Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker [Hardcover]

When I was a girl almost every town in New England of any size had a donut shop, each with their own specialties, and what donuts those were! Nora's Bakery turned out the most stunning cream filled donut - square, with just the teeniest dusting of powdered sugar. Adam's Donuts produced both apple and cherry filled donuts. Some days you had to choose. A donut shop I no longer remember the name of out in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was famous for their Boston Cream Donuts, which they claimed to have invented. And of course there were hundreds more. But then came the national chain and slowly but surely all of those donut shops went out of business. At first all the chain-store donuts - dozens of varieties - were made right in the store, fresh every four hours, and you could stand at a window and watch them being made. Over the years, though, the donuts were made just once a day, then only at certain centralized shops for several chain donut stores. These days who knows when those chain-store donuts were made - or where. The last box I stopped for cost most of a $10 bill and every one of them was stale, so I was delighted to see Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker and couldn't wait to order it. As luck would have it, the book arrived on the very same day that I fetched home a great big bag of the very first of this year's crop of New England apples.

If I do have one quibble with this book - and I do - it is that I had to spend a good hour or so hunting for my reading glasses in order to read the directions, but the results I had were well worth the hunt. As I sit here typing at 6:30 in the morning, I'm munching on the most luscious Apple Fritter I've had in years - straight from my own kitchen, courtesy of Hand-Forged Doughnuts. This is one of the two most "complicated" recipes in the book and it was as easy as 1-2-3. I will admit I made some substitutions. I was out of mace, so I used nutmeg. And here in New England we think Maple goes with everything, especially apples and pumpkin, so I used real Vermont Maple syrup in the glaze rather than corn syrup - I try pretty hard to avoid corn syrup. The results are STUNNING! I wish I had a camera handy to show you a picture. Better yet, you should smell them - or taste them. Best donuts, doughnuts - however you spell them - I have had in years and years. I've already had requests for a delivery of those Apple Fritters. Unfortunately, they are half gone, so I guess I'll have to make another batch!

If you love doughnuts, grab yourself a copy of Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker. You may not turn out two dozen varieties a day, but your donuts will be scrumptious!

Highly recommended, despite the fine print!

A Few Notes:

You'll find recipes for two dozen varieties of donut, plus a few extras like Doughnut Bread Pudding, Baked Raised Doughnuts and even a couple of varieties Gluten Free Doughnuts and of course a wide variety of frostings and glazes. Each recipe makes one dozen donuts.

The authors state that the recipes for cake and old-fashioned varieties of donut are easily doubled but not the raised ones. I would take exception to the later statement. I had no problem handling a single batch of the Apple Fritters, a raised donut, with my Cuisinart HM-70 Power Advantage 7-Speed Hand Mixer, Stainless and White and could have easily doubled or even tripled the batch with my 6 quart Kitchen Aid. I would suggest that you consider the size and power of your mixer when deciding whether you can double a batch.

Ateco makes some of the sturdiest cutters around, some of which have been in my kitchen for more than 40 years. You might want to pick up both the Ateco 3-1/2-Inch Stainless Steel Doughnut Cutter and the Ateco 2-1/2-Inch Stainless Steel Doughnut Cutter mini while you're shopping. Both are eligible for Super Saver Shipping.

Finally, if you want to produce Baked Doughnuts, you will need a special pan. Here are several to choose from, all also eligible for free Super Saver Shipping.

Norpro 6-Count Nonstick Donut Pan
Norpro 3980 12-Count Nonstick Mini Donut Pan
Wilton Nonstick 6-Cavity Donut Pan
Wilton Nonstick 12-Cavity Mini Donut Pan

And if you are in a playful mood you might enjoy Wilton's Nonstick 6-Cavity Heart Donut Pan. If only they were pumpkins! Never mind, I'll just make Top Pot Hand Forged Doughnuts Pumpkin Donuts, frost them with maple and pile on the sprinkles!

I've waited a month to write this review because I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. What does a recipe book review look like? Is it strictly the quality of the recipes, or do aesthetics count, too? I bought this book for one recipe only - the old fashioned doughnut. I love those from the doughnut shops, and I thought it would be wonderful to be able to make my own. All the other recipes would be a bonus.

However, upon receipt of the book, I found that the type is in a pale gray ink, in a small point font. I am what some people would call elderly (I don't quite feel that way, however) and wear reading glasses. To try to read the recipe I also got a magnifying glass and stood under the brighest light I could find. The fractions were impossible for me to read clearly and that may be why that recipe for old fashioned doughnuts didn't turn out very well.

I haven't tried another recipe because I can't read them. I just don't understand why publishers sacrifice function for form. What's wrong with black ink and a larger font? I've thought seriously about photocopying it enlarged to about 150%; perhaps then it would be legible.

If you have excellent vision then you may be able to make outstanding doughnuts from this book. As published, I can't.

I preordered this book while waiting in line for donuts (sorry, doughnuts) at the Top Pot on 5th Ave in Seattle. When it arrived I had already been missing their doughnuts for a few weeks and the photography nearly did me in by desire. They make great, absolutely delicious doughnuts but I haven't prepared any of the recipes from the book yet. I can tell you a few facts and opinions about the book itself:

-the recipes are clear and well referenced (e.g. "See page 29 for glazing tips")
-there are sections for every aspect of the doughnut making process (workspace, tools, resources, cakes, yeast-based, glazes, etc.)
-the photos are mouthwatering and well staged
-the book is well designed (aesthetically and functionally) and modern looking
-the cover is squishy!

What it adds up to is far more than a recipe book. This cookbook also has advice, tips and tricks that took years for professionals to discover. Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts should be a bible to doughnut lovers and an inspiration to the masses that we can all produce confections that put Dunkin and Horton's to shame. More than merely telling you that you can, or that it would be worthwhile, this book shows you exactly how to bring your doughnuts dreams to fruition.