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Who Invented Doughnuts?

doughnut day

November 5 is one of two National Doughnuts Day observed by doughnut lovers across the nation. The first Friday in June is the other day doughnuts steal the bakery case spotlight ready to tease their way into white bakery box home!

The history of the doughnut is disputed:

  • One theory suggests Dutch settlers brought doughnuts to North America much like they brought other traditional American desserts including cookies, apple pie, cream pie and cobbler.
  • An American, Hanson Gregory, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 while on board a lime-trading ship at the age of 16.  According to Gregory, he punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship’s tin pepper box and later taught the technique to his mother.
  • Anthropologist Paul R Mullins states the first cookbook mentioning doughnuts was an 1803 English volume which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes.
  • An 1808 short story describing a spread of “fire-cakes and dough-nuts” is the earliest known recorded usage of the term doughnut.
  • A more commonly cited first written recording of the word is Washington Irving’s reference to doughnuts in 1809 in his History of New York.  He described balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat and called doughnuts.  Today, these nuts of fried dough are called doughnut holes.

From Foodimentary

Here are today’s five thing to know about Doughnuts :

  1. In the U.S. alone, more than 10 billion donuts are made every year.
  2. Between their 27 locations, LaMar’s Donuts produces 344,700 donuts per week, which is 17.9 million donuts per year.
  3. A Ray’s Original Glazed Donut has only 220 calories, while a bagel and cream cheese averages 450 calories.
  4. Per capita, Canada has more donuts shops than any other country.
  5. The Dutch are often credited with bringing donuts to the U.S. with their olykoeks, or oily cakes in the 1800s.