Toe in the Water

A Doughnut Post

A Doughnut Post

This is weird. America being the spiritual home of the donut, it is natural that a dazzling variety of this rotund snack should be on offer. You can have a plain one (usually with sugar coating the outside), a chocolate-coated version, one with frosting and/or sprinkles (even the chocolate type of sprinkles known as "jimmies" in this neck of the woods). If you're really sugar-hungry, there's the Boston Creme, a wonderful loop filled with a custardy, creamy concoction and topped with a layer of chocolate. American donuts are truly amazing but usually avoided by myself since the sugar destroys my day.

Imagine my surprise, therefore, when Andrea brings home something she calls a "basic" donut. I thought I'd seen them all but this one is different. For a start it looks as though it has been cooked in batter. It's when I pick one up that I realize just how different this beast is. It feels exactly like a British doughnut. You must know the slightly greasy touch of those doughy monsters. This one feels the same.

I taste it. Land o' Goshen, this is a Brit donut or an exact copy. That heavy, lumpen taste and texture, the dryness that sucks the moisture from your mouth, the lead weight that sits in your stomach for hours afterwards - this is a Brit donut for sure.

Who would have thought that this brash America with its brain-numbing array of donuts would yet save a little space for the original, cloddish variety, a DOUGHnut indeed? Yet the most surprising fact of all is that Andrea announces that this is her favorite type.

Sometimes she is more British than the Brits...


Word Count: 279