You want the truth, the hole truth, and nothing but the truth? You got it: June 8 is National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day!
This comes on the heels of National Doughnut Day, which was yesterday. There may be much less freedom of choice today, but it doesn’t mean the doughnuts aren’t still delicious, even if they are filled with jelly instead of topped with bacon, as we are fond of doing around these here parts.
The first reference to a jelly doughnut appears in a German cookbook from 1485, Kuchenmeisterei (which translates to “Mastery of the Kitchen”). Called Gefüllte Krapfen (“Gefilte fish taste like crap so eat something sweet instead”), the recipe called for jam sandwiched between two round slices of yeast bread dough and deep fried in lard. This was a bit of a revelation; at that time most filled doughnuts were stuffed with meat, cheese, fish, or mushrooms. Sugar was exorbitantly expensive, so savory foods just made economical sense. When Caribbean sugar plantations opened in the 16th century, the price of sugar dropped to affordable levels, and people were able to create inexpensive fruit preserves. Since a jelly-filled doughnut tastes a heck of a lot better than a doughnut stuffed with, say, trout or gouda (well, presumably, but who am I to say for sure?), sweet filled doughnuts surpassed savory doughnuts in terms of popularity. Still, they were considered a treat reserved for special occasions until the 18th century, when a crafty German invented a metal pastry syringe that enabled bakers to directly inject jelly into doughnuts that had already been fried. By the 20th century, machines further automated the process, and the mass production of jelly doughnuts began in earnest. Known as “Berliners” or “Bismarcks” after their German heritage, jelly doughnuts remain a popular treat around the world today. (Personally, I’m fond of the Manitoba name for these fried pastries, “jam busters”).
To celebrate jelly-filled doughnut day, we grabbed a raspberry filled doughnut from the corner doughnut shop. It was the perfect fuel for our first hike of the season!
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Eat My Words 
Fun post!!
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Thanks, Gina!
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This is the most delicious and desirable looking jelly doughnut? Was it as delicious as it looks? What is the name of your corner doughnut shop? Also I’m jealous you have a “corner doughnut shop”. I hope one day I eat something as good and satisfying as this looks.
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It was pretty good, yes! But I think we’re spoiled with good doughnuts out here. Guess you gotta have something to go along with all that coffee. The name of our corner doughnut shop is Tonalli’s. And it literally is right around the corner. 🙂
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