Doughnuts roll onto more dessert menus

As the cupcake craze begins to fade another nostalgia-inducing treat is gaining popularity: doughnuts. Made-to-order with premium ingredients and served hot, artisanal doughnuts are increasingly showing up on restaurant menus.

According to research firm Datassential's MenusTrends data, doughnuts appear on 4 percent of all restaurant menus, an increase of 27 percent since 2008. Doughnuts are now available in nearly every segment, but the biggest increase has come from fine dining, where they appear on 6 percent of all menus — a 100-percent increase in the last four years.

“People are always looking for anything that is tasty, that is sweet, that is not a cupcake,” said Tom Henneman, co-owner of Federal Donuts, a wildly popular fried chicken and doughnut shop in Philadelphia. “A hot, fresh doughnut — you can’t beat it.”

Consumers seem to agree with Henneman, who co-owns the shop with Steven Cook and chef Michael Solomonov. Customers can often be found lining up outside of the shop’s South Philly and Center City locations for a chance to order some of the only 200 “fancy” doughnuts made there each day, including flavors such as cherry almond, pistachio, double chocolate, French toast and chocolate peanut butter. Others show up later in the day to watch the shop’s doughnut robot fry to order “hot fresh” doughnuts, such as strawberry-lavender, vanilla spice and cinnamon-brown sugar.

Drawing inspiration from cultures around the globe, chefs have added fried dough treats by many names to their menu.

Farmers Fishers Bakers in Washington, D.C., currently offers Uncle Buck's Beignets, served with raspberry coulis, semisweet chocolate and bourbon caramel sauces, on its dessert and breakfast menus. At Street in Hollywood, Calif., there are Croatian sour apple fritters and Turkish doughnuts with rose-hip jam. And the menu at the recently opened Earth + Ocean Food and Drink in Mt. Prospect, Ill., features Portuguese doughnuts called malsadas.

Another iteration of fried dough that is showing up often on restaurant menus is the Italian bombolini.

Chef John Eisenhart of Pazzo Ristorante, a 200-seat Italian spot in Portland, Ore., serves made-to-order hazelnut doughnut holes he calls bombolini with melted gianduja chocolate dipping sauce. “[Guests] love it,” said Eisenhart. “[They] don’t want me to take it off the menu.”

Eisenhart has had the shareable doughnuts, which come four to an order, on the menu for several months and says they’ve been performing very well — even at lunch. “The true test is that they sell at lunch  … people are in a hurry,” Eisenhart said. “It’s increased the check average quite a lot.”

Also serving bombolini is chef William Johnson of Filini Bar and Restaurant in Chicago. Added to the menu a year ago, Johnson serves his doughnut balls fried fresh to order with three dipping sauces: cranberry jam, cider caramel and white chocolate. The dessert is currently among the restaurant’s most popular desserts, right behind the ever-popular tiramisu.

“The bombolini sell very well; it is a dessert we will not remove from the menu,” said Johnson. “There is something comforting about warm, freshly fried dough dusted with spices and sugar.”

Similarly, last fall Jessica Craig, executive pastry chef at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton, New York, added bombolini, three large doughnuts, fried and filled to order with vanilla pastry cream, spiced ganache or house-made peach preserves, to her menu. “There’s definitely a nostalgic way that people relate to doughnuts,” said Craig. “It’s homey and warm, and everything fried is delicious.”

Currently closed for renovations, when Nick & Toni’s reopens in April it will have a new kitchen with a separate pastry kitchen, which Craig says will give her additional space to be even more creative with doughnuts and other desserts.

Whatever name chefs choose to call their fried dough confections, diners seem to be enjoying their blend of nostalgia, interesting ingredients and made-on-demand, piping hot deliciousness.

“I don’t think doughnuts ever went away, they were always [around] and I believe will remain popular,” said Johnson. “I think the focus on scratch and artisanal products is a trend that is here to stay—and doughnuts happen to be a great dessert.”