Out of all the quintescential American food (I’m thinking burger, hotdog, apple pie…) donuts have got to be my absolute favourite. I’ve learned when I was on the campaign trail in upstate New York that I can actually live pretty happily on a diet of coffee, donuts, pizza and beer. Don’t judge me 😉 I have pretty simple tastes when it comes to donuts. I love the glazed ones from Krispy Kreme, the jelly-filled donut at Dunkin’ Donuts and Tim Horton’s Canadian Maple Donut.
So today is National Donut Day and I am more than happy to oblige by eating as many donuts as I can… but this blog is called French Twist D.C. and so on this wonderful holiday I would like to bring your attention to beignets, the Gallic cousin of the American Donut. Doughnuts are in essence fried dough, and they’re popular in different shapes and form in many countries. In Morocco, they’re smaller and even sweeter because they’re soaked in honey. In Poland, they’re typically filled with jams. In France, they’re called beignets and if you’ve ever visited New Orleans, I’m sure you’ve had the ones from Café du Monde, which are pretty amazing. I tried an equally amazing beignet for the first time at Paul Bakery yesterday. It was one of those “where have you been all my life” kind of moment and I fully intend to make up for lost time and eat as many of them as I can from now. What makes it so special? Behind it’s pretty plain exterior, the beignet is actually filled with a Nutella-like chocolate mixture. Nutella + dough = deliciousness. Plus it’s baked, not fried, so it can’t be all that bad right? (Paul Bakery actually has the calories listed on their website too…)
Do yourself a favour on this glorious foodie holiday and visit one of DC’s 2 Paul Bakeries (the third one on Connecticut Avenue is set to open on Monday… but more on that later) and get yourself one of the chocolate filled beignets. I’m not saying you shouldn’t visit Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme as well for your free treats… I’m just saying you should also go to Paul and buy a beignet. It’s that good!
Joyeuse Journée du Beignet everyone!
I really wish there was a Tim Hortons in DC! I've heard that they serve the coffee in the Canadian Embassy, but I'm not sure about that…maybe I should look for a job there??