Tag: donuts

Donuts: Not a healthy Choice…

In any shape or size, whether they are round, square or twisted, these deep fried snack is always appealing and keep us reaching for more. The beauty of donut make us fall prey for them and we just can’t resist it. So, you love Dunkin’ Donuts? Is it your favorite place to hang out? Well, think again, because Donuts aren’t considered as very healthy choice. For a breakfast, it’s a complete no! No. Obviously because it is sweet, piece of fried dough with all the creaminess and chocolaty content makes it a pack of calories. Nothing else. Yes, it is tasty, hell a lot, but still can’t be rated as healthy food. The fact that doughnuts aren’t good shouldn’t be a surprise, as of a fact, they are worse than many other snacks in the market. You can see a bag of chips have 260 calories and a small packet of cookies have 50 to 60 calories but a doughnut has not less than 300 calories making it such a unhealthy choice. With all the sugar, fats and other unhealthy ingredients, donuts can wreck a havoc on your health. Don’t believe me, just go through the list below and you will get an idea what kind of potential harm they can give;

Risk of Weight gain: this round fried confectionery or dessert food, called doughnut has full lot of calories. What’s the point in ignoring other food and your cravings but just can’t resist donut and eat one or two and then more. Even a single donut a day can put you at risk of gaining weight over time. A crispy cream filed raspberry donut or any donut with different fillings has near about 300 calories. Doctors say if you consume even only one donut everyday and do not even exercise regularly to cut down the calories, you are likely to gain 1 pound every 10 donuts. So, now, its upto you how wisely you eat those sweet rounds.

No Nutritional value: Doughnuts are unlikely to have any kind of food value because of so high sugar and calorie content. Also, the fried aspect of donuts makes it so unhealthy choice. Also, the main ingredient being white flour, a simple carbohydrate is what makes them a highly refined and highly processed food. Refined flour id close to no fiber and also there’s no whole wheat grain or any other natural healthy foods. Fiber is essential for anything to get a tag of healthy and to make you regular and also, it prevents colon cancer or maintains blood sugar, but donuts possessing nothing like this makes them all the more unhealthy.

Heart Conditions: Ughh, such a bad choice for your heart. Just not ideal for your heart and specifically for heart patients. Being fried, it contains lots of saturated and trans fats which by all means are known to have very bad effect on the heart. A research shows that doughnuts have more trans fat than peanut butter, chocolate bars or even chips. Just a single donut can lend you trans fat for whole day but the truth people rarely eat one donut. If you start eating it once, you find it irresistible and that’s where the problem starts with. So, if I have to be concise I should quote, Say no to donut for a healthy heart.

High blood sugar levels: Doughnuts are all about sugar and sweetness. Then, how come they won’t increase your blood sugar levels. For diabetic patients, they are like deadly food, that’s obvious. But even for normal beings, they aren’t prove to be good as of sugar is concerned. If you know, a single donut contains 5 tsp. of sugar and doctors recommend maximum of 6 tsp. of sugar a day and with one donut you had your requirement of day. This can give you idea how sugary and creamy donut can lead you to a problems with your blood sugar levels and erractic glucose levels in the blood. Only, solution be mindful and so some pre-thinking before you lend out your hand for a donut.

Not a breakfast choice: Doughnut are among the most fattening breakfast choice ever. With all the unhealthy stuff, a donut poses you risk of weight gain and a bulge in your belly, which I know no one likes. Eating something so early in the morning with such a calorie content and no food value is not something that you would ideally want to commit yourself to. Breakfast, being the most important meal of the day doesn’t deserve to be started by such a thing called, doughnut. Next time, you pick up that plate of doughnut, try to be resistant and put it back.

The whole idea to convey here is that though Doughnuts are awesomely tasteful your tongue loves it, but be mindful while eating them and eat them little and occasionally, just as a snack and not as a proper food as there is no nutritional and food value attached to them. Control your cravings for donuts and try to replace them with some other healthy food altenative like creamy flavorful cup of youghurt or anything else of your liking. But if you like to munch on doughnuts all the time or most of the time, think again.

Healthy Eating. Happy Life.

September 14, 2014
Mad Over Donuts!!

A lovely box of donuts can brighten a day, is what is the mantra of the new upcoming stores like m.o.d ( mad over donuts) and dunkin donuts, which are known to have made a special place in the food industry recently in this decade.

Doughnuts or more precisely now called as donuts, could be categorized either into a dessert food or a fried confectionery. This deep- fried lip smacking snack is typically either a ring shape, which may have a hole or might be filled. donuts may be topped or flavored with a huge variety of flavors like chocolate, maple glazing, cinnamon or granulated sugar.

The donuts are known to have their origin in 19th century by dutch people in the North America, which at that time were referred to as oliekoek, which means ” a sweetened cake fried in oil” or “oil cake”. The ring shaped doughnut is known to have its history traced back to 1847, where an American named Hanson Gregory invented the ring-shaped doughnut when he was actually only 16 years old.

Today, the donuts might be shaped into a different kind which might include rings, balls or flattened spheres, which might either be twisted or given some other form. But the two most common types of donuts which are popular are- the toroidal ring donut and the filled or filler donut, which have fillings like fruits, creams and custards to give them a sugary sweet effect.

The donuts are actually prepared from the yeast based dough, which contains a good amount of oil which are fried for a good amount of time at a temperature of near about 374 to 388 F. After this frying process is over, topping is done with either granulated sugar, cinnamon, maple glazing or sometimes might have some sprinkled coconut, chopped peanuts or jimmies on them, in order to enhance the taste.

In India, the wonderful savory vada , is often referred to as the Indian doughnut which is a fried, ring shaped snack often taken with curd, known as the dahi-vada or can be taken along with the sambhar and coconut chutney. This vada is prepared from dal or potato flour and not from the wheat flour.

In Indonesia, donut kentang is a ring-shaped fritter which is made up of mashed potato and flour, which is then coated with the icing sugar.

In Israel, jelly donuts which are known as sufganiyah is the traditional food which is cooked in oil, filled with jelly and topped with icing sugar. In Australia, the hot jam donuts which are popular and unique in the Australian culture, these are served with hot red jam which may be either strawberry or raspberry is injected or filled into the deep fried bun and is then frosted with either sugar or cinnamon, sometimes these jam donuts are also frozen. Another variant of this donut, comes filled with custard.

Some interesting facts about donuts-

1. Donut king is the largest donut retailer in Australia.

2. A Guinness Book Of Records has the record with the largest number of donuts made up for 90,000 people in Sydney in the year 2007 as a part of celebration for the movie, The Simpsons Movie.

3. Canadians consume the highest number of donut, with also the highest number of donut stores per capita in the country.

4. National Doughnut Day is celebrated to commemorate the history of donuts and their popularity in different cultures. dedicated to this is a race held in Stanton, Illinois which features donuts and is called Tour de Donut.

Recipe For crispy and creamy donut-

1. 0.25 ounce dried yeast

2. 1/4 cup warm water

3. 2 eggs

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1 1/2 cup lukewarm milk

6. 1/2 cup white sugar

7. 5 cup all purpose flour

8. 1/3 cup butter

9. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

10. 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

11. 1/3 cup shortening

12. 2 cups confectioners sugar

sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let it stand until it turns foamy. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of flour. Stir the mixture and beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour at a time, until no more dough sticks to the bowl. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place this dough in a greased bowl and cover it. Set it into a warm place, until it gets double.

Turn the dough on a surface covered with flour, and roll out a dough of 1/2 inch, cut the flour with doughnut cutter. Let the doughnut rise to double, and cover it loosely with cloth. Melt butter in a pan, stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove the mixture from heat, stir in 1 tbsp water. Set it aside.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 F, slide in the donuts in the hot oil. Turn the donuts over the other side and fry them till they turn golden brown on both the surfaces. Remove from the oil, and drain from the hot oil. Dip the donuts in the glaze, while they are still hot and drain of the excess glaze.

July 30, 2014
Dounuts
Dounuts come under the category of confectionery food. These are famous throughout the world and are made in different ways. You can either make it at home or they are also available in bakeries and supermarkets and food stalls. Originally the shape of a Dounut is round with a hole in the middle. However we can also find Dounuts of different shapes with or without a hole such as ring shaped, balls, flattened spheres etc. Dounuts are basically flour dough which are deep fried and then decorated with various toppings such as chocolate, sugar etc. The two most famous types of Dounuts which we can find in the market is the original ring Dounuts and the filled Dounuts which is nothing but a simple Dounuts injected with cream and custard or other sweet filings.

Dounuts have a vast history with different people having different opinions regarding the introduction and growth of this food item. However there is one story which many believe gives the true details regarding how dounuts had come into the picture. There used to be a Dutch sailor named Hansen Gregory who used to go for long voyages. During these journeys sometimes the other sailors along with Hansen used to get sick and medical facilities were available. Therefore Hansen’s mother Elizabeth made cakes made up of nutmeg and cinnamon which could help to reduce or cure scurvy and colds. She also used to put hazelnuts and walnuts in order to make the cake a bit crunchier. These cakes were then called oil cakes and did not have a hole in the middle. Elizabeth used to prepare in bulk for both Hansen and his fellow sailors and also end the recipe with Hansen’s cook so that he could prepare cakes for the once this stock was over. One day a storm had hit the sea and Hansen’s ship got stuck in the storm. Historians claim this event happened on 22 June 1847. In order to keep his hands free Hansen pierced one of the cakes on the ship’s steering wheel. Later when the storm had calmed down, Hansen took out the cake from the wheel and found that with a hole in the cake, it was more convenient to eat than when it did not have a hole. Hansen later ordered his cook to prepare cakes with a hole in the middle and that how dounuts came into existence. There is another story which says that the dough was cooked with a nut in the middle. Later Hansen ordered that the nut be removed and so the hole was created in the middle of the cake. The origin of the name many believed comes from the fact that Elizabeth used dough and nuts to prepare cakes for her son and so the name dounuts appeared.

The popularity of dounuts had increased during the World War 1 when millions of homesick soldiers were served with freshly prepared dounuts by women volunteers who did their best to make them feel better. Later after the war when they returned home, this new dish was introduced among local strangers who again added to the fame and popularity of this dish. The first Dounut machine was introduced by Adolph Levitt who was a refugee from Russia who used to sell dounuts from his bakery using his machine. Many believe that Adolph himself created this machine after much encouragement from his customers. Once the machine was created, the bakery became famous as it was the only one with the facility. The machine allowed more dounuts to be produced than before and this helped Adolph to meet the demand which was always more than the supply. Many food historians claim that children used to spent long hours outside the bakery just to see how their favourite dounuts were being made and how the holes in the middle was built in. with time a lot of bakeries were established who sold their own dounuts. Even thought the basic recipe remained the same, every baker tried to bring in some change or design in order to beat the competition and have a share in the growing Dounut market. With different ways and techniques introduced the Dounut machine also went through changes and improvements with time making it more productive and reducing the cost of production.

Dounuts are simple to make and can be made at home as well. The recipe for the same is given below

Crispy and Creamy Dounuts

Directions:
- Add yeast and warm water and keep it for about 5 mins or until it becomes foamy.
- Now add this yeast mixture with milk, sugar, eggs and salt and finally mix to with 2 cups of flour and mix well until the dough does not remain sticky rather become smooth and elastic in nature. Then cover the dough and place it in a warm place and allow it to rise.
- Once the dough has risen in size transfer it to a flat surface and roll it out to ½ inch in thickness. Now cut the dough with the help of a cutter and cover loosely and leave the dounuts to rise again.
- Now we need to prepare the glaze so in a pan melt butter and sugar and vanilla. After this keep on adding 1 tablespoon of hot water till the solution becomes thin but not watery.
- Now heat oil on a deep fryer or a skillet and slide the dounuts into the hot oil. Ensure that the temperature of the oil should be about 350F. Fry the dounuts till they are golden brown. Once the dounuts come up to the surface and attained the desired colour remove them and dip them inside the glaze we prepared and then place them in a wire rack to drain out the excess oil and glaze.
Your Dounut is ready to be served.

Dounuts can be eaten simply or like a snack with tea. Earlier dounuts were known to people belonging to the western countries but today dounuts has become worldwide.
June 13, 2014