Food Porn: A Donut Taste Test
Time for breakfast!
This is what was waiting for me when I walked into the office this morning–an entire table full of donuts, coming in from all across the land. As soon as I saw them, I was ready to just pitch a tent, roll out a sleeping bag and move in to Donut Land, becoming a permanent resident of the small conference room where the spread had been laid out and refusing to leave until every cruller, cream-filled and chocolate-frosted monster donut was gone.
In the end, I didn’t do that (mostly because, were I to eat all those donuts myself, it would take a crane to remove me from my office, and even with the help of the staff we hardly made a dent), but this sudden extravaganza of fried dough and sprinkles means two things:
1) It’s awesome to be me
2) Politicking for Best Of Philly has officially begun
The donuts in question came in from L&M Bakery in Delran, New Jersey (who delivered sugar-dusted donuts filled with a custardy cream rich enough to buy its own yacht), Frangelli’s (whose donuts tasted like every single one of them had been individually hand-made by a team of Italian grandmothers working in seclusion in South Philly), Yum Yum (which offered up heavy, sweet and thickly-frosted donuts that were like getting hit in the mouth with a sack of sugar and, ultimately, looked better than they tasted) and Cosmi’s Pastries, which came through with my favorites of the day: an apple-filled donut, frosted and dusted with cinnamon, and a lemon-filled (which, in the photo, are the ones that look like they have over-easy eggs on top).
Cosmi’s product had the perfect balance between light and pillowy dough and dense, sweet fillings or toppings. There was a sense of them having been refined across generations and perfected over time, but still tasting uniquely of the shop that made them. And hey, when you’ve been working on your pastries since 1947, you’re probably going to learn a few good tricks.
So anyway, before I give up and slip into a donut-induced coma, I figure it’s worth posing a couple questions to the crowds. First, do you think that a fruit-filled donut (like the chunky apple-filled from Cosmi’s that I loved), should count as a donut? There has been some debate here at Foobooz World Headquarters as to what, exactly, constitutes a proper donut, and the main point of contention seems to be when a shop slips away from jelly and into a more pie-style filling. I am of the opinion that everything donut-esque–from plain cake to crullers to cream and jelly and fruit-filled creations–ought to count and draw my personal line of donut demarcation at fritters and anything with nuts involved. But I am open to counter-arguments.
And second, if you’ve got another shop you love, shout it out loud and proud below. Say what it is, where it is and how they have earned your affections, and if it truly is worthy, I will immediately dispatch a trained Best of Philly investigator to check it out and report back to headquarters.
Actually, it’ll just be me, rolling through the neighborhood and filling the trunk of my beat-ass Sentra with boxes of hot donuts, but what fun is an expense account if you don’t use it, right?
