"Donuts" news and stories

Doughnuts and wine go together like... wait, that's insane, right? Not at a place called Psycho Donuts in San Jose, California owned by former techy Jordan Zwegoron. Set up like a "light-hearted" asylum, it's complete with lab coat-clad employees, a padded booth, straitjacket and group therapy area where customers are given plastic bubble wrap (for popping, natch) and donuts named "Cereal Killer," "Kooky Monster" and "Massive Head Trauma."

"When you walk in, you're our patient, and we make you better with doughnuts," Zwegoron told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. That all may not spell 'family friendly' but it's TV gold for producer Nicole Block of LA-based Highlighting Entertainment, who's shooting a sample episode of a doughnut-and-wine pairing reality show to pitch to TLC, the Food Network and the Cooking Channel, reports the Sentinel.

"There's a lot of cupcake and cake reality shows, but we haven't seen a doughnut show," says Block. "Zwegoron is a good character and the doughnuts are unique, so we think Psycho Donuts will be a good candidate." She's decided to match up the crazy confectionist with wine from Poetic Cellars on the hills of Soquel, CA. The cellar's shtick? Each bottle is labeled with a poem. We can't say what's in the paired-up doughnut, but it's four-pronged and goes by "the poetic psycho," like any good reality TV star.

Doughnut lovers, rejoice: Dunkin' Donuts is ringing in the month of love with three new chocolate doughnuts. Yes, you're thinking, "I've had chocolate doughnuts at Dunkin' before, what's the big deal?" Here's the twist -- these are chocolate yeast donuts. And that's a big deal in the doughnut world -- the chain is the first in the country to offer them.

Meet your new doughnuts, released today as part of the chain's "Chocolate Lovers Month":

• Cocoa Confetti: a chocolate yeast ring, topped with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles.
• Reverse Boston Kreme: a chocolate yeast shell filled with chocolate Bavarian Kreme and topped with vanilla icing.
• Cocoa Kreme Puff: a sugared chocolate yeast shell filled with vanilla butter cream.

We were lucky enough to get ahold of the new treats. After the jump, our review -- along with more photos.

Let's face it: American Jews kind of get the shaft around this time of the year, what with Hanukkah being almost entirely overwhelmed by the tsunami of Christmas cheer. But if one thing seems to make up for the army of mall Santas and a veritable assault of evergreen, it's got to be sufganiyot.

Just one bite of these warm little powdered-sugar-coated balls of jelly-filled fried dough is maybe enough to forget how many times you've had to listen to Taylor Swift's rendition of "Last Christmas" over the PA system at Macy's.

If to Gentile ears "sufganiyot" sounds an awful lot like "donut," well, that's essentially what they are. As Jewish writer and donut aficionado Temin Fruchter explains at "The Jew and the Carrot" (the food blog for the Jewish Daily Forward), how sufganiyot became a Hanukkah staple is somewhat of a mystery, though there seems something to the explanation that a holiday based on the miraculous replenishment of Temple oil merits a treat that's fried in the stuff (and bring on the latkes while you're at it).

• On weekends (and Father's Day), some dads take to the grill, others to the griddle.
• What's so great about dining alfresco? It's a "civilized picnic."
• Israeli-Morroccan fare is the star at Itz Kosher.
• This international grouping of white wines gives "World Cup" new meaning.
• Mmmm....donut summit.

Happy National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day!

Ever wonder how light, fluffy doughnuts manage to burst with heavy, juicy jelly? Truth be told, I've only ever sampled jelly doughnuts from my childhood favorite pit stop, Dunkin' Donuts -- and even as a kid would typically skip the fruity pastries for a less messy variety. But who knew homemade jelly doughnuts were so simple to make? Unlike the meticulous assemblage of the likes of ravioli, pot stickers and dumplings, which require precise amounts fastidiously stuffed in their casing, the jelly doughnut is a less daunting endeavor, as the jelly gets pumped into cooked doughnuts with the tip of a pastry bag.

Check out the Food Network's easy instructions to make your own jelly-filled doughnuts -- and pick your own fresh preserves!

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