Donut Man's Kitchen

Over the past weekend, I had the chance to put the Top Pot lemon cake donut recipe to the test—and came up with my own creation as well: Gorillas (Peterson’s has their Zebras, so I have my Gorillas). Prep work began on Saturday afternoon, when I mixed the dough, as it needed to firm up in the fridge overnight. For the lemon donuts, I used fresh-squeezed lemon juice and the finely grated rind of one whole lemon. Although the recipe didn’t call for it, I added a few drops of yellow food coloring to give the dough a more appealing look. No one ever said donuts are supposed to be all-natural, organic, and all that, eh?

Lemon donut, waiting to take the plunge

The Gorillas used a basic cake donut dough with bananas, walnuts, dates, and coconut mixed in, and then the finished product was topped with chocolate icing. For these, it was necessary to reduce the amount of milk in the recipe by half, as the bananas add a bit of moisture to the dough. When the dough was rolled out the next day, quite a generous amount of flour was required to dust the rolling pin and the surface, as both doughs were incredibly sticky. Nevertheless, I managed to cut some pretty nice rounds, which held their shape well.

Lemon donuts, sizzlin'

If you’ve never made your own donuts, let me tell you this: frying them is the best part. Drop the rounds into oil heated to 370°F, wait about 30 seconds, and then watch them pop up to the surface, sizzlin’ scrumptiously.

Once they come up for air, they are fried for one minute on each side, until lightly browned. When you see people do this at a donut shop, it looks so easy, doesn’t it? But you never see all the work that goes on behind the scenes. Granted, donut shops usually have big machines that mix everything together to just the right consistency and form the rounds automatically, but it’s still a lot of work to make a nice donut. In the end, I was left with about eight donuts of each variety, plus a few holes—or “Gorilla balls” as I called them.

The lemon donuts were finished with a homemade lemon buttercream frosting—and yes, I used more yellow food coloring in the frosting. The Gorillas were topped with basic chocolate icing, made from confectioner’s sugar, powdered cocoa, vanilla, and milk. 

Lemon donut, frosted and finished

And the verdict? Here are a few quotes from my taste-testers:

The Gorilla™ 

Big B: “The donuts rocked! Man, you've really started to master this. Can't wait to see what's next. That lemon [frosting] was sweet but tart; I thought it was awesome. I am not much a fan of cake donuts but thought that it was moist and solid . . . the Gorilla donuts were perfect . . . I would love to try a raised with lemon icing.”

Sir Isaac Newton: “Delicious. I liked the lemon cake donuts, especially with the lemon buttercream frosting, which was a nice change from a standard donut icing, and reminded me of the frosting on Peterson’s cake donuts.”

Lil’ C: She’s the shy sort, and doesn’t say much, but from the way she devoured the top layers of icing, leaving the cakes on her plate, it was obvious that I make a dang good icing, but my donuts need a bit of work.

Mama Maple, who received the holes but not the whole donuts, said, “They were both good! The centers were not quite cooked through, but were okay that way. Perhaps it was not intended, but it had sort of a little filling effect. I liked the lemon better than the Gorilla, surprisingly. Maybe the Gorilla had so many flavors that I couldn't pick up on any of them except the icing?” Mama Maple’s point is well taken, as I rolled up the holes by hand and compressed the dough too much before tossing them in the fryer, so they came out somewhat undercooked, which fortunately wasn’t the case with the whole donuts.

Personally, I thought the donuts came out just a bit heavy, but that they tasted excellent. I don’t have any industrial donut-making machines in my kitchen, so cut me some slack, okay? Next time I make donuts at home, I’ll go for the raised variety, which will allow me to get a little more creative with some fillings and toppings. Suggestions for imaginative flavors are always welcome, as are more taste-testers!

Open for Business?

You may be wondering why someone who likes donuts as much as I do doesn’t open up his own donut shop. It could be called the Donut Mansion, or Donuts Forever, or something else equally clever. After all, I’m one of those literary types who knows how to put words to good use. My donut shop would feature not only donuts but also a free library, where customers could exchange one of their old books for another, as well as a DIY donut topping bar, where kids young and old can line up and squeeze out chocolate, vanilla, maple, or any other icing over their warm donut, then throw all sorts of toppings over the gooey mass. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Yeah, that would definitely be a lot of fun—but also a lot of work. While I enjoy making my own donuts from time to time, I much prefer to visit donut shops and relax with old friends. Working all night to be ready for customers at the crack of dawn sort of precludes one from being able to relax in a donut shop.

That said, here is a rundown of the donuts I’ve made myself, beginning with my very first batch of raised yeast donuts, which came out remarkably well. The key to this batch was that they were made on a warm day, which allowed the dough to proof sky-high, giving it a light and airy texture that is rare in mass-produced donuts. I made these for Mama Maple, after she gave me my very own frying skillet for my birthday a few years ago:

My very first homemade donuts

Last year, I set up the above-mentioned DIY donut bar for a large group of hungry runners who came over to my house for a long run and a special breakfast. Everyone had the chance to top their own donuts with whatever they liked—a variety of icings and toppings, including nuts, Oreo and Butterfinger crumbs, coconut, sprinkles, or nothing at all. This was pulled off with the kind help of Mrs. Newton, who rolled out the donuts and had everything ready when we got back from our run. My favorite was a maple-topped donut with Oreo crumbs.

DIY donuts—crazy as you please

A coworker gave me a recipe for pumpkin spice donuts, and I continually put off making them until, one day, the time was right. A crowd of football fans enjoyed these unusual creations—rather than donut holes, I made donut footballs. The leftovers were distributed at the office the next day, and these too received the thumbs-up. That day also saw me experiment with crullers, and after making these little morsels, I can understand why some donut shops don’t offer them—they are a lot of work!

Pumpkin donut footballs

Crullers, not bad for a first attempt

Now the time has come for my next batch of homemade donuts. On tap for this weekend are lemon cake donuts, which I’ll be making for Big B, Mr. and Mrs. Newton, and Lil’ C (who is always a harsh critic). Wish me luck—not in making the donuts, but in cleaning up the mess in my kitchen afterward.

Danny's Donuts, Vista

Danny's sign can't be missed

In all the talk about local donut shops, I’m surprised that no one has ever mentioned Danny’s Donuts on Eucalyptus Avenue in Vista. Take Civic Center Drive off Route 78, go north a few blocks, then left on South Santa Fe. The big Danny’s Donuts sign beckons drivers from more than a block away, so you can’t miss it.

Danny’s is a walk-up establishment, much like Peterson’s in Escondido. You can look at the goods on display from the sidewalk, and place your order at an outside window. A couple of tables and chairs are set up at the side for those who want to linger, although the view of the street isn’t much to comment on. Vista’s vista apparently isn’t on South Santa Fe. The workers at Danny’s are extremely nice—and even Danny himself made an appearance while I placed my order, and gave me a free mini blueberry cake donut, still warm and oozing with glaze.

Danny’s racks don’t take up a whole lot of space, so there isn’t much room for them to add more than the basic varieties and flavors, but they did offer a good selection of everything except crullers. Plenty of cake donuts, a few old-fashioneds, all the standard raised varieties, plus apple fritters, Boston crèmes, jelly donuts, and donut holes. But the one that really caught my eye was this apple “foldover” (which I’ll call it for lack of a better term); it’s similar to a fritter, only it is neatly folded up in thirds like a letter (remember those things—letters?). The crispy outside and cinnamony inside was just excellent.

Apple "foldover"

The cake donuts at Danny’s were light and airy, with just enough glaze to give them the right amount of sweetness. I was particularly fond of the blueberry cake donut, especially because it was still warm (and not because it was free); the cinnamon cake was also a fine selection, as the cinnamon on top gave the right amount of spice, not enough to overwhelm my taste buds. Danny’s raised donuts are big and fluffy, but the chocolate raised didn’t seem to have enough chocolate flavor in the icing. 

Danny’s scored above average on taste and variety, and just average on innovation. The customer experience, however, was top-notch, and boosted the establishment’s Donut Meter score to 81.0, placing it in the upper half of the rankings. And if we rated donut shops by their names alone, this place would easily be number one on my list. 

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. OB Donuts — 78.7

6. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

8. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

9. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

10. Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

11. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

Plaza Donuts, National City

If I were a high-school kid hanging out with my buddies late at night, Plaza Donuts in National City is the place where I’d be. It’s on Highland Avenue, just off I-805 at the Plaza Boulevard exit. I’m not sure if the road was named after the donut shop, or the donut shop after the road, but perhaps one of my readers who lives near that neighborhood can shed some light on the issue.

Inside Plaza Donuts, there’s a nice, big seating area, great for groups and very clean. An ice-cream counter is to be found next to the donut counter, although it was closed when I came in early in the morning, which is understandable. I wanted donuts, not ice cream, and the nice lady working at Plaza Donuts was kind enough to let me take a few moments to peruse the offerings and even take a picture of the racks.

I was surprised to see that there were almost no cake donuts on hand—just a few plain ones on a rack in the back, waiting to be glazed. Even though cake donuts aren’t my favorites, plenty of people like them, so that’s one strike against Plaza in the variety category. Strike two was the absence of crullers, and strike three came when I couldn’t spot any jelly donuts or Boston crèmes. Still, I managed to get a decent haul of raised donuts and an old-fashioned. The racks held large and small apple fritters, and since I’m watching my waistline, I opted for the small one.

Moose, who will rarely try anything other than a raised donut with chocolate glaze, was bubbling with accolades over his chocolate-glazed twist. “Soooooo light,” he said, “and not greasy at all!” These raised donuts are indeed super-light, and there was practically no grease on the bottom of the box, which is always nice. My own maple old-fashioned had a great flavor to it, as did the fritter, although it could have used some more apple chunks.

None of the varieties at Plaza Donuts can be considered innovative—and since none of our selections today were anything unusual, I didn’t even bother taking pictures of the individual donuts. As you can see from the photo of the display case above, there are a lot of plain and sugar donuts, which is perhaps a reflection of National City’s attitude: a straightforward, working-class neighborhood that doesn’t go out of its way to flaunt itself to the rest of San Diego. There’s nothing wrong with that, though—but I happen to like a little spunk in my life.

This establishment scored high on taste and customer experience, but very low on variety and innovation. After Moose and I put our heads and calculators together, Plaza Donuts scored 78.0 on the D-Meter, putting it right in the middle of the pack.

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. OB Donuts — 78.7

5. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

5. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

7. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

8. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

9. Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

10. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5