I may not be Homer Simpson when it comes to eating donuts,
but I do have a little more experience in the area of making the sweet pastries
than most people. I have a family member
who used to make donuts by the hundreds every day using his own secret recipes,
which he kindly shared with a few other family members (including me) before he
passed away. The donuts made using my
family’s secret recipes are so good that one taste of them makes the Krispy
Kreme variety seem bland. Of course,
it’s not fair to compare an ordinary donut made by a culinary student at VIU to my
secret family recipe, so I decided to compare the ones in the cafeteria to the usual donuts sold at most donut shops or bakeries. Additionally, I was privileged to have some
assistance from a few of my classmates for this taste test. We purchased an apple fritter and a lemon-filled
jelly donut, and shared them. Then we
each gave our opinions.
The jelly donut was a delightful surprise. While the pastry itself did not taste as
flavorful as a traditional donut would have if it had been fried in lard (or vegetable
oil with some bacon added to mimic the lard flavor), it was nevertheless quite
good. One thing that stood out in our
taste test, however, was the genuine lemon curd that the bakery students had
used as the filling. My classmates and I
felt that because of this lemon curd these donuts were dramatically superior to
other lemon-filled jelly donuts. I would
personally like to add that I found them better than the ones made at Tim’s
(please, I beg of you, do not revoke my Canadian citizenship for that
statement). We all loved the tart flavor
on the tongue that comes with a genuine lemon curd, and one of my classmates
said that she especially appreciated how the filling did not taste like a cough
drop. Would I recommend the lemon-filled
jelly donut to other students and staff at VIU?
Absolutely! But like all foods
that are unhealthy, of course I must include the caveat that these donuts
should be consumed in moderation.
As for the apple fritter we tried, that is another story. I would like to say that we divided it evenly and ate the whole thing, but I would be lying. We each took a bite, with anticipation of more bites if we approved, but we did not approve. This was one of the worst apple fritters that I have ever eaten. One of my classmates was disgusted at how raw the dough was on the inside (as was I), and my other classmate’s only comment, which I wholeheartedly agree with, was a concise, “Ew.” The fritter was mostly raw dough on the inside, had an exterior that was rock hard and looked much too dark than it should have, contained no visible pieces of apple, and tasted like an unpleasant combination of raw dough and french fries. Cutting into one of the pieces I noticed that the dark brown fry oil had soaked through the exterior of the fritter, a sure sign that either the oil temperature was too low at the time of cooking or else the temperature of the dough was too warm when it entered the oil. Additionally, the color of the fry oil that had absorbed into the dough indicated that the oil had been over-used and should have been changed. The dark brown oil would also explain why the fritter tasted like french fries. To say the least, we were very disappointed. We were so disappointed in fact, that we considered asking for a refund. Perhaps someday I will try the apple fritter again to see if there are any improvements, but for now my stomach needs to recover.
The over-used cooking oil has visibly soaked through the mostly raw dough
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