History of National Cream Filled Donut Day
The history of National Cream Filled Donut Day is unsurprisingly tied to the history of the donut. The concept of a fried bread ring isn’t in any way new.
But for those who are interested in the earliest version of what are now called donuts, they may find their way to New Amsterdam in the New World. Don’t know where that is? It’s a bit like Constantinople, which is now known as Istanbul. New Amsterdam, of course, is now New York City! (Confused yet? Hang in there!)
In what is now known as New York City in the United States, the settlers from Denmark had a cake that they called (rather unappetizingly) “oil cake”, or “olykoek”. Strange as the name was, this cake was the predecessor to what is now known as the donut!
By 1803, a cookbook was published that contained a recipe for making donuts. From then on, it didn’t take long for this new culinary invention to become the delicious treat everyone knows and loves today. Donuts have a reputation as a singularly American food, in spite of their Dutch and European origins.
To start with, donuts had been braided, or simply dropped into the oil as a small round loaf, leaving the center doughy and the exterior greasy.
The ring shape that everyone now knows and loves came into being when Hanson Gregory, working on a lime-trading ship, punched a hole in the traditionally dense donut to make it cook more thoroughly while frying it.
The light flavor and fluffy texture of the cooked dough were exactly what he was looking for and afterward he taught the procedure to his mother.
Elizabeth Gregory made a delightfully savory donut with cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon rind, and then filled the center with a mixture of hazelnuts or walnuts to replace the missing dough.
While the person who decided that crème would make a delightful filling isn’t recorded, we do know that it all started here with Elizabeth Gregory and her idea of filling donuts.
Now it’s time to celebrate and enjoy National Cream Filled Donut Day!