Dad's transport café in the late 1950s

D'oh!

I clearly haven't lived. Well, not in wild, crazy, cosmopolitan Maidstone, anyway..

But it's still true that "bun" doughnuts came first in the UK, yes?





Posted By: FishonaBike Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 01:06 PM
In Mexico, they have churros

Ah, now you're talking, Connie!

I know nowt about crullers, but chocolate con churros is a great Spanish favourite...
[dribbling into the ever-expanding salivocean-e]

Posted By: maverick Re: d'oh, nut! - 07/25/02 01:09 PM
> haven't lived. Well, not in wild, crazy, cosmopolitan Maidstone (EA)

me neither! It's life Jim, but not as we know it... ;)

Posted By: FishonaBike donut-like - 07/25/02 01:16 PM
Topologically, we're all donuts

Nah - we're a lot more holey, Hyla.

Sponges, perhaps?



Posted By: maverick Re: donut-like - 07/25/02 01:19 PM
Topologically, we're all donuts

Alimentary, dear Watson

Posted By: FishonaBike Circles - 07/25/02 02:28 PM
Holland, a country with more religious tolerence than england

True, but not for Catholicism. Because the tolerance was in large part a backlash against the Spanish Inquisition/Armada etc, and William of Orange was the man whose time had come:
http://www.hiptravelguide.com/amsterdam/php/article.php?sid=45

Of course, there's heavy irony that the Church of England was supposedly initiated as a means of escaping oppression and providing religious freedom. Before too long it's yet another dogma and means of controlling people (albeit, significantly, at a more local level). It was news to me that Separatism (Puritanism/Calvinism) kicked off with very similar admirable intentions - i.e. individual freedom of worship - but this makes perfect sense.
Tout ca change:
http://www.thirdway.org/files/world/mayflower.html

What was that Joni Mitchell song about circles?!


Ummm donuts... Halos, perhaps? Ah, Circles!
Yeah, OK, total digression, mea culpa.


Posted By: FishonaBike Re: d'oh, nut! - 07/25/02 02:33 PM
It's life Jim, but not as we know it... ;)

Could say the same for Wales.

Bloody good thing, too!


Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Circles - 07/25/02 02:50 PM
What was that Joni Mitchell song about circles?

Here ya go, shona...one of my all-time favorites:


The Circle Game

by Joni Mitchell


Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like when you're older must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him take your time it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game


Copyright © Siquomb Publishing Company






Posted By: Hyla Re: Intromission - 07/25/02 03:13 PM
Is it called a Boston cream? Do people in Boston eat it, or did they invent it?

These are called Boston creams, and are modeled on the Boston cream pie, which is similar (cream, chocolate, custard, cake), but the bready part is baked rather than fried. In fact, it's more of a filled cake than a pie. People in Boston do eat them, they do call them that, but I lived in Beantown for 25 years and I've no idea if they were invented there.

For them what care (or who click on every link posted), a quick Yahoo search turned up this: http://www.joyofbaking.com/BostonCr.html, which gives a fairly plausible history.

As to churros y chocolate - there are few things better! The standard for chocolate in Madrid is that it has to be thick enough for the churro to stand up in it.

Posted By: Eyes I Knew Re: Intromission - 07/26/02 12:04 PM
Growing up in the midwest, we never had Boston creme pies. A cake donut with chocolate icing and a custard filling was always called a "Bismarck."

Anyone know why we do this?


Posted By: Bean Re: Intromission - 07/26/02 12:09 PM
Ack! I never would have remembered this had you not mentioned it! The competing western-Canadian donut chain, Robin's Donuts, calls them Bismarcks instead of Boston Creams. Could it be the western-ness of this chain vs. the eastern-ness of Tim Hortons? Anyone know why Bismarck?

Posted By: wwh Re: doughnut, donut - 07/26/02 12:31 PM
Which reminds me of :

JFK: 'I am a Jelly Doughnut'
... JFK: 'I Am a Jelly Doughnut'. From the mailbag... ... the story that John F. Kennedy
made a major German language blunder in his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" ...
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa021700a.htm
More Results From: urbanlegends.about.com

Posted By: of troy Re: Intromission - 07/26/02 01:05 PM
We'll the Eye's will have it! welcome.

I have heard Boston Creme called Bismarks, but not for eons.. but as soon as i read it..

Maybe called Bismarks because the british navy "creamed" the Bismark? or because Boston cream donuts are so much bigger and heavier? there was the pop hit in the late 50 about sinking the Bismark-- i 'll go see if i can find it.

Posted By: FishonaBike Bismarck - 07/26/02 01:15 PM
Maybe called Bismarks because the british navy "creamed" the Bismark?

More likely that the Bismarck was by repute unsinkable I suspect.

Interesting this - Brits never say "creamed" although there is an apparent possible Cockney rhyming slang derivation in
"cream crackered" = "knackered"

I'm assuming that Cockney rhyming slang has been covered, or at least that people know you adopt the word that doesn't rhyme as the alternative word:

"I'm just going up the apples" [..and pears = stairs]
"Best put on your whistle" [..and flute = suit]


Posted By: of troy Re: Bismarck - 07/26/02 01:34 PM
Yes, but...
the british don't call creme filled donuts "bismarks"-- the amerians do, and we do use 'creamed' as expression of complete and total victory.. (i think its from squishing bugs... but i have no reason for that opinion!)

and here is the song about the sinking of the Bismark-- scroll down about 3 songs to find it.. its pretty acruate, mentions the Hood, and all. there was a PBS special on last week about the sinking of the bismark, so its rather fresh in my mind..
http://www.allcountry.de/Songbook/Texte_S/Texte_S_05/body_texte_s_05.html

Posted By: Eyes I Knew Re: Intromission - 07/26/02 02:11 PM
So, is the doughnut a Bismarck because of how it sinks in your stomach? it is one very heavy doughnut :-)



Posted By: wow Re:Malasada - 07/26/02 06:45 PM
You have not lived until you have been to Honolulu, You drive up Kuhio from Waikiki Beach via Kalakaua Avenue until you approach the bridge over Kuhio - there you will find the little bakery on the right - tucked into a tiny corner - where they make *malasadas* (drooool) fresh to order!
Almost square, about the size of the palm of your hand, light flufy inside, crisp outside, sprinkled with sugar....light as an angel's dream (sllluuuurp) and get two dozen because you'll eat a dozen on the way home and not give a dam that your hands are all sticky and there's sugar everywhere! Bliss.
Absolute bliss.


Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: Bismar(c)ks - 07/26/02 07:32 PM
I feel reasonably certain that they weren't named for the capital of North Dakota, whereas Boston Creams are pretty assuredly from Massachussetts.

Baja Manitoba just can't get any respect.

Posted By: consuelo Re: Intromission - 07/28/02 05:31 PM
Hey, Bean! I was in eastern Michigan this weekend and guess what? There is a Tim Horton's in Lapeer, Michigan. I just had to stop in this morning and give their coffee a try. You are right. It's good, way too hot to hold on to the cup, but good.

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/29/02 09:57 PM
the british don't call creme filled donuts "bismarks"-- the amerians do, and we do use 'creamed' as expression of complete and total victory

We can both be right on this one, can't we, Helen? It's a donut that's bloody hard to sink, but gets "creamed" by the Allies

Thanks for the song link. It was tremendously significant to the Allies - but I recall it was also a stroke of luck coupled with a very bad strategic move by the Bismarck's captain, is that right?

i think its from squishing bugs... but i have no reason for that opinion!
Yeah, no-one's risen to the "cockney rhyming slang" bait yet, either. May have to start a new thread!


Posted By: wwh Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/29/02 10:12 PM
Talk about not rising to bait! I'm still chuckling about "intromission being a form of dunking".

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/30/02 02:49 AM
It was tremendously significant to the Allies - but I recall it was also a stroke of luck coupled with a very bad strategic move by the Bismarck's captain, is that right?

So you see, Shona...calling the Bismarck unsinkable was a titanic mistake! sorry, somebody had to say it


The Partially True History of the Doughnut

Many historians died to get this information on the web. Use this knowledge with great care:

http://www.elliskaiser.com/doughnuts/history.html

Also, Doughnut Philosophy here!

And doughnut eating tips!

TIP #2

Water, tea, and wine are generally considered inappropriate for doughnuts although there is still some debate over drinking beer with them.

And all this on one tasty site!







Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/30/02 08:48 AM
Talk about not rising to bait! I'm still chuckling about "intromission being a form of dunking".

Thanks for rising to my bait, Dr Bill.

Posted By: of troy Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/30/02 12:04 PM
Re:. It was tremendously significant to the Allies - but I recall it was also a stroke of luck coupled with a very bad strategic move by the Bismarck's captain, is that right?

Yes, it was a series of lucky bits..

First, a Norwegian member of the underground, saw the newly completed Bismarck steaming north (going up into arctic, to circle round Iceland, and "surprize" convoys by appearing in the mid atlantic) so the british knew were the bismark was, and laid in wait, at the other side of Iceland.

TheHood was there,, and up to the match..Well, not quite... The Hood was sunk by the Bismarck, an breaking all the laws of the sea, they refused to remain long enough to pick up the sailors, since they suspected rightfully, that there were more british and allied ships as back ups on the way.

The Hood had gotten off a few torpedos before being sunk, and while none were enought to sink the Bismarck they did hit one below the water line, and the Bismarck was taking on water. And worse, it had damaged the oil lines, so 1) they were contaminated with sea water, and 2) the back up lines were leaking too, so they were losing oil presure, and could not maintain speed -- since the bismarck was then the fastest thing going, getting away from the Hood, and Allied patrol boats was dependant on speed.

but the bismarck almost made it.. But the captain was convinced he hadn't! So he broke radio silence, and gave away his postition! but the bismarck had moved out of range of all of the british fleet..

a last ditch attempt was made using torpedos mounted on bi-planes, with canvas wings! The bismarck was at the very end of their flying range.. Seas were rough, and droping a torpedo off a airplane as new... There was one direct hit.. it destroyed the rudder, and now, the bismarck was almost a drift..

The admiralty planned to have another attack by the bi-planes, but bits and pieces of the navy moved into place, catching up to the now slow, and rudderless Bismarck the sea men wanted to finish her off, and did.. it was payback for the lost men of the Hood.

and that is my some total of knowledge about the sinking of the bismarck!

Posted By: Chemeng1992 Re: Bismarck Creamed - 07/30/02 12:23 PM
My first job as a young'un was at a donut shop, affectionately called 'The Donut Hole' (original I'm sure...). I filled many a bismarck in Belvidere, Illinois (midwesterners call them bismarcks too) with cream, custard, lemon, raspberry and even blueberry. We also specialized in bear claws. Bismarcks could be sugar glazed, white or chocolate glazed, or merely topped with cane sugar. I had a mighty strong right arm after a summer of filling hundreds a night.

Another favorite I had was a creme horn. Anyone ever had one?? I don't remember how exactly they were made but they were 5 or 6" of flaky fried dough filled with fluffy white creme. They looked like little dunce hats. Almost as much fun to play with as to eat!

Won't hardly touch a donut now though.......blech. Maybe an occasional Krispy Kreme glazed, but that's it.

Posted By: Bean Re: Intromission - 07/30/02 01:54 PM
Hey, Bean! I was in eastern Michigan this weekend and guess what? There is a Tim Horton's in Lapeer, Michigan. I just had to stop in this morning and give their coffee a try. You are right. It's good, way too hot to hold on to the cup, but good.

Oh Connie, I am so excited for you! I heard that Tim's was expanding to the US but then heard no more. As for the heat - you can ask for a double cup, if you want. My husband always gets a "large double double" (two creams, two sugars) so his is cooler than mine, which is "medium two sugars", and doesn't have the cooling power of the cream. I'm often given a double cup without asking for it.

Anyway, it would be an interesting experiment to try ordering a "Large [or medium or small] double double" to see if they know what it is. I get the feeling it's a Canada-specific (especially Tim-Horton's-specific) phrase, though I have no confirmation of that.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Tim Hortons - 07/30/02 02:07 PM
(tweren't me that done turned this into a food thread)

From the TH web site:

As of December 2001, there are over 140 Tim Hortons locations in the United States. These are situated in the greater Detroit area, Bay City, Midland, Saginaw and Flint (Michigan); Columbus and Toledo (Ohio); Buffalo and Jamestown (New York); and Portland, Lewiston and Auburn (Maine). Future expansion and opportunities will continue in these markets as well as Rochester (New York) and Erie (PA).

Oddly, they are owned by Wendy's (is that a Canadian co.??).

http://www.timhortons.com

in fact, I tried to stay in a word vein by introducing the naughty "intromission" and nobody got it, or chose to comment on it, except Dr Bill, as expected)

Posted By: of troy Re: Tim Hortons - 07/30/02 02:17 PM
Poor AnnaStrophic-- but its kind of hard when the word is "Donuts" not to veer off on to donuts.. but i picked up on Fishona's responce and worked the history angle...(not that i haven't done my part to keep focused on the food aspect..

and no responce on "creamed" meaning total vanquished.. Fishona thinks cockney rhyming slang.. i think its from squishing bugs...

But i think creamed is like woody-- it could be about food, (creamed corn) or about victory, or it could end up being bawdy..there are way to many meanings to cream, creamy, creamed, and associated words!

Posted By: Bean Re: Tim Hortons - 07/30/02 02:18 PM
Trolling through the "about Wendy's" pages reveals that no, Wendy's is not Canadian, which does not particularly surprise me because Dave Thomas has a very strong USn accent, at least to my ears. Apparently Wendy's and Tim's merged in 1995. (Why does this sound like a gossip column?) Tim's was started in 1964, by some guy named Ron Joyce who partnered with Tim Horton (an NHL player).

Posted By: Jazzoctopus Re: Tim Hortons - 07/30/02 02:49 PM
Wendy's (is that a Canadian co.??).

no siree

The first Wendy's is in downtown Columbus, Ohio. My grandfather was the manager of a paint supplies store in Columbus and my uncle worked for him when Dave Thomas came in to buy supplies for his first restaurant.

[EDIT] and btw, Wendy's is based in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.
Posted By: Jackie 90-degree switch - 07/30/02 03:05 PM
Hi, JazzO--I have a double mental link to your post: paint, and a first. When the Kentucky Center for the Arts was built downtown for concerts, musicals, etc., the husband of a friend of mine worked for Porter Paints, and they had the contract to do the painting. Their executives were given tickets to the first performance, but he didn't want to go, so she asked me to. Roberta Flack and the Louisville Orchestra. But this concert wasn't open to the public--it was put on especially for the workers who had built the place. We walked up carpeted stairs that still had plaster dust on them, and a large proportion of the audience wore plaid shirts and blue jeans. And that is how I came to go to the very first concert ever given at our new Arts Center.

Posted By: TEd Remington cruller types - 07/30/02 03:11 PM
Actually there's a third type. I found this out by accident when my brother bought a palomino which had a well-developed sweet tooth. The former owner told us that she ate crullers, but we couldn't get her to eat either of the NY types. Turned out she was a horse of a different cruller.



Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: cruller types - 07/30/02 04:16 PM
now that's crull and unusual punishment!

Posted By: Bobyoungbalt Fastnachts - 07/31/02 02:43 AM
Bean, fastnachts are Pennsylvania Dutch doughnuts which are a specialty at Fastnacht festivals, held on Fastnacht -- Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday. A fastnacht is a light yeast-raised doughnut, not too large, similar to a jelly doughnut, but never filled. They are spherical in shape, or as close as the cook can get to it. When they come out of the fat (lard is the classical fat) they are immediately sprinkled with granulated sugar, sometimes with cinnamon sugar. Most delicious.

There is a famous Fastnacht Festival held annually in Kutztown, PA. The eating of doughnuts on Shrove Tuesday is similar to the pancakes eaten in other cultures (chiefly UK and C of E) the same day. It is said that this started when housewives needed an excuse to use up fats and sugar before Lent started, but this sounds lame to me. At least at Kutztown they don't have women running races while juggling doughnuts the way they do with the pancake races in the UK.



Posted By: nancyk Re: Fastnachts - 07/31/02 11:13 PM
Okay, Bob, if you can bring up fastnachts, I'm obliged to mention paczki (roughly pronounced "poonch-key"). These are the Polish equivalent of fastnacht, only they usually are filled. Raspberry is traditional, but you'll also find strawberry, custard, apple, apricot, lemon, prune, sometimes bluberry. Also originally made only on Shrove Tuesday, now known in these parts as Paczki Day. (Marketers, who know a good thing when they see it, now start advertising and selling paczki a week or so before Paczki Day.)

Same explanation about using up all the goodies before the start of Lent, so there may be some truth to it. The recipe is, in fact, different from that used to make your run-of-the-mill jelly donut - richer dough, more and richer fillings.

Paczki Day started in Hamtramck, the Polish enclave, city-within-the-city, in Detroit, and has become quite a big local event every year. Although the best paczki (singular paczyk "poon-chik") are made by the ethnic bakeries, even the big supermarket chains have gotten into the act and produce probably millions. Ah, tradition!

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 03:30 AM
(this is too good to be missed, so for all you "non-clickers" here it is in toto...enjoy!) :

The Partially True History of the Doughnut

Many historians died to get this information on the web. Use this knowledge with great care.


In early colonial times, Dutch settlers arrived on US soil seeking freedom from the strictly enforced Writs of Pastry. These laws were created after a freak accident in which a cow kicked over a giant fryer causing much of Strudeldorf to be drenched in hot oil and fried to a golden brown. The new arrivals, careful not to mention the Strudeldorf incident back in Holland, were allowed to resume the making of their one true passion: fried cakes.

In the days when fried cakes ruled the earth, life was harsh. The cakes were difficult to fry all the way through which often left a gooey doughy center. The doughy unfried cake center often carried deadly diseases such as the bubonic plague and anthrax. Thousands of people and twelve bakers (the baker's dozen) died from eating unfried cakes. Still, people ate and ate not knowing if their next fried cake would be the last.

It was then a young lad by the name of Hanson Gregory stepped onto the scene. The year was 1847. Seventy years had passed since the United Stated fought Britain for independence.
The American Civil War was still several years away. Without any local wars to fight, Americans had little to do. Hanson's mother was a dedicated cake maker living on the cutting edge of pastry technology. Day in and day out she fried cakes with relentless passion. Sometimes though, even her fried cakes were doughy in the center. To conceal this, she began placing walnuts and hazelnuts in the center of the fried cakes, but this left little Hanson feeling very sad because the only thing he hated more than a doughy center were walnuts and hazelnuts on doughy centers.

One night while Hanson was sleeping, an angel appeared to him. The angel was holding a giant plate of fried cakes still dripping with hot oil. "Hanson," said the angel, "You must end the suffering of your people. Reveal the true nature of these fried cakes. Also, try one of the glazed.. they're quite tasty." The angel left, but the plate of fried cakes remained. Upon closer inspection, Hanson was shocked to discover that the fried cakes were hole-y. He ran into the streets shouting about his experience with the angel and giving these glorious pastries to the townspeople. Everyone agreed they were the best fried cakes ever. The people sang and danced for many days then had Hanson burned at the stake for being a witch.




Posted By: TEd Remington Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 01:22 PM
Hanson's brother carried on the tradition. He noticed that people frequently got burned when they dunked their donuts into hot coffee. So, using a small fife as a model, he added an extension onto the donuts to serve as a handle. Pretty soon everyone was dunkin' fifes.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 01:31 PM
I wood that you had not winded that one, Ted...

Posted By: of troy Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 02:24 PM
Many pizzaria's in NY, and all the italian food vendors at street fairs sell 'zeppilli's' (or is it zeppelli's?) which are misshappen small lumps of fried dough.. and they are often sold by quanity.. 4 for a $1... greedy people soon learn, the small ones are best.. the large ones do often have doughy centers.

they are dropped, hot and greasy into a small brown paper bag, (lunch bag) and generously sprinkled with confections(icing) sugar... you seal the bag, shake it to distribute the sugar, and eat them hot and sweet..
the dough is left over pizza dough, not sweet at all, but the crisp fried texture and the sweet sugar makes them a treat.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 02:31 PM
zeppellis=little zeppelins?

Posted By: Fiberbabe Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/01/02 05:02 PM
Pizza dough, eh of troy? Sounds good, and it reminds me of the extra strips of pie crust my mom would bake, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. [yum tongue]

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/01/02 07:21 PM
Do we still have a Food Thread Police? [I hope not. I'm just askin'.]

Posted By: sjm Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/01/02 08:57 PM
Since we've now moved on to miscellaneous sweetened dough products, I can mention that as a child in the mid-70s, when there were not many from the subcontinent in the town where I grew up, I used to describe jilebis as "Indian donuts". For the ball type of donut, as opposed to the ring type, one could substitute gulab jamun, little spheres of deep fried goo, tasting as if they are only 40% dough, the other 60% sugar. Indian sweets definitely are, too much so for my taste, I still shudder whenever I think about kulfi.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Fastnachts - 08/01/02 10:16 PM
Pretty soon everyone was dunkin' fifes LOL!

And so was Sheriff Andy Taylor when they were down at the Mayberry swimmin' hole and he dunked Barney!

Posted By: consuelo Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/02/02 01:07 AM
And then there are sopapillas. Bits of deep fried flour tortilla dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar or plain dunked in honey [babiando aquí]

Posted By: Bobyoungbalt Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/02/02 03:07 AM
Yes, Helen and FB, we have this treat around here, especially at the twice-yearly festivals held in Little Italy, where it's called 'fried dough'.

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/02/02 10:34 AM
>...it's called 'fried dough'

How singularly uninventive.

Posted By: TEd Remington Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/02/02 02:41 PM
>>...it's called 'fried dough'

>How singularly uninventive.

Fried dough lives.

Posted By: of troy Re: Misc. sweetened dough products - 08/02/02 03:48 PM
i love indian sweets! 74th Street in Jackson Heights any one remember the Patty Duke show "all the sites a girl could see from Jackson Heights? is now a little india market place, complete with a sweet shop...
The vegetable stores feature fruits & vegetable i don't recognize, as well as several varities of things i do recognize, but usually only see one variety of.. (i think of banana's -- most stores carry 2 kinds.. they carry 6 or more.. if you count the 2 or 3 kinds of plantains.)

Yes, they are very sweet, and often gooey, dripping with honey or a liquid glaze, but they are small.. and if you limit your self to one or two very small ones... they are sweet and creamy and cool the palate after all the heat of a dinner!

Posted By: Rapunzel Re: Fastnachts - 08/04/02 09:31 PM
>byb on fastnachts: . When they come out of the fat (lard is the classical fat) they are immediately sprinkled with granulated sugar, sometimes with cinnamon sugar. Most delicious.

They're not always sprinkled with sugar-- we usually get (or make) plain ones and eat them split and spread with "Turkey syrup" or "King's Syrup," which is similar to slightly thickened pancake syrup.

Interesting you should mention Kutztown. It's only 20 minutes from my house (around here, we reckon distance by how long it takes to get there, not the number of miles), and I attend Kutztown University. Never been to the Fastnacht Festival though-- in fact, this is the first I've heard of it! I must look into it sometime...

In answer to the question of the original Fastnacht post, I'm from Berks County, PA, which is in the southeastern part of the state. I live about half an hour from Reading and an hour and a half from Philly. (Reckoning by time again!)



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