- Cruller
-
Chocolate covered French cruller
A cruller, or twister, is a twisted and usually ring-shaped fried pastry. It is traditionally made of dough somewhat like that of a cake doughnut, often topped with plain powdered sugar; powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon; or icing. A French cruller is a fluted, ring-shaped doughnut made from choux pastry with a light airy texture.
The name comes from early 19th century Dutch kruller, from krullen "to curl". Crullers are traditionally eaten in Germany and some other European countries on Shrove Tuesday, to use up fat before Lent. In Danish they are knowns as "Klejner" and in Swedish as "Klenäter", both names deriving from Low German. In Scandinavia crullers are common at Christmas.
Crullers are most commonly found in Canada, New England and the Mid-Atlantic and North Central states of the USA, but are also common in California. The German origin is probably why traditional crullers can be found more easily in the Midwest, where many German immigrants settled. Some family-owned bakeries still call them "krullers." In other parts of the U.S., crullers may be called "dunking sticks" or simply "sticks."
In 2003, the Dunkin' Donuts chain of doughnut shops stopped carrying traditional crullers, claiming that the hand-shaped treats were too labor-intensive, and couldn't be simulated with new machines for mixing doughnut batter. They still sell "French Crullers."[1]
Tim Hortons,[2] Honey Dew Donuts,[3] and Krispy Kreme[4] still sell the Cruller, while Dunkin' Donuts only carries the French Cruller. In place of the traditional cruller, Dunkin' Donuts now sells several variations of a substitute product it calls a "cake stick" which is a simplified, machine-made version of the more elaborately twisted hand-made variety.[5]
The term "Chinese cruller" is occasionally applied to the youtiao, a similar-looking fried dough food eaten in East and Southeast Asia.[6]
References
- ^ Joseph P. Kahn, "With Progress, a Cruel Twist", Boston Globe, 25 October 2003.
- ^ Tim Hortons Snacks & Baked Goods
- ^ http://www.honeydewdonuts.com/food/products.html#
- ^ Krispy Kreme Product List
- ^ Dunkin' Donuts Product List
- ^ "Chinese Breakfast" at About.com. Accessed 1 May 2008.
- ^ "Midwestern Crullers".
Doughnut Varieties Doughnut • Awwamaat • Baursaki • Bear claw • BeaverTails • Beignet • Berliner • Bombolone • Boston cream doughnut • Brown Bobby • Buñuelos • Churro • Cider doughnut • Coconut doughnut • Cruller • Dutchie • Fasnacht • Filhós • Fried Coke • Fried dough • Fritelli • Fritter • Fritule • Funnel cake • Gosh Feel • Imarti • Jalebi • Jelly doughnut • Kleina • Klenät • Koeksister • Krafne • Kreple • List of fried dough foods • Long John • Loukoumades • Luther Burger • Malasada • Maple bacon donut • Maple bar • Meat doughnut • National Doughnut Day • Oliebol • Ox-tongue pastry • Pączki • Pastisset • Persian • Picarones • Potato doughnut • Prusurate • Sata andagi • Shuangbaotai • Smultring • Sopaipilla • Sour cream doughnut • Sufganiyah • Timbits • Toutin • Tulumba • Vada • Verhuny • Youtiao • Zalābiya • Zeppole
Companies 
Category:DoughnutsCategories:- Doughnuts
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
