In my world, donuts conjure memories of effortless joy, beauty beyond words, and a tradition that, enjoyed with coffee, ties together generations of Americans across space and time. When I eat a donut, I am not just ingesting a delicious mixture of fat, sugar and flour. I am reliving Sunday brunch at grandma and grandpa Carlin’s house with my cousins, playing jackpot in the backyard with sticky hands. I am back in the Astro van on the bumpy road behind Dawn Donuts on Harper, thrilled at the roller coaster ride that dad is making of the potholes. I am experiencing a Lake Michigan daybreak with ma from our perch on a dune grass mound after a stop at the Frankfort bakery. I am browsing the puzzling masterpieces of the annual rough arts festival on Joe’s front porch, fritter in hand. I am with Grandpa on his delivery route through Detroit, handing out little boxes of crescent shaped, nut-covered dunkers.
Then I moved to Grayling, leaving every tie to my past just over three hours behind. Now, more than ever, donuts have become an essential link to my history and identity. This could be part of the reason that I took to Goodales so strongly. Let alone the fact that they have one of the most impressive selections I have ever come across. I latched on to the bakery as if I was a gosling and the bakery was the first thing I saw when I broke out of my shell.
With a lot of time on my hands, I decided to make a project of the bakery. I would taste, at my leisure, every donut in the place and give a detailed review of each before I doubled up or chose a favorite. I will admit that I doubled up about a month into the project, however I did not declare a favorite until every donut had been given a fair chance*. What follows is my list, in which I can finally, confidently, declare my favorite.
If you find yourself at the counter of Goodales (on Norway Street in Grayling, Michigan) without the time or stomach to try them all, I hope this guide will be of use to you.
If the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and the waves are crashing, eat donuts. Donuts, Dohnuts, Doughnuts! –American Proverb
*Due to the fact that over 24 varieties of pazcki were available during the week leading up to Fat Tuesday, they were excluded from the project for health reasons
Sour Cream- (September, 2009. Day of interview with Huron Pines) Excellent. Recommended by baker as the best donut offered at Goodales. As of 9/12/10, I agree. Sweet, but not too sweet. Delicious hearty body, moist, crusty outside.
Cherry Glazed fried cake- (late October, 2009) Lovely bright pink color to the crumb. Good donut to mix things up with. The cherry donut is better topped with chocolate, but it nevertheless is fun to eat. Like blueberry, the flavor is clearly imitation cherry. However, this is itself a legitimate and unique taste that can be enjoyed so long as you are not expecting a true cherry flavor.
Caramel Apple- (11-4-09) Delicious! Cake donut light and flavorful perfectly complimented by caramel topping, which was a nice balance between creamy and crusty.
Cinnamon Pumpkin- (11-10-2009) Seasonal. Determined by the baker to be dry before he sold it to me, turned out to be so. Nevertheless, enjoyable. Charged 30 cents due to the sub-par condition. Impressed by quality control measures taken (baker felt each cinnamon pumpkin donut before declaring them all too dry).
Chocolate covered raised with sprinkles- (11-13-09) Makes for a good ‘first bite’ as I suspect most raised donuts would. Light and fluffy texture, good amount of frosting on top. The sprinkles were very dense and clouded the flavor of the donut/ frosting. Smelled great, and the pure excitement of having so many sprinkles almost made up for what they compromised in flavor.
Maple topped cinnamon fry- Frosting too thick and sweet, may have been an old one. I didn’t even want to finish it, my first negative donut experience so far. This is why it is important to read Cindy’s expression when you are choosing a donut.
Eggnog- Seasonal. Tastes good. Eaten while I was on my bike wearing red mittens, so I was also consuming bits of red fuzz which may have skewed my review. Nevertheless, tasty, spiced well, and not too crumbly.
Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Fried Cake-(12/3) Delicious. Would have been great with coffee. Wanted another one. Goodales really has their frosting down- this one was like fudge. A classic good choice. Sometimes, the batter of colorful donuts such as blueberry and cherry are swirled in, adding to the complexity and this donuts impression of richness.
Chocolate covered raised-(12/10)Great donut, much tastier without the sprinkles. It is pretty big, so you feel like you are really getting something when you order one. I was often mistaken for another regular who chose this donut every time, so I got to eat it more often than I would have chosen. One of my top picks, a great fallback option for those days when you just can’t decide.
Blueberry- You can’t go wrong choosing this donut, if you like blueberry. If chosen on the right day, the exterior is crispy and sweet under a thin glaze, and the inside is moist with that nice flavor of imitation blueberry.
Chocolate covered cherry fried cake- I have always admired this combination of bright red cherry donut covered in the traditional chocolate topping. It strikes a harmonious balance between the risky business of choosing a fruity flavor and the peace of mind you get from getting something that contains chocolate. Adventurous and satisfying.
Sugar raised- This donut was eaten while trying to drive, which I do not recommend because it can be very messy. There is quite a bit of loose sugar sticking to the outside. I like the texture combination of the crystalline sugar with the soft yeast donut base.
Fried crunch cake- This is a nice little compact donut, rolled in crumbs and assorted sugary cinnamon stuff. It was not as crunchy as I expected, but I would eat it again.
French toast fried cake- This donut really has the French toast flavor. The crumb has an interesting speckle to it, which reminds me of vanilla bean.
Maple covered French toast fried cake- The combination of maple flavoring and French toast is very good.
Custard glazed pazcki- On almost all of the Fat Tuesdays of my childhood, I would ask for the custard pazcki. This one did not disappoint or surprise, just as good but not better than I remember. Which is to say, comparable to the ‘Farmer Jack’s’ version of the late ‘90’s.
Prune Pazcki- The prune Pazcki is the traditional flavor, so I thought I would give it a try after years of avoiding it. I should have stuck with my tradition of avoiding it- it was very heavy, too sweet, and left me feeling kind of sick. Eaten on Fat Tuesday.
Cinnamon-raisin roll- This is a nice, lighter option if you are not down for a donut. The soft, yeasty roll is slightly sweet and dotted with raisins and a cinnamon paste. The powdered sugar icing is a nice touch.
Cinnamon Biscuit- For a while, I was eating this one every day because I loved it so much. It is made with biscuit dough, which is dense, salty, and very satisfying. Great heated up in a toaster oven, but very good at room temperature as well. It may be a stretch to call the cinnamon biscuit a donut, but I included it because I enjoyed it so much and often ate it instead of a donut.
Orange juice fried cake- It has a great name and a great color to the crumb, but the flavor cannot stand up to the expectation. It is not remarkable, except that it is unheard of elsewhere. I could not make out the orange juice flavor, but I could see it.
Sprinkle fried cake- I love sprinkles on a donut, and this one did not disappoint. I would say that sprinkle cake fry is better than sprinkle raised, the cake donut is more compatible with high doses of sprinkles. However, I do like to see more primary colors in the sprinkle mix than what I got.
Glazed raised- The glazed raised is tasty, but it lacks many qualities I look for in a donut. No crispness, no crunch. The name makes it fun to order though.
Twist- A delightful shape for a donut- it was a treat in itself just to unravel the twist to eat it. Taste is the same as the glazed raised.
Honey wheat- Subtle honey flavor, satisfying weight to the crumb, moist, nice crispy exterior, surprisingly similar flavor to the sour cream.
Plain fried cake- Very pleasant, simple donut. Good for dunking. The flavor is creamy and pure.
Powdered sugar fried cake- Was very impressed by this donut, it had a very fresh taste and was not as messy as I expected.
Crescent- The crescent is like a plain fried cake, glazed and cut in half. The moon shape makes it a good dunker, but the flavor is not unique. It does not taste as good a true plain fried cake. A convenience if you like to dunk or are on a diet.
Cinnamon fry- The cinnamon fry this time was good. I was nervous to try it because of the fiasco with the maple covered cinnamon fry, but this was fresh, not over sweet, and there was a lot to it. I felt like I got my fill after eating this one.
Chocolate covered plain fried cake- The plain donut topped with chocolate, it is a good choice but not a standout choice.
Cinnamon sugar fried cake- It’s good, but if I was you I would hold off for the opportunity to eat a cinnamon sugar fry hot from a cider mill with a cup of cold cider in the sun. A cinnamon sugar fried cake should not just be a donut, it should be an event. When I ate this, there were no bees buzzing around my hand so it didn’t seem right.
CRUELERS (available Wednesdays and Saturdays only)
Plain crueler- This is a great choice if you do not want a sweet donut. The crueler has a wonderful tractor-wheel shape that makes it fun to eat and not messy at all. It is a soft donut, slightly chewy, and hollow on the inside. It reminds me of a pop-over.
Maple frosted crueler- If you like the maple flavor, you will love this. The simplicity of the crueler softens the bold, sometimes overpowering flavor of the maple frosting. I would eat it again, but I prefer the other crulers.
Chocolate frosted crueler- The chocolate frosted crueler is my second favorite donut at Goodales. It is light, fluffy, eggy, airy, and not too sweet. The chocolate gives it a nice fudgy substance to balance the airiness.
Powdered sugar crueler- The plain crueler, covered in powdered sugar. Eating this is what it would feel like to be an angel in heaven chewing on a cloud.
Glazed crueler -Like the plain crueler but covered in the traditional donut glaze, this is a good choice if you want something simple, but a little bit sweeter than the plain crueler.
FILLED
Chocolate covered custard long john- The long john is a long, rectangular donut filled with a creamy, pudding-like vanilla custard. It is decidedly a better shape for a filled donut than the circular filled, you can take a bite without making too much of a mess. I prefer chocolate covered because it more appropriately compliments the vanilla flavored interior.
Vanilla frosted custard long john- Same as above, except the frosting is vanilla icing, which is slightly less tasty than chocolate as a topper. Still good, though it is a big donut so you may want to eat just one.
Chocolate frosted Bavarian crème long john- Bavarian crème is a light, fluffy interior that is sweet, but not too sweet. I dreaded the day I would have to eat one, because I am not a fan of overly sweet fluffy stuff. But I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor and texture. If I liked filled donuts more, I would probably try this one again.
Chocolate frosted chocolate crème filled- This donut was not good. The chocolate crème was heavy, too sweet, and did not taste much like chocolate. I would never eat it again and would recommend that you do not, either. If you really want the double chocolate flavor, go for the chocolate frosted chocolate fried cake.
Banana filled- Has a custardy texture with a hint of banana flavor. Not very good, but definitely not as bad as it sounds.
Blueberry filled- The chunks of real (I think) blueberry lend a nice touch to the otherwise artificial blueberry flavor of this donut. It is a nice dark blue/ purple color.
Cherry filled- Bits of cherry peel dot the jelly of this one, and the cherry flavor is, like all the others, artificial tasting but ok nevertheless. Not as bad a raspberry, not as bright as strawberry.
Raspberry filled- I did not like this one at all. It was gelatinous, overly sweet, and with an unnatural aftertaste. I had higher expectations for this one than the rest because I tend to like the raspberry flavor. It did not pass the test.
Lemon filled- The lemon filled was a pleasant surprise. It had the nice lemon tang to it, and I found myself dipping the bits of donut that did not have the filling on it just to taste it more. Would not get it again, but it was among the few filleds that I enjoyed.
Cream cheese filled- The cream cheese filling is pretty heavy, and sweet. I have never been a fan of cheese desserts such as cheesecake, so I feel unqualified to judge this one. However, I didn’t enjoy it and I will not get another.
Apple filled- Apple flavored goo with chunks of soft apple, flavored with cinnamon. There was a lot of filling, and it reminded me of apple pie filling you would buy in a can. I would not get it again.
Strawberry filled- This donut was better than the raspberry filled, and it was everything I could have hoped to find in a filled donut. The bright red interior brought me back to my childhood, when I would have loved this. I am too old now to fully appreciate this donut, though I recommend the vanilla frosted version if you do decide to try it.
In conclusion, the sour cream donut is my favorite. If it was a Wednesday or a Saturday, I would choose a cruler. If it was fry-dough Friday and I was planning to get two donuts, I would probably choose a sour cream and a chocolate covered raised. Honorable mention goes to chocolate covered cherry fried cake and powdered sugar fried cake.
