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Doughnuts being glazed at a Krispy Kreme store in Sydney, Australia.

A doughnut (also spelled "donut") is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, jelly, cream, custard, or other sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough, originally made from the middle of a ring doughnut, may be cooked as a doughnut hole. Baked doughnuts are a variation that is baked in an oven instead of being deep fried.

Overview

Doughnuts are formed either by joining the ends of a long, skinny piece of dough into a ring or by using a doughnut cutter, which simultaneously cuts the outside and inside shape, leaving a doughnut-shaped piece of dough and a doughnut hole from dough removed from the center. This smaller piece of dough can be cooked or re-added to the batch to make more doughnuts. A disk-shaped doughnut can also be stretched and pinched into a torus until the center breaks to form a hole. Alternatively, a doughnut depositor can be used to place a circle of liquid dough directly into the fryer. Doughnuts can be made from a yeast-based dough for raised doughnuts or a special type of cake batter. Yeast-raised doughnuts contain about 25% oil by weight, whereas cake doughnuts' oil content is around 20%, but they have extra fat included in the batter before frying. Cake doughnuts are fried for about 90 seconds at approximately 190°C to 198°C, turning once. Yeast-raised doughnuts absorb more oil because they take longer to fry, about 150 seconds, at 182°C to 190°C. Cake doughnuts typically weigh between 24 g and 28 g, whereas yeast-raised doughnuts average 38g and are generally larger when finished.^{[citation needed]}

After being fried, ring doughnuts are often topped with a glaze (icing) or a powder such as cinnamon or sugar. Styles such as fritters and jelly doughnuts may be glazed and/or injected with jam or custard.

As well as being fried, doughnuts can be completely baked in an oven.^{[citation needed]} These have a slightly different texture from the fried variety with a somewhat different taste due to the lack of absorbed oil—and so have a lower fat content.

There are many other specialized doughnut shapes such as old-fashioneds, bars or Long Johns (a rectangular shape), or with the dough twisted around itself before cooking. In the northeast USA, bars and twists are usually referred to as crullers. Doughnut holes are small spheres that are made from the dough taken from the center of ring doughnuts or made to look as if they are. These holes are also known by brand names, such as Dunkin Donuts' Munchkins and Tim Hortons' Timbits.

doughnuts used to be used for watching cars

Regional variations

Argentina

In Argentina, the local equivalent to doughnuts are facturas, ^{[citation needed]} a popular baked doughnut-like pastry of German origin. Facturas are consumed massively and can be found in every corner bakery. However, doughnuts are starting to gain popularity, probably because of American influence through television series and films. They can be found in some bakeries and hypermarkets like the American Wal-Mart or Chilean Jumbo.

Australia

In Australia, the doughnut is almost always spelled "donut". They are a popular snack food. Hot jam doughnuts, known simply as a jam donut in Australia are particularly popular^[1] and a unique aspect of Australian culture, especially in Melbourne, Victoria and the Queen Victoria Market, where they are a tradition.^[2] Jam donuts are similar to a Berliner but are served hot with red jam (raspberry or strawberry) injected into a bun that is deep fried and then frosted in either sugar or cinnamon. Mobile vans that serve jam donuts are often used at spectator events, carnivals and fetes and also roadside at popular spots areas like airports. Jam donuts are sometimes also bought frozen. They are known, however to sometimes cause severe burns to the mouth, especially when improperly microwaved due to their distinct outer and inner layers.^[3] In South Australia, they are known as Berliner or Kitchener and often served in cafes. Traditional doughnuts are also available in Australia from specialised retailers and convenience stores although not as popular. Donut King is the largest doughnut company in Australia^{[citation needed]}.

Austria

In Austria there is no real market for American-style donuts. Not a single nationwide donut chain exists;^{[citation needed]} the only store making itself quite famous selling donuts is the Viennese store Batriks Donuts.

The Austrian doughnut equivalents are called Krapfen. They are especially popular during Carneval season (Fasching) and do not have the typical ring shape but instead are solid and usually filled with apricot jam (traditional) or vanilla cream (Vanillekrapfen).

Belgium

In Belgium, the smoutebollen are similar to the Dutch kind of oliebollen, but they usually do not contain any fruit, except for apple chunks sometimes. They are typical carnival and fair snacks and are eaten with powdered sugar on them.

Canada

In Canada, the doughnut follows the same design as in the United States. Several stores including Tim Hortons, as well as some U.S. chains such as Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme, make the majority of their profits by selling donuts.^{[citation needed]} Another Canadian variant is the Beaver tail.

Per capita, Canadians consume the most doughnuts in the world, and Canada also has the most doughnut stores per capita.^[4]

China

Chinese cuisine features long deep-fried doughnut sticks that are often quite oily, hence their name in Mandarin, yóutiáo (油條, lit. oil strips); in Cantonese, this doughnut-style pastry is called yàuhjagwái (油炸鬼, ghosts fried in oil). These pastries are not sweet and are often served with congee, a traditional rice porridge.

There are a few sweet doughtnut-style pastries that are more regional in nature. Cantonese cuisine features an oval shaped pastry called ngàuhleisōu (牛脷酥, lit. "Ox-tongue pastry" due to its tongue-like shape). In Taiwan, there is shuāngbāotāi (雙胞胎, lit. twins).

Chinese restaurants in the US sometimes serve small fried pastries similar to doughnut holes.

Croatia and Serbia

Doughnuts similar to the Berliner are also prepared in the Northern Balkans, particularly in Croatia (pokladnice or krafne) and Serbia's Vojvodina province. They are called krofna or krafna,^{[citation needed]} a name derived from a German word for this pastry. This type of doughnut is popular in Chile because of the large German community there and is called a Berlin (plural Berlines). It may be filled with jam or with manjar, the Chilean version of dulce de leche.

Denmark

In Denmark, doughnuts do also exist in their "American" shape, and these can be obtained from various stores, e.g. McDonald's and most gas stations. The Berliner, however, is also broadly available in bakeries across the country.

France

In France and in New Orleans, Louisiana, there exists a fried pastry called a beignet, which is sometimes described as a French doughnut.^{[citation needed]}

Germany

In Germany, the doughnut equivalents are called Berliner (sg. and pl.), except in the capital city of Berlin itself and neighboring areas, where they are called Pfannkuchen. In middle Germany, they are called Kreppel. In southern Germany, they are also called Krapfen and are especially popular during Carnival season (Karneval/Fasching) in southern and middle Germany and on New Year's Eve in northern Germany. Berliner do not have the typical ring shape but instead are solid and usually filled with jam. Bismarcks and Berlin doughnuts are also found in the U.S., Canada, Finland, Denmark and Switzerland. Today, American style doughnuts are also available in Germany but are less popular than their native counterparts.

Greece

In Greece, there is a doughnut-like snack, called loukoumas (λουκουμάς), which comes in two types (one is shaped like the number 8; the other is torus shaped like the number 0), from which the first one is crispier, whereas the second one is larger and softer.^{[citation needed]}

Iceland

In Iceland kleinuhringur (pl. kleinuhringir and kleinuhringar) are a type of old Icelandic cuisine which resembles doughnuts.

India

Some savory, fried items not based on wheat-flour pastry are referred to as doughnuts, such as the ring-shaped Indian vadas, made of lentils. Indian vadas are food of masses. In north India, vadas are soaked in curd, sprinkled with spices, topped with sweet/sour chutney and then eaten. In south India vadas are eaten with sambar and chutney. Also, there are a doughnut like sweets made in India called "badushah" and "imarti". These are made like an old-fashioned doughnut by frying the dough in oil and then soaking it in sugar syrup, and sometimes flavored with spices. The badushah, also called balushahi usually does not have the center hole all the way through.

Indonesia

Donat Kentang is known as an Indonesian style potato doughnut; a fritter that comes in ring shape and is made from combination of flour and mashed potatoes, coated in powder sugar or icing sugar.

Iran

Persians are known for their zooloobiya,^{[citation needed]} a fritter that comes in various shapes and sizes and coated in a sticky-sweet syrup.

Israel

Jelly doughnuts, known as sufganiyah (סופגניה, pl. Sufganyot סופגניות) in Israel, have become a traditional Hanukkah food in the recent era, as they are cooked in oil, associated with the holiday account of the miracle of the oil. Traditional sufganyot are filled with red jelly and topped with icing sugar. However, many other varieties exist, with the more expensive ones being filled with dulce de leche.

Italy

Italian doughnuts are called ciambelle, krafen, zeppole or bomboloni.^{[citation needed]}

Japan

In Japan, an-doughnut (あんドーナッツ, lit."bean jam doughnut") is widely available at bakeries. An-doughnut is similar to Germany's Berliner, except it contains red azuki bean jam. Mister Donut is one of the most popular doughnut chains in Japan. Native to Okinawa is a spheroid pastry similar to doughnuts called sata andagi.

Lithuania

In Lithuania, a kind of doughnut called spurgos is widely known. Sometimes spurgos are similar to Polish doughnuts, but some specific recipes, such as cottage cheese doughnuts (varškės spurgos), have also been invented.^{[citation needed]}

Mexico

The Mexican donas are very similar to donuts including in the name; the dona is a fried-dough pastry-based snack, commonly covered with powdered brown sugar and cinnamon, white sugar or chocolate.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the Oliebollen, referred to in cookbooks as "Dutch Doughnuts", is a type of fritter containing pieces of apple and/or dried fruit like raisins; they are traditionally eaten as part of New Year celebrations.

Pakistan

Local doughnuts are called 'Kichori', which are filled with minced meat (beef or chicken) and deep fried. Another variety is the 'mitha' or 'sweet' samosa, which is filled with 'Halwa' (Flour based sweet meat) and deep fried. Local variations on the classic American doughnuts were made available in the early 90s, espcalliy with arrival of Dunkin Doughnuts, but have not over taken the traditional varieties.

Philippines

Local varieties of Donuts are sold by peddlers and street vendors throughout the Philippines. Local varieties are usually made of plain well-mead dough, deep-fried in refined coconut oil and sprinkled with refined (not powdered or confectioner's) sugar. Donuts are a popular mid-day snack.

Poland

In Poland and parts of the U.S. with a large Polish community, like Chicago and Detroit, the round, jam-filled doughnuts eaten especially—though not exclusively—during the Carnival are called pączki (IPA: [ˈpɔntʂkʲi]). Russian "пончики", ponchiki, and Ukrainian "пампушки", pampushky, are the equivalent designations for pączki, but could be filled with cream or jam, or neither. Romanian gogoşi are similar to the Polish pączki. Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of the August III under influence of French cooks who came to Poland at that time, pączki dough baked in Poland has been improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.

South Africa

In South Africa, a variation known as the koeksuster is popular. Another variation is the vetkoek, which is also dough deep fried in oil. It is served with mince, syrup, honey or jam.

South Korea

Many bakeries in South Korea offer doughnuts either filled with or made entirely from the Korean traditional rice dessert tteok. These come in a variety of different colors, though they are normally in green, pink, or white. They are often filled with a sweet red bean paste or sesame seeds.

These desserts, while the shape of doughnut holes, can in no way be considered donuts as they are not fried nor have they any similarities of origin. There are, however, newer inventions referred to as tapioca or glutenous doughnuts, which are fried. The ball-type doughnuts are usually filled with red bean and coated with sugar. Finger style glutinous doughnuts are un-filled but glazed like their American counterparts.

United Kingdom

In some parts of Scotland, ring doughnuts are referred to as doughrings, with the doughnut moniker being reserved exclusively for the nut-shaped variety. Glazed, twisted rope-shaped doughnuts are known as yum-yums. It is also possible to buy fudge doughnuts in certain regions of Scotland. In some parts of Northern Ireland, ring doughnuts are referred to as "gravy rings" due to their being cooked in oil, itself colloquially known as "gravy".

United States

The Doughnut is extremely popular in the United States, such that it has appeared frequently in popular culture. The United States is the home of Krispy Kreme.

A popular doughnut in Hawaii is the Malasada. Malasadas were brought to the Hawaiian Islands by early Portuguese settlers and are a variation on Portugal's filhós. They are small eggy balls of yeast dough deep fried and coated in sugar.

To celebrate Fat Tuesday in southeastern Pennsylvania, churches sell a potato-starch doughnut called a Fastnacht (or Fasnacht). The treats are so popular there that Fat Tuesday is often called Fastnacht Day.

The Polish doughnut, the pączki, is popular in U.S. cities with large Polish communities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit.

Doughnuts and topology

Doughnuts, as ring-shaped items, are an important explanatory tool in the science of topology where the ring doughnut shape (a ring with a circular cross-section) is called a torus or toroid, and an example of using the ring doughnut as an illustrative term can be found in popular explanations of the Poincaré conjecture.

Doughnut Holes

Timbits, sold by Tim Hortons, are popular in Canada.

Soon after ring doughnuts became popular, doughnut sellers began to see the opportunity to market, rather than waste, the portions cut out to make the ring.

In Canada, these baked items are sometimes generically called Timbits, after the popular version available at Tim Hortons.

The following names are used by retailers to market doughnut holes:

Country Style Donuts - Country Bits
Krispy Kreme and Randy's Donuts - Doughnut Holes
Shipley Do-Nuts - Do-Nut Holes
Honey Dew Donuts - Dew Drops
Donut Diner - mini donuts
Dunkin' Donuts - Munchkins' donut holes
Robin's Donuts - Robin's Eggs
Mr. Donut - D-Pops (Japan)
Tim Hortons - Timbits

The Doughnut in popular culture

The Doughnut has made an appearance in popular culture, particularly in the United States and Australia. References also extend to objects or actions that are doughnut shaped.