People are nuts for doughnuts: No other food seems to inspire so many national holidays. After all, Sept. 14 is specifically National Cream-Filled Doughnut Day. No, not National Doughnut day — that's in June. And not National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day (June, too). This one is just to celebrate cream-filled doughnuts.
In honor of the big day, we've found some over-the-top-wacky doughnuts, filled with cream and otherwise, that still somehow sound delicious.
Side-note: If you spell the word "donut" instead of "doughnut," then you're one of those "out with the old, in with the new" types. The spelling "donut" didn't turn up until the 1900s. Whatever way you spell it, enjoy:
1. Sloppy joe-nut
Who ever decided that doughnuts should be saved for dessert? In 2014, Jonathon Sawyer, the buzzed-about chef at Cleveland's The Greenhouse Tavern, filled a yeast doughnut with tender beef, braised in coffee and Coca-Cola, and finishes the dish with a barbecue sauce glaze. It was the ideal sweet-meets-savory combo that seemed oh so wrong while tasting oh so right.
2. Doughnut cocktail
We all know about cream-filled doughnuts, but how about a doughnut-filled creamy cocktail? Blogger Host the Toast created a doughnut cocktail that is a combination of flavored vodka, crème de cacao and simple syrup. It makes a great after-dinner drink or a dessert all on its own. And don't even think about using an olive to garnish this. A doughnut hole is de rigeur for this sweet libation.
3. Avocado-filled doughnuts
It's not quite the guacamole that people are used to, but according to Dorothy Kern at Crazy for Crust, this strange hybrid works beautifully. Not to mention that it’s (at least somewhat) healthy, since avocado is full of healthy fats and these doughnuts are baked, not fried. Still, once they're drizzled with chocolate glaze and sprinkles, these start looking like decadent, leprechaun-infused Twinkies.
4. Marshmallow cream-filled s'mores doughnuts
Step away from the campfire and into the kitchen. The blogger behind I Wash, You Dry simplifies the doughnut-making process by using premade biscuits as the doughnut base. They're fried up like doughnuts, loaded with a cream cheese and marshmallow cream filling, and covered with chocolate glaze and crushed graham crackers.
5. Strawberry margarita cream-filled doughnuts
There's nothing half-baked about these alcoholic doughnuts from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. The yeast doughnuts are filled with a tequila-spiked strawberry cream, topped with tequila and strawberry frosting, and finished with a lime glaze. The last touch is, as with any margarita, a sprinkling of salt. It's sweet meets salty and liquor meets pastry. Sure, you could leave the tequila out...but why would you?
6. Doughnut ice cream sandwiches
Doughnuts are the darlings of the mashup world—need we even say the word “Cronut”? They’re irresistible when stuffed with maple ice cream, as in Bakeaholic Mama Carrie Burrill’s version. She makes traditional raised doughnuts, cools them, then splits them open and stuffs them with homemade maple ice cream. As a finishing touch, she tops the whole affair with caramel and coarse sea salt.
This article was originally published on Sept. 14, 2014.