Doughnuts have a long history in New York: They’re related to “olykoeks” that Dutch colonialists brought here in the 17th century days of New Amsterdam. By 1809 Washington Irving — after whom Irving Place is named — was writing about them in his Knickerbocker’s History of New York, calling them “dough-nuts” and describing them as “balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat.”
Doughnuts may be classified as yeasted or cake, though both are fried in oil. The yeast-risen variety are a bit lighter and often sugar-glazed, while the cake type are usually coated in frosting or snowed with sprinkles. Either type may be flavored or filled with pudding, jelly, or peanut butter, and so on.
These days the sky’s the limit when it comes to doughnut creativity. Here are some faves.
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