Doughnut Discourse - Much Ado about Doh?

Prologue

This lengthy diatribe on doughnuts is finally ready to be published...some people argue taste is subjective (you say potato, I say po-tato and all that), but really taste is not. It is objective. At least, I'm trying to suggest it here.

This has been lying in the edit folder for at least a month and keeps getting longer each time. Although I haven't had a chance to revisit JCo doughnuts (and being back on diet, that's not happening for a while), I have revisited the Big Apple ones. And I affirm my verdict still.

Doughnuts away...

The Great Doughnut Dissertation

Okay, so Malaysians (and it seems Singaporeans) have gone crazy over doughnuts. The queue at Big Apple at The Curve is long and big enough to convince the owners that they must now be also in MidValley, and Pavillion and One Utama.

For the uninitiated, they are taking a leaf out of the Rotiboy book and positioning the store right in front of the elevator - lazy Malaysians are more likely to spot something next to an elevator than the stairs. Indeed, the outlet in MidValley is positioned on the lower ground floor, in the bypass to the new Gardens @ MidValley - the lowest possible level so that non-stair-climbing Malaysians do not have to go far for the dougnut fix.

Doughnuts it seems, are the new must-eats, judging by the number of Malaysian bloggers who have raved about the Big Apple Doughnuts and the queue at JCo in Pavillion.



Being a discriminating doughnut person, I decided to investigate (at cost to my waistline) - the Doughnut. And herein I present my Doughnut Dissertation.

First, terms of the experiment. I have had the opportunity to eat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts during my visits to HK (for those are are KKK - Krispy Kreme Krazy - it is only available in SEA in either Hong Kong or Indonesia, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta). I have also eaten JCo Doughnuts and Big Apple Doughnuts. Secondly, basis of comparison. The comparison will be glazed vs glazed, in the interests of fairness, naturally. Of course, the ultimate ultimate comparison would be a blind test, but my waistline won't have it so the experiment is somewhat limited in that the doughnuts were not all tasted at the same time. However, as I have eaten Big Apple and Krispy Kreme doughnuts quite a few times, I believe it is possible to compare the taste of the two, and against that of J Co.

Meet the Contenders.

In the Blue Corner, the local boy, Big Apple.



And in the Red Corner, the American Giant, Krispy Kreme:



In the Yellow Corner, the Indonesian Juggernaut, JCo:



I have deliberately left off Dunkin Doughnuts from the equation because honestly, I don't think Dunkin Doughnuts qualify as doughnuts. A piece of grandma's shoe sole maybe. But doughnut, I don't think so. But, in the interests of a complete discourse on the doughnut, I'll probably have to buy a Dunkin Doughnut at some point, to add it to the mix. However, as Dunkin Doughnut does not actually have a 'glazed' doughnut and only powdered sugar ones, the comparison of how DD lines up against KK and the other Contenders, will have to be saved for a discourse on my other favourite type of doughnut: the jelly.

I doughnut wish to digress...so let's move to the analysis.


a) Colour

KK doughnuts, as can be seen by the photo comparison below, are clearly, fried (yes, doughnuts have to be fried so let's not delude ourselves that they're somehow NOT fattening) more consistently, to produce a consistent golden tan to the doughnuts. By contrast, Big Apple doughnuts are frequently paler than the Krispy Kreme version and oft-lack the caramelised flavour that comes with a properly fried doughnut.

The reason for this could be either the fryer is not timed properly so the doughnuts from Big Apple are coming off a little bit earlier than they should, or the oil is not as hot as it should, thereby cooking the doughnut but not giving it the right golden tan, or it is related to the dough mixture. I'm more inclined to lean towards the first two, although the dough mixture is probably a contributing factor - flour and sugar proportion, as well as sugar quality likely play a part in determining how 'golden' the doughnuts come out.

J Co on the other hand, seems to be not quite in the same league as KK, but looking less pale definitely.

b) Texture

Texture-wise, the KK doughnut has a more cakey texture, and holds up better after one day, maintaining its cakey softness. By contrast, the Big Apple doughnut, whilst still tasting pretty okay a day later, tends to be doughy on first bite, and lacks that cakey fluffiness that Krispy Kreme has. JCo doughnuts seemed to have the right mix, slightly cakier than the Big Apple doughnuts, but also just enough fluff to them.

Big Apple doughnuts seem doughey in general, and have a stick-to-the-top-of-your-mouth dougheyness that one tends to associate with local Chinese pastries rather than a proper cakey-flour texture.

I have also noticed, whenever I step off the elevator at 1Utama, where the Big Apple store is, that the scent of trans-fats (that sort of semi-rancid oil/grease smell) is particularly strong from Big Apple, compared to J Co (you get a bit of it from a KK doughnut but you really have to hold it up to your nose). The flavour of the trans-fats can be quite obvious when the doughnut is a day old but as I have only experienced this with KK doughnuts (and post-diet, sensitivity to trans-fats smell is high) - however, the smell factor is something which again, I take into account as a measure of quality and standard. All doughnuts have to be made to a degree with trans-fats but typically the smell only permeates if the frying oil is an issue. I am of course no expert...but I trust my nose...

C) Glaze and Toppings

The glaze from Krispy Kreme is of course infinitely superior - smooth like marble, and it doesn't have a sugary texture (which is usually an indication in my humble opinion, of either a poorly mixed glaze, or just inferior quality sugar). This smoothness is evident also in the JCo doughnut, although not to the same standard. Whilst the glaze on the Big Apple doughnut is okay, it is clearly not of Krispy Kreme standards, and lacks the marble smoothness of a quality glaze.






In order of appearance: JCo, KK, Big Apple - the superior glaze is obvious IMHO. KK doughnuts photographed in the day, JCo at night with Flash, Big Apple in the day.Both Big Apple and J Co doughnuts were photographed fresh whilst KK doughnuts photographed one day later, and after a 3 hour plane journey.


Toppings are another issue (and fillings as well).

A good indication also of the quality of chocolate being used on Big Apple doughnuts is the amount of shine visible on the doughnut under the lights in the display. When chocolate has a lot of shine, it is first usually in my mind an indication that it is not of particularly good quality chocolate and secondly, that it has been kept or reheated often, thus nearly separating the fats from the cocoa butter. That's why if you buy cooking chocolate, good quality cooking chocolate is glossy without an oily appearance, whilst poor quality cooking chocolate derives an unnatural amount of gloss from the addition of other fats into the chocolate. In short, the less high quality the chocolate, the shinier it appears under the light.

Taste also will give an indication of the quality of the chocolate being used. (and anyone can use Belgian chocolate in their toppping - the question is HOW MUCH is being used, along with other things).




My photography skills (and these shots are not photoshopped) aren't the greatest but tastebuds and eyes don't lie, even if photos don't always do justice to what is being said.


Your eyes of course do not lie...and nor do tastebuds (especially when it comes to sussing out cheap peanut butter vs better quality peanut butter - don't believe me, do a blind test between Skippy and Steffi peanut butter...).

Why is doughnuts have suddenly become so popular? Deprivation is probably the answer, with faddishness or novelty coming in next. For most people, Dunkin Doughnuts was the only doughnut in Malaysia for the longest time. And frankly most people know it's not a particularly good doughnut but what choice do you have if you want a jelly doughnut? Compared to the doughnuts in conventional bakeries (which are usually pale, covered with knobbly sugar, and potentially a mouthful of clumpy dough), Dunkin's Doughnuts were vastly superior.

Compared to the doughnuts in Big Apple, the stodginess of Dunkin's loses out to the lighter and fluffier texture of Big Apple.

But compared to Krispy Kreme, Big Apple is a whole doughnut short of the Krispy Kreme standard.

Coming in the middle is the JCo doughnut. I haven't dared brave the queues that have been piling up since it opened in Pavillion but I have eaten them, early when the Pavillion store first opened. And I resoundly am of the view that they trounce Big Apple doughnuts, hands down. (assuming standards have not declined since then - queues have a habit of wrecking quality control I find).

My increased reservation of putting Big Apple doughnuts in the same league as JCo (forget KK) comes from the fact that I have concluded that Big Apple seems to be engaging in obvious and clear imitation of JCo doughnuts. From the box design, to the types of doughnuts on offer (the Green Tea and Tiramisu ones are a dead giveaway) to the fact that the doughnuts at Big Apple appear to look a lot like the ones in JCo (and really the difference between a 'Glazzy' doughnut and a 'Glacier' doughnut is?), there's more than a hint of suggestion that Big Apple is in fact, knock-off of JCo.

Its almost like the owner went to JCo, studied their selection, and then prodigiously implemented it, with slightly different names, but the same look and feel of the doughnuts,and even the same flavour concepts.

Clearly between JCo and Big Apple, JCo has a greater legitimate claim to being the Grade A fake, if Krispy Kreme is the doughnut being copied. But my view is that we can't put JCo in the category of mere imitator (that would be Big Apple, albeit not so good mere imitator.)

JCo is in itself, a very good purveyor of doughnuts in their own right.Extra points to them for NOT copying KK wholesale and actually coming up with their own concept doughnuts with their own unique take on the doughnut (in fact, someone told me that Indonesians are actually known for making really amazing rustic doughnuts). I plan to brave the queue again one day at Pavillion to see if they have maintained their standards...I hope they have.

But back to the original topic of this blog which was to decide which doughnut takes the cake so to speak. My personal verdict is Krispy Kreme still rules the doughnut roost, but JCo a very close second (not just as an imitator, but in its own right, a good doughnut shop) and Big Apple, well, distant, distant third place, for the reason that it is not only nowhere near being a KK substitute, but it deserves points being knocked off for...well, knocking off other people's stuff. Alas, though, right now, in the absence of KK being in KL, it is only a toss up between JCo and Big Apple realistically (although rumours of the KK Franchise coming to Malaysia no doubt will regularly be doing the milkrounds). I'd prefer to save my calories for JCo, even if Big Apple is more conveniently located, and less insanely crowded.

Postscript:

Aliens vs Predator is a nice doughnut, but my stomach squelches at the though of how much of that chocolate is really 'the good stuff'.) The smell of the trans-fats from the Big Apple doughnuts cooking oil has started to get to me and I've heard also a few remarks from people who have bought doughnuts from Big Apple of the same 'scent' of trans-fats. Granted you get it from KK doughnuts too but you have to have a really sensitive nose to suss that out. So strike one more blow against the Big Apple doughnuts...

I still don't understand the crazy queue at JCo, but I guess when you are the only one, the Keynesian rules of supply and demand apply. Just call it doughnut economics I guess.