Donut Questions Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

The History and Science of Doughnuts

Doughnuts are a popular sweet snack made from leavened fried dough that can be prepared in various forms and flavors.
The two most common types of doughnuts are the ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, with small pieces of dough sometimes cooked as doughnut holes.
Doughnuts can be deep-fried from a flour dough or other types of batters, and may include water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, shortening, and natural or artificial flavors.
Doughnuts are often accompanied by coffee or milk, and are sold at various places such as doughnut shops, convenience stores, petrol/gas stations, cafes, or fast food restaurants.
The first known doughnut recipe dates back to a cookbook published in Nuremberg in 1485, and Dutch settlers brought olykoek ("oil(y) cake") to New York in the early 18th century.
The terms "doughnut" and "donut" are used interchangeably, with "doughnut" being the traditional spelling and "donut" being a simplified version that has grown in popularity since the 1950s.
Ring doughnuts can be formed by joining the ends of a long piece of dough into a ring, using a doughnut cutter, or by stretching and pinching a disk-shaped doughnut into a torus until the center breaks to form a hole.
Raised doughnuts are generally covered with a glaze, while cake doughnuts can be glazed, powdered with confectioner's sugar, or covered with cinnamon and granulated sugar.
Doughnut holes are small, bite-sized doughnuts that were traditionally made from the dough taken from the center of ring doughnuts, but can also be made by dropping a small ball of dough into hot oil from a specially shaped nozzle or cutter.
Filled doughnuts are flattened spheres injected with fruit preserves, cream, custard, or other sweet fillings, and often dipped into powdered sugar or topped off with frosting.
There are many other specialized doughnut shapes such as old-fashioned, bars or Long Johns (a rectangular shape), or twists, with some being associated with specific regions or chains.
The physical structure of the doughnut is created by the combination of flour, leavening agent, sugar, eggs, salt, water, shortening, milk solids, and additional components, with the most important ingredients for creating the dough network being the flour and eggs.The Science and Regional Variations of Doughnuts
Doughnuts consist of a leavened dough that is deep-fried until golden brown.
The dough is made up of ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, and water.
The rheology of the dough, which measures its ability to flow, affects the final product.
Regional variations of doughnuts exist in countries such as Cambodia, China, India, Japan, and the Philippines.
In Cambodia, nom kong is a popular doughnut made from jasmine rice flour and drizzled with palm sugar toffee.
China features several regional doughnut-style pastries, including ngàuhleisōu, saa1 jung, and shuangbaotai.
India has several sweet pastries similar to doughnuts, including gulgula, badushahi, and jalebi.
In Indonesia, donat kentang is a potato doughnut coated in powdered sugar or icing sugar.
Japan has an-doughnut, which contains red azuki bean paste, and mochi donuts made with tapioca flour or glutinous rice flour.
The Philippines has several native doughnut recipes, including buñuelos, shakoy, kumukunsi, and binangkal.
Doughnuts are also popular in Europe, with Austria's Krapfen and Belgium's smoutebollen as popular variations.
Doughnuts are considered unhealthy due to their high sugar and calorie content, but steps can be taken to improve their healthiness, such as removing trans fats.A Global Guide to Doughnuts
Doughnuts are a popular pastry food item that are made from deep-fried dough and can have a variety of fillings and toppings.
Different countries have their own variations of doughnuts, such as the Berliner in Germany, the munkki in Finland, and the krofne in Yugoslavia.
In some countries, doughnuts are a popular snack food sold at gas stations and fast-food chains, such as McDonald's in Denmark.
Some doughnuts are sweet, while others are savory, such as the lihapiirakka in Finland which is made from a doughnut mixture and deep-fried with meat inside.
Doughnuts are known by different names in different countries, such as Kreppel or Pfannkuchen in middle Germany, and ponchiki in Russia.
In the United States and Canada, there are many popular varieties of doughnuts, including glazed, powdered, Boston cream, and jelly-filled.
The malasada is a popular doughnut in Hawaii, brought over by Portuguese settlers, and is a variation on Portugal's filhós.
Doughnuts are a popular snack food in Australia, with jam doughnuts being particularly popular in Melbourne.
In Israel, jelly-filled doughnuts known as sufganiyah are a traditional Hanukkah food.
In Morocco, a similar pastry to doughnuts is called Sfenj and is eaten sprinkled with sugar or soaked in honey.
Doughnuts are a popular choice for schools and other not-for-profit groups to cook and sell as a fundraiser in Australia.
Overall, doughnuts are a beloved pastry food item that can be found in various forms and flavors all around the world.The World of Doughnuts: Varieties, Industry, and Pop Culture
Doughnuts are a popular pastry found in many countries worldwide.
They come in various shapes and sizes, with different fillings and toppings.
In Brazil, ball-shaped doughnuts known as "sonhos" are filled with guava jelly or milk cream and covered in white sugar.
In South Africa, the Afrikaans variation known as the koeksister is popular, while the Cape Malay koesister is soaked in a spiced syrup and coated in coconut.
The doughnut has made appearances in popular culture, including in films, TV shows, and video games.
Police officers are often associated with doughnuts in popular culture, and some doughnut shops are even owned and operated by current and former members of law enforcement.
Donut King is Australia's largest retailer of doughnuts, and a Guinness World Record for the largest doughnut made up of 90,000 individual doughnuts was set in Sydney in 2007.
Per capita, Canadians consume the most doughnuts, and the Providence metropolitan area in the US has the most doughnut shops per capita.
National Doughnut Day is celebrated in the US on the first Friday of June each year to honor those who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.
The trend of using pink boxes to package doughnuts in Southern California is attributed to refugees from the Cambodian genocide who transformed the local doughnut shop industry in the 1970s.
Dunkin' Donuts used a solid pink color for its boxes in the mid-1970s, which contributed to the popularity of pink boxes in California.
Doughnuts continue to be a beloved treat worldwide, with new flavors and variations constantly emerging in the industry.