Doughnuts or Donuts Either Way It Spells Yum

Doughnut Etymology: "The earliest known recorded usage of the term dates to an 1808 short story describing a spread of "fire-cakes and dough-nuts." Washington Irving's reference to "doughnuts" in 1809 in his History of New York is more commonly cited as the first written recording of the term. Irving described "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks."

"These "nuts" of fried dough might now be called doughnut holes. Doughnut is the more traditional spelling, and still dominates outside the US. At present, doughnut and the shortened form donut are both pervasive in American English. The first known printed use of donut was in Peck's Bad Boy and his Pa by George W. Peck, published in 1900, in which a character is quoted as saying, "Pa said he guessed he hadn't got much appetite, and he would just drink a cup of coffee and eat a donut."

"The donut spelling also showed up in a Los Angeles Times article dated August 10, 1929 in which Bailey Millard jokingly complains about the decline of spelling, and that he "can't swallow the 'wel-dun donut' nor the ever so 'gud bred'."

"The interchangeability of the two spellings can be found in a series of "National Donut Week" articles in The New York Times that covered the 1939 World's Fair. In four articles beginning October 9, two mention the donut spelling. Dunkin' Donuts, which was founded in 1948 under the name Open Kettle (Quincy, Massachusetts), is the oldest surviving company to use the donut variation, but the defunct Mayflower Donut Corporation is the first company to use that spelling, prior to World War II."

From Basic principles of domestic science: consisting of a course of seventy-two illustrated lessons

Doughnuts ~ I

1 cup sugar 2 and 1/2 tablespoons butter 3 eggs

1 cup milk 3 and 1/2 cups of flour [enough to roll] 5 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

"Cream the butter; add 1/2 of the sugar. Beat eggs until light, add milk, remaining sugar, and combine mixtures. Add the flour mixed and sifted with baking powder, salt and spices, then enough more flour to make a dough stiff enough to roll. Toss 1/3 of the mixture onto floured board, knead slightly, pat and roll out 1/4 inch thickness."

"Shape with a doughnut cutter dipped in flour. Fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper. Brown the doughnuts on one side then turn and brown on the other. They should be turned only once unless turned immediately after rising to the top of the fat. Doughnuts should rise to the top almost immediately when put into smoking hot fat."

Doughnuts ~ II

5 cups of flour 1 teaspoon soda 3 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 cup cream 3 beaten eggs 1 cup sugar

"Mix and sift flour, soda, cream of tartar and seasonings. Beat the eggs and add the sugar and cream. Add to dry ingredients and mix with a knife. Add enough flour to make a dough stiff enough to roll. Pat roll and shape as in recipe I."


Text Credit: Wikipedia

Recipe Text Credit: Basic principles of domestic science: consisting of a course of seventy-two illustrated lessons

Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons