While Planet Doughnut started in 2017, this beautiful fried pastry has a history going back much further. Often eaten for breakfast, a snack, or a highly favoured dessert, doughnuts' popularity is ever-growing. In fact according to the "British Baker," the doughnut market has grown by 47% over the last five years in the UK. Overseas in America, over 10 billion doughnuts are eaten each year!
Now let's see...
Dough you know these facts?
WHERE WERE DOUGHNUTS INVENTED AND BY WHOM?
These desserts have a fascinating history, dating all the way back to Dutch settlers in New York, which was then New Netherland, in the 17th and 18th centuries. These settlers would prepare fried dough balls, which they called olie koeken or olykoeks (oil cake). They were similar to the modern doughnuts we enjoy today; however, the iconic ring shape was not yet established.
WHY ARE DOUGHNUTS RING- SHAPED?
The timeless ring-like appearance of a doughnut is credited to Captain Hanson Gregory, who was a young American sailor. He too enjoyed indulging in an olykoek (oil cake). Although, the raw center in the middle of the pastry irritated him so much that he decided to punch a hole in the middle to eliminate the problem, this birthed the perfect shape for doughnuts, as it allowed even frying and made a much more enjoyable treat.
DOUGHNUT OR DONUT?
Now, this debate has captured many hearts, as donuts are such a universal sweet treat. However, let's look at this alongside some facts.
The origin of the word, "doughnut" holds a lot of theorizing on how it came to be. For example, some may argue that the pilgrims referred to their olykoeks as doughnuts due to the raw center creating that doughy texture. Another story goes about an old doughnut recipe where nuts were in the middle of the dough instead of having the raw part in the middle, which they called doughy. This would create the dough-nut, a portmanteau. Washington Irving is said to have popularized the word through this quote, "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks". Fun fact: The first time "doughnut" appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1782.
Now, the word "donut" is an alternative spelling of "doughnut" itself. Claims appear that it first came to be in the 1920s when a New-York based Doughnut Machinery company abbreviated the word to make it easier to pronounce for foreigners, to sell their product to them. However, just like with "doughnut", there are multiple accounts of the "donut" birth story. For example, there is also a book that was published in 1900 that claims to be the first printed use of the word. The book is called Peck's Bad Boy and his Pa, written by George W. Peck, where a character says, "Pa said he guessed he hasn't got much appetite, and he would just drink a cup of coffee and eat a donut." This term is most popular in American English rather than here in the UK, with leading doughnut shops in the US choosing to favour "donut" over "doughnut." A demonstration of this would be Dunkin Donuts, which first opened in 1948.
Now, make your choice: is it a doughnut or a donut?
ARE DOUGHNUTS GOOD LUCK?
Doughnuts and other circular-shaped goods are often eaten in times when luck is needed, like on New Year's Day, in hopes of a year of luck, coming full circle, and prosperity. This is because the circle shape is symbolic of coins and money, connoting good fortune. Many believe that eating circle foods on a day like New Years can promise a financially successful new year.
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