Mmmmm, Doughnuts

When a North Carolina-based doughnut chain opened its first California outlet in La Habra earlier this year, the response was immediate. Frenzied lines snaked from the Krispy Kreme shop halfway to Upland, and we began to reexamine our continuing love affair with the greasy breakfast treats.

From the day I first tasted a nutmeg-scented cake doughnut, hot from the fryer at a Massachusetts county fair, I have tried and failed repeatedly to find a doughnut as good.

My favorite doughnuts today come from Du-par’s at Los Angeles’ Farmers Market, in Studio City and in Thousand Oaks.

What makes Du-par’s doughnuts great is that they are never from a mix or base, but are made from scratch daily. A Du-par’s cake doughnut has a thick, crunchy crust and a springy texture inside. The raised doughnuts are yeasty and dense.

But even Du-par’s doesn’t measure up to a homemade doughnut hot from the fryer. One of the secrets to making those old-style treats is frying the dough in pure vegetable oil that remains in a liquid state at room temperature. For a doughnut chain like, say, Winchell’s, to do that would require costly product reformulation and increased cost of the oil.

Nearly all doughnuts are fried in hydrogenated soybean oil or a blend of vegetable oils that remain in a solid state at room temperature. They may be better for you than the beef tallow or lard that Dutch immigrants used to make olykoeks, the forerunner of the doughnut, but no one is ready to call shortening a health food.

According to Margo Wootan, a senior scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest--those Washington-based grinches who tell us yummy foods like kung pao chicken, movie popcorn and fajitas are bad for us--vegetable shortening contains saturated fat and trans-fat, both of which raise blood cholesterol.

Yeah, yeah. We know. But committed doughnut lovers don’t care. And we start young. Just look at Stan’s Donuts in Westwood Village, where hungry UCLA students line up six deep to wolf down meltingly greasy and altogether delicious doughnuts in flavors ranging from Custard Puff to Reese’s Peanut Butter Pockets.

Those kids don’t need a course titled Doughnuts 101 to learn that doughnuts are a popular breakfast or snack because they contain four of the major junk food groups: sugar, salt, starch and grease. What’s more, eating a doughnut encourages one to partake of a vital junk food beverage: coffee.

Plus, doughnuts are cheap. To most of us, paying $3 for one spinach croissant seems like a ripoff when you can get half a dozen fresh doughnuts for $4.

And we sure love a deal. In 1995 the Wall Street Journal reported that the Los Angeles area has more doughnut shops per capita--one for every 7,000 residents--than any other American city. So much for sprouts.

Another regional phenomenon is the number of Cambodian immigrants in the doughnut industry. The Wall Street Journal reported that Cambodian immigrants ran more than 2,450 doughnut shops in California.

Here at The Times, we know doughnuts are a favorite fatal attraction, so we encouraged our readers to write in and tell us about the best local shops.

They did so, and in large numbers. Based on the input, I visited several Orange County doughnut shops, in addition to making the pilgrimage to Krispy Kreme. Here’s a roundup of some of my tasty investigations:

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, 1801 W. Imperial Highway, La Habra. (562) 690-2650. Open daily, 5:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Drive-thru open 24 hours. Original glazed, 60 cents each, $4.79 a dozen. Assorted 70 cents, $5.29 a dozen.

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This Winston-Salem based doughnut giant was the overwhelming favorite in our readers poll, so it is the natural place to begin.

Even when I visit at 10 a.m. on a Monday, not even close to peak hour, the line at the counter is 30-plus. That’s because the “Hot Donuts Now” light is on, indicating that the Krispy Kreme original glazed, hot, sweet puffs with a molten cast are rolling off a conveyor-like contraption visible behind a window. The assembly-line doughnut machine is the store’s centerpiece, and it is great theater. But does it produce a great doughnut?

The short answer is yes, for most people who responded. A Krispy Kreme doughnut, in fact, is neither crispy nor creamy, but rather soft, yielding and slippery; it slithers down your gullet like a fish in a pelican’s mouth.

Yes, they are good when hot, perfectly glazed with a diaphanous sugar frosting. But in my opinion, they don’t come close to the cult status they have achieved. One friend who lives in the high desert telephoned me to beg for a box. A neighbor offered to pay me $10 to pick up a dozen for her.

What do the readers say? “The best,” “orgasmic,” “worth the drive from Los Angeles” and similar kudos. There are skeptics, though, who write “a scam,” “like sawdust” and other salty epithets. Yeah, but what do you really think?

I called the company in North Carolina to find out what makes their product so different. According to doughnut expert Gene Sockman, their vice president of product development, the secret is in the frying.

“We fry cooler than most people fry,” Sockman said. “And that makes a creamier texture.”

There are a dozen varieties here, including chocolate iced cake, glazed creme filled and glazed sour cream, none of which are as delicious or distinctive as original glazed. In fact, most of the other varieties are, for me, unusually greasy.

The La Habra franchise sells hats, mugs and T-shirts, all of which are emblazoned with the company logo. For the record, a Krispy Kreme original glazed contains 170 calories.

And, boy, are they popular. The phrase “get ‘em while they’re hot” never seemed more apropos.

Winchell’s Donut Houses. There are numerous Winchell’s locations throughout Orange County. They are open 24 hours daily, and assorted doughnuts are $4.69 a dozen.

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I don’t know anyone who hasn’t stopped in at a Winchell’s, but few of us are aware that this doughnut giant is based in Santa Ana, or that the company has been around more than 50 years.

Winchell’s could have something to lose should Krispy Kreme franchises become as wildly popular here as in the South, and they are not taking this lying down. Last year, they introduced two new doughnuts made from flavored dough, the Very Berry Blueberry Burst and the Cocoa Cabana Banana Nut. I tasted both, and I liked the way the blueberry fruit and chopped nuts had been worked into the dough.

Even more important to the company is a prototype store called Winchell’s World in Pomona, a 6,000-square-foot drive-through shop featuring an automated production line similar to the one at Krispy Kreme. Personally, I have always found Winchell’s doughnuts to be just fine, and you can’t beat the variety.

But I guess people around here take Winchell’s for granted. Not one reader wrote in about the company.

Now for some recommendations from our readers. I checked these places out and have included a few tasting notes. All are mom-and-pop-type shops.

Granny Donut No. 17, 3399 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach. (562) 427-5005. Doughnuts 50-60 cents each, $3.80 a dozen.

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Here we are in the Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach, a city that is home to the largest settlement of Cambodian immigrants in this country, which makes it a natural starting place for our mini mom-and-pop doughnut odyssey.

What makes this little shop stand out from the crowd is the offbeat varieties, such as the long, glazed cylinder of dough split and filled with a fluffy white cream known as a Bismarck. Another good choice here is the chocolate glazed and filled doughnut that fairly brims with a yellow custard made with pureed fresh banana.

All the doughnuts are reasonably good here. And there are eccentric spinoffs like yeasty cinnamon twists, crisp sugar-glazed tubes that the proprietors call apple burritos and first-rate maple bars. The Cambodian-Chinese couple running this place learned their trade in Seattle. Perhaps that accounts for these subtle differences in style.

Boston Donuts, 1151 Imperial Highway, La Habra. (714) 992-2561. Open 24 hours daily. Doughnuts, 49 cents, $3.85 a dozen.

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This cheerful place, once a Dunkin’ Donuts, is run by Vivian Wong, a Chinese-Cambodian. We were flooded with postcards about this shop; so what if the cards appeared to be the result of a campaign? Maybe it is a reaction to the overwhelming success of Krispy Kreme, which is down the street.

Anyway, these firm, fresh doughnuts are made three times daily and come in a whopping three dozen varieties. Some of the good ones are Bavarian cream-filled raised, cinnamon crumb and double chocolate. Good coffee, too.

Rose Donuts, 3536 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 675-3151. Open daily, 4 a.m.-6 p.m. Doughnuts $5.50 a dozen.

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It’s fun to see hardbodies here in Corona del Mar shamelessly scarfing down chocolate doughnuts before the sun comes up. Rose Donuts, however, also serves bagels and cappuccino.

These are good-enough doughnuts, but a few varieties taste as if they were made with the standard frostings, fillings and glazes that most commercial food suppliers provide.

Neither the thickly frosted vanilla iced and maple iced cake doughnuts suffer from this. But the yeasty, raspberry-filled raised doughnut doesn’t taste as if it were filled with real jam, and the batter used to make the chocolate coconut cake doughnut doesn’t have much chocolatey taste, which was the case in every small doughnut shop I visited from San Clemente to Seal Beach.

South Swell Donuts, 31660 S. Coast Highway, South Laguna. (949) 427-5005. Doughnuts 50-80 cents each, $4.50 a dozen.

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Farther down the beach, in surfin’ country, is this thimble-sized shop. The front windows are covered by surfer decals and that makes sense; most surfers I know regard doughnuts as the perfect energy food.

These are tasty, generous with glazes and fillings, invariably fresh. There are no major surprises, but among the best choices are the thickly frosted double chocolate cake doughnuts, the yeasty glazed maple bars, a plain glazed that, unlike Krispy Kreme’s, is good when cool, and an exemplary sugar twist.

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Name Your Pleasure

When it comes to picking a doughnut shop, do names make a difference?

Looking over the spectrum of doughnut retailers in Orange County, we see titles to appeal to a number of tastes.

Are you looking for that familial touch? Mum Donuts can help. Does the upper class impress you? Have your chauffeur drive you to King’s Donuts or Queen’s Donuts & Cakes. And if you dislike royalty altogether, head to Colonial Donuts in Garden Grove.

So if you’re in a doughnut mood, comb through this list and you’ll discover that choosing a dozen may involve more than just dreaming of creamy fillings.

DAFFY DOUGHNUTS

They’re crazy for crullers

SyCo Donuts, Anaheim

Looney’s Donuts, Orange

Donut Nut, Huntington Beach

Donuttery, Huntington Beach

Dippitty Donuts, Costa Mesa

Spudnuts Donuts, Anaheim

ROYALTY

Doughnuts you can eat on a throne

Donut Queen, La Habra

Queen’s Donuts & Cakes, Santa Ana

King’s Donuts, Garden Grove

Royal Donuts, Laguna Niguel

CELESTIAL

Some say doughnuts are heavenly

Rainbow Donuts, Garden Grove

Sunkist Donuts, Anaheim

Sunny Donuts, Anaheim

Dawn Donut, Anaheim

Angel Food Donut Shop, Fountain Valley

Manna Donuts, Anaheim

Supreme Donuts, Santa Ana

ALL OVER TOWN

When doughnuts take over the world...

City Donut, Yorba Linda

Donut City, Santa Ana

Villa Donut, Costa Mesa

Donut Villa, Santa Ana

Donut Town, Garden Grove

UPPER CRUST

For those who demand classy doughnuts

Rich Donuts, Huntington Beach

Country Club Donuts, Santa Ana

Elite Donuts, Buena Park

The Donut Stoppe, Huntington Beach

Golden Boy Donuts, Huntington Beach

Top Donut House, Fullerton

DOWN-HOME DOUGHNUTS

Where everybody knows your name

Friendly Donuts & Yogurt Shop, Orange

Friend’s Donuts & Subs, Santa Ana

Mom’s Donuts & Ice Cream, Santa Ana

Dad’s Donuts, Balboa

Granny’s Donuts, Cypress

Tustin Family Donuts, Tustin

NAME-BRAND DOUGHNUTS

Pride of ownership doughnuts

Mr. Al’s Donut Diner, Anaheim

Sofia’s Donuts, Santa Ana

Dolly’s Donuts, Orange

Big Dan’s Donuts, Irvine

Winkle’s Donuts, Garden Grove

Jax Donut House, Santa Ana

Tac-Do Donuts, Orange

Christy’s Donuts, Santa Ana

DOUGHNUTS WITH GOOD TASTE

Where flavor is everything

Scrumptious Donuts, Anaheim

Yum Yum Donuts, Santa Ana

Yummy Donuts, Buena Park

Sweet-O Donuts, Fullerton

Sweet Treats Donuts, Placentia

Oh Those Donuts! Costa Mesa

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

For Disneyland and Angel fans

Mickey Donuts, Anaheim

Ball Donuts, Anaheim

RENAISSANCE

Serving more than just doughnuts

Balboa Bakery & Deli & Donuts, Balboa

Yes Donuts & Yogurt, Santa Ana

Donut Depot & Yogurt, Newport Beach

GENDER-CONSCIOUS DOUGHNUTS

For the feminine mind-set

Ms Donuts, Orange

Miss Donut and Bakery, Fullerton, Anaheim

Compiled by Jenny Anglin, Michael Miller and Ken Williams