Potato doughnuts, sometimes called a Spudnut, are a type of

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...

, typically sweet, made with either

mashed potato Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...

es or

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. Th ...

instead of

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

, the most common ingredient used for doughnut dough. Potato doughnuts tend to be lighter than all-flour doughnuts, and are prepared in a similar way as other doughnuts. A chain of Spudnut Shops was established across the United States in the 1930s before declining to a few dozen more recently. Fried ube dough is also eaten in East Asia, including the world's most expensive doughnut, the Golden Cristal Ube, which cost $100 each. Much like flour doughnuts, potato doughnuts are often eaten with coffee.

History

The origin of the potato doughnuts is unknown. Syndicated recipes appeared in American newspapers as early as the 1870s. A recipe was published in a 1915 printing of the ''Five Roses Cook Book'' in Canada and also in 1938 in the ''Glenna Snow Cook Book''. In the late 1930s, Vernon Rudolph began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts, using a recipe containing potatoes. A

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

of Spudnut Shops was established and spread to more than 500 locations in the United States before being thinned out to around 50 in the mid-2000s. The originating company eventually declared bankruptcy, but independent stores remain.

Characteristics

Potato doughnuts share similar ingredients to normal doughnuts, but have all or most of the flour replaced with either mashed potatoesJardine (1966), 15A. or potato starch. Potato doughnuts tend to be a light, fluffy variety of doughnutSt. Petersburg Times (1959), 14-D. and are usually topped with the same variety of frosting or toppings as other doughnuts. A potato doughnut may be deep-fried in

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the o ...

to make a variety of

Fasnacht The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg. Etymology Popular etymology often links '' ...

.Riely (2003), 107.

Preparation

Potato doughnuts are prepared by mixing instant mix or already prepared mashed potatoes in a bowl with eggs and other ingredients, ranging from baking powder to a small amount of flour. The dough is then shaped and refrigerated before being cooked.

Notes

References

* * * *Nichols, Roge
Spudnut survivor; Store in Richland keeps sweet legacy alive
September 17, 2006 The Dalles Chronicle. * * *

External links