Potato doughnut
Encyclopedia
The potato doughnut, sometimes called a Spudnut, is a doughnut
, typically sweet, made with either mashed potato
es or potato starch
instead of flour
, the most common ingredient used for doughnut dough. Potato doughnuts were introduced in the mid-1900s, and a recipe was published in 1938. Potato doughnuts tend to be lighter than flour doughnuts, and are prepared in a similar method to other doughnuts. A chain of Spudnut Shops was established across the United States in the 1950s before declining to a few dozen more recently. Fried ube
dough is also eaten in East Asia. Much like flour doughnuts, potato doughnuts are often accompanied with coffee.
Potato doughnuts tend to be a light, fluffy variety of doughnut and are usually topped with the same variety of frosting or toppings as other doughnuts. A potato doughnut may be deep-fried in pork fat to make a variety of Fasnacht.
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
, typically sweet, made with either mashed potato
Mashed potato
Mashed potato is made by mashing freshly boiled potatoes with a ricer, fork, potato masher, food mill, or whipping them with a hand beater. Dehydrated and frozen mashed potatoes are available in many places...
es or potato starch
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
instead of flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
, the most common ingredient used for doughnut dough. Potato doughnuts were introduced in the mid-1900s, and a recipe was published in 1938. Potato doughnuts tend to be lighter than flour doughnuts, and are prepared in a similar method to other doughnuts. A chain of Spudnut Shops was established across the United States in the 1950s before declining to a few dozen more recently. Fried ube
Ube
Dioscorea alata, known as purple yam and many other names, is a species of yam, a tuberous root vegetable, that is bright lavender in color. It is sometimes confused with taro and the Okinawa sweet potato . With its origins in the Asian tropics, D...
dough is also eaten in East Asia. Much like flour doughnuts, potato doughnuts are often accompanied with coffee.
History
Potato doughnuts first arose in the mid-1900s. A recipe was first published in 1938 in the Glenna Snow Cook Book. A chain of Spudnut Shops was established and spread to more than 500 locations in the United States before being thinned out to around 50 in the mid-2000s. The originating company eventually declared bankruptcy, but independent stores remain.Characteristics
Potato doughnuts share many of the same ingredients as normal doughnuts, but have all or most of the flour replaced with either mashed potatoes or potato starch.Potato doughnuts tend to be a light, fluffy variety of doughnut and are usually topped with the same variety of frosting or toppings as other doughnuts. A potato doughnut may be deep-fried in pork fat to make a variety of Fasnacht.