National Doughnut Day. It sounds almost too good to be true, right? Unlike the marketing drivel that drives most of these annual promotions (see National Rotisserie Chicken Day), this honest-to-goodness event reaches back to 1938, when the Salvation Army set aside the first Friday in June to pay tribute to the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I. To celebrate this worthy tradition, we've gathered plenty of deep-fried ideas — cake, raised, filled and glazed — from a dozen top Twin Cities doughnut purveyors.
1. Yes, there is a doughnut — sort of — for those following vegan and gluten-free diets. The bakers at the Birchwood Cafe turn out two varieties daily ($3), in flavors that range from tangelo-thyme to rhubarb-lemon. They're baked, not fried. "But it's a round pastry with a hole in it," said owner Tracy Singleton. "That's the niche we fill. There's a doughnut for everyone."
3311 E. 25th St., Mpls., 612-722-4474, birchwoodcafe.com
2. The hallowed cake doughnut tradition is alive and well at neighborhood bakeries across the Twin Cities, including the Heights Bakery in Columbia Heights, Valley Pastries in Golden Valley and P.J. Murphy's Bakery in St. Paul. These coconut-topped beauties ($1.15) hail from Sarah Jane's Bakery in northeast Minneapolis.
2853 NE. Johnson St., Mpls., 612-789-2827, sarahjanesbakery.com
3. The white cardboard boxes at Mel-O-Glaze Bakery are imprinted with a "Box of Bribes" logo, a sterling example of truth in packaging. This south Minneapolis classic, which has nearly 60 years of know-how in the deep-fried arts, turns out one of the city's great bargains: springy raised doughnuts, liberally dunked in a vat of sticky glaze, at $1 a pop.
4800 28th Av. S., Mpls., 612-729-9316, meloglazebakery.com
4. Anyone who makes a habit of visiting Mojo Monkey Donuts knows that owner Lisa Clark is famous for her mango-glazed, coconut-flecked raised doughnuts. But the yeasty, Long John-style "bars" ($3.49), liberally finished with a maple-honey icing and crowned with a thick-cut bacon slice, are another breakfast-of-champions specialty.
