My Ultimate: Donuts. Is There Anything They Can't Do?

("My Ultimate" will run most Tuesdays and will feature any topic that hops into my head.  The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the other New England Mamas. . . although they should).

When I was young, a visit to my grandmother's house all started the same way:  kiss grandma and then find the donuts.   Specifically, jelly donuts coated in granulated sugar.

She always had a little box of donuts in her kitchen.  She worked in the (now defunct) Fernandez Supermarket Bakery (having a grandmother who works in a bakery can only be topped by having one that works in a candy store).  Fernandez made some killer jelly donuts, right there on the premises. 

By the time I was a teen, my grandmother was no longer working.  Instead, I filled my donut cravings with New England's own Dunkin Donuts.  On Saturday mornings my mom would drive down to the one location in our town and buy a dozen donuts.  I could easily put away three in one sitting.  They were fresh, sweet and gooey.  My favorites were filled with something:  Boston Creme; Chocolate Kreme Filled (which was basically a donut + frosting); Jelly Sticks.  I also loved their "Chocolate Honey Dipped" donuts; I now suspect they were never actually coated in honey which is why they are now called "Chocolate Glazed". 

My freshman year in college I was known as "The Donut Lady" because my on-campus job was at the breakfast cafe which offered only donuts and coffee.  Is it any wonder that I had no problem putting on the Freshman 15 considering I started every weekday morning with two donuts?

After college, Dunkin Donuts must have hired a new CFO because it was around this time that my favorite filled donuts became, um, less filled.  A jelly donut no longer squirted jelly out the other end when I bit.  Chocolate Kreme Filled was a misnomer as I could no longer find the frosting inside the donut.  A Jelly Stick was more like a crispy cake donut with the suggestion of jelly inside.

So when Krispy Kreme donuts  came stampeding into New England to much fanfare, I was hopeful.  Could these fill my craving for the 'perfect' donut?  I really enjoyed the first Krispy Kreme I ate but found that anything other than the plain glazed donut was much too sweet for my taste.  If you told me I could never have another one of these donuts again in this lifetime, I'd be ok with that.  I'm just not a Krispy Kreme gal.

I AM, however, a Butlers gal.  My brother-in-law introduced me to  Butlers Colonial Donuts of Westport, MA several years ago.  Just looking at the photos of their donuts makes my mouth water and my stomach do a little loop-de-loop of happiness.   Michael Stern of Roadfood.com wrote, " In this little shop are the best donuts in Massachusetts; some believe the best in all the world."  Butlers' donuts were that remarkable to me,which is why I almost wept when I heard the original owners had sold their business.  However, it appears from the reviews that the new owners are doing a fine job carrying the weight of Donut Heaven on their shoulders.  I cannot wait to find out for myself.

(ACK!  Update!  Check out The Brother-in-Law's update in the comments.)

Comments

[Kate]

Mmmmmmm, donuts.

One of my favorite of my parents' traditions, which I have adopted, is that if they go out at night (either leaving me with a sitter or, later, just having me be the sitter, since my sisters are 9 and 14 years younger than me), they stop at Dunk's on the way home and leave a dozen donuts on the kitchen table for the morning. It was understood that this was frank bribery: gorge on sugar, and do not wake the parents earlier than strictly necessary.

Mmmmmm.

[The Brother-in-Law]

Sad to say, but the Original Butler's Colonial Donut Shop (where I worked for 4 years) is now closed. The new owners bought Butler's in 2006, and also a second store in Somerset, MA. They closed the Westport location in early 2008.

[Paula]

I always loved how the lemon and blueberry donuts (remember when DD's made those?) would always be almost bursting out of one side of the donut. The glory ended when they stopped making the donuts in shop.

I was a big cruller girl. And just the plain honey glazed. Yummo.

Those Butler donuts look dangerous. Time for a road trip.

[Shannon]

Your making me hungry!

[SuburbanCorrespondent]

I can't believe I was stupid enough to read this post. Boy, do I want a donut...

[Patty]

Yummmmm doughnuts... I want doughnuts......

[kath]

Try Kane's in Saugus, MA. It will make all your doughnut dreams come true.....

[Tim]

I am a huge Krispy Kreme fan. I am sick of the poor quality donuts of Dunkin Donuts, and how NE is OBSESSED with Dunkins for no reason. People have argued to me, "Well, Dunkins has good coffee and Krispy Kreme doesn't." What? I love coffee, and Dunkin's has to be swimming with cream and sugar before I can tolerate it. DD's black coffee is awful. I have to try Butler's though it sounds great.

[Sally]

Kanes Donuts is the Best!!!!!!!!!1
They have the most wonderful donuts, it is worth the trip their honey dip melt in your mouth and their chocolate are rich and decadent

[Rob]

@Kate: I live in Westport and travel past the Butler's Donut building at least once a day. I've noticed that there hasn't been any activity in some time; most recently noticing a now slightly faded handwritten note indicating that they are now closed.

Initially, I thought perhaps they were closed for vacation; the former owner's used to put up similar signs when they were off enjoying life, but since the sign has been there for some time I decided to see if anyone had posted anything online. Thank you for doing so.

Collectively, I think those of us who were customers and/or employees of Butler's are feeling a sense of loss with the closure of this once fine donut-making business.

I'll forever miss those "long johns" with the fresh sweet cream and raspberry filing - Mmm, makes my mouth water. Be well, Rob.

[nancy]

What happened to Butlers Doughnuts in Somerset???? Just stopped to pick up some "long johns" and the building is for rent!!!! :( Did they move or go out of business???
Saw KANES doughnuts on the Food Network they look yummy :)