From 'olykoeks' to doughnuts..

by Ain Azam

Ever wonder how doughnuts came about? Its history dates back to as early as the mid-19^th century when the Dutch called it ‘olykoeks’ (oily cakes).  These cakes were balls of dough fried in fat until golden brown. They were stuffed with nuts, fruits or other fillings because the centre of the cake did not cook as fast as the outside. This was how the name ‘doughnut’ came about.

In 1847, Hansen Gregory, an American ship captain, had another solution to solve the problem of the uncooked centre of the doughnut. Punching a hole in the centre of the doughnut increased the surface area of the doughnut exposed to the hot oil.

During World War 1, female volunteers served doughnuts to millions of homesick American soldiers and these doughnuts offered a taste of home.

In 1920, the first doughnut machine was invented by Adolph Levitt, who sold fried doughnuts from his bakery. This machine helped to churn out the doughnuts faster.

Since then, doughnuts became more famous with the emerging of doughnut giants, such as Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts. These giants improvised traditional sugar-coated doughnuts and created new flavours to cater to the tastes of consumers nowadays.

Want to know why doughnuts have holes? Host Ian Knauer explains while he makes some traditional doughnuts as seen in the link below.

Hungry History: Donuts