Donuts are a quintessential part of American life. At one point or another, we have all experienced the joy of picking out our own donut and taking that first sweet bite. One of our favorite facts about donuts is that there are ten billion made per year in the US alone! But these versatile treats are loved by many around the world, too. They go exceptionally well with a coffee in the mornings, and they also make a nice treat for office coworkers celebrating an accomplishment. A new fad at wedding receptions is custom donut dessert walls for guests. There is a flavor of donut out there for everyone from the simple glazed to the caviar topped, read on to find more great donut facts below!
6 Facts About Donuts
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- In the United States, there is an average of one donut shop for every 30,000 people, but in LA, there is one donut shop for every 7,000 people. (source) In California, 80% of donut shops are Cambodian owned and were started by a single immigrant refugee named Ted Ngoy who ended up in the US to escape the ongoing civil war in his country.
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- We can thank the Dutch for their original olykoeks or “oil cakes” which go back to the mid 19th century, which were balls of cake fried in pork fat. (source) When Dutch settlers came to the United States, they continued to make olykoeks which many historians believe the modern donut was crafted after.
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- The world’s most expensive donut is topped with Cristal caviar and cost a mouthwatering $1,975 USD. (source) Sold by London’s Dum Dum Donutterie the pastry is known as the Luxury Zebra Cro. and is topped with gold flakes.
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- The spelling ‘doughnut’ came first, officially appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1782. (source) The most typical modern spelling of ‘donut’ was first seen around by the early 1800’s.
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- There is a day dedicated to these sweet treats! National Donut Day is on June 4. (source) During WWI Salvation Army volunteers provided meals and comfort to the troops. They fried donuts inside their war helmets and were affectionately known as the “Donut Lassies”. In 1938, Donut Day was established to honor these volunteers.
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- The first automated donut machine was made by Adolph Levitt who noticed America’s craving for these sweet treats increased after WWI (thanks Donut Lassies!). (source) In 1920, he invented the first fully automatic machine he called, The Wonderful Almost Human Automatic Donut Machine.
