I have tasted, and I believe!

Before this morning, I had never before taken a bite of the self-named world's best donuts. That's because the World's Best Donuts store in Grand Marais, Minn., is seasonal, and I have a penchant for traveling to the North Shore in winter. My fortune changed this morning after my daughter and I stepped outside our hotel to fly a kite on the shores of Lake Superior and saw a stream of people flowing into the store. Jackpot! But people vacationing on the North Shore, take note: get here by tomorrow or wait until next spring. Tomorrow it closes for the cold winter months.

The store could have gotten its name based on location alone. It's a few steps away from a rocky beach, and at least a dozen people were enjoying their cups of hot coffee and selected morning treats while perched on a boulder watching Superior waves roll in this morning. But the name is a good fit given the donuts it produces, too. The cake donuts were nicely crisp on the outside, moist on the inside; "They have a beignet quality," my New Orleanian husband said. The raised glazed were light, with just the right sweetness. I adore these donuts. I am the daughter of a baker, and the chocolate iced cake donuts of my youth will always be my standard bearer. But since Dad is out of the donut biz now, I know where I can get my fill, even if it does mean more summer trips to this grand town on the great lake.

The World's Best Donuts, 10 East Wisconsin Street, Grand Marais, Minn., 1-218-387-1345.