What a Doughnut should be

I have been learning about the illustrious history of the doughnut.

The word gives me quite a sickly feeling in my stomach as a consequence of recollections of many a pig-out on shop bought doughnuts.

We have all done it. That first sensation of a rumbling tum and you immediately seek something to satisfy the urge.

There are particular favourite foods on which to binge but in my case I have a soft spot for doughnuts.

Trouble is, it is very difficult to purchase a single one and I can easily persuade myself of the economies of scale and value for money of buying a multi pack of the things from a supermarket bakery shelf.

The modern doughnut bears no real resemblance to its great ancestors but we are more than happy to settle for the dumpy, heavy doughy, jam starved examples that pass for them today.

In popular culture there is a strong comic association with doughnuts which serves to cheapen and tarnish their heritage and value.

We have been accustomed to the sight of, in particular, law enforcement officers in those United States indulging themselves on sickly, oil infused products and of course the raconteur, humanist, genius and loveable underachiever Homer Simpson is never too far away from a bumper box of the things.

We may find immediate gratification in consuming one or multiple doughnuts but invariably we are utterly disappointed in them for their fast and junk food status, inconsistency of quality and above all, a sparingly amount of jam filling.

There is a renaissance in the doughnut world as it has come into the category of an artisan or craft food and has begun to appear at Farmer's Markets or in niche bakeries and food outlets.

You may recoil at having to pay about £1.50 for a single crafted doughnut but when you take into account the quality of ingredients, bespoke fresh daily baking and a bit of an allowance for pedigree then it is a fairly realistic amount.

In the 18th Century Salons of cultured Europe the doughnut was a delicacy packed with mixed fruit and exotic produce. It was very much a treat for that special occasion and highly prized in production and presentation.

So what happened to this aristocratic foodstuff in the intervening period to reduce it to a bland and stodgy staple food for the casually hungry, off duty coppers and animated characters?

It may be a case of having to blame the Dutch, or rather persons of Dutch origin who made their way to the United States in the mass migrations of the 19th and early 20th centuries and took with them their doughnut or Oily Cakes recipes.

Under the pressure of making a buck and in one of the first mass production markets the handed down ingredients and methods became bastardised and what we now know and grudgingly accept as a doughnut was the inevitable outcome.

There appear to be two main types of doughnut, either a baking powder infused version or an enriched slow proven yeast based dough.

The emergence of artisan bakers has seen a vast improvement in methods and materials for doughnuts and the best ones are a blend of warm water, yeast, free range eggs, double cream  and butter infused flour.

This gives a very light texture even after immersion into a deep fat fryer, or a high tech digitised piece of kitchen equipment, and just ready to be pumped up further with deeply injected fillings although being a purist I will only accept home made jam.

Don't forget about the hole in the middle which has been very much alienated in the factory output doughnuts and I hope that this too will make a much overdue return.

I look forward to seeing the new but authentic doughnuts on a shelf in my local shops- that is if I can get in past the queue of police officers and nuclear power station workers to see what they have left me.