Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

We always called them cider doughnuts.

paddlegirl11 said:

I have heard the crunchy outside doughnut referred to as an old fashioned cake doughnut and the plain smoother textured one as just a plain cake doughnut. It is a family tradition at Halloween that we always have old fashioned cake doughnuts with apple cider. Yum!

Paddlegirl's understanding is the same as mine. Perhaps a picture would be helpful. Here are two doughnuts from the same bakery. The one on the left is sold as a "plain cake doughnut." The one on the right is sold as a "glazed old-fashioned." It differs from the plain cake in three ways:

1. The dough is buttermilk-based.
2. A shallow trough is gouged out of the top of the raw dough. This leaves a jagged gash that flays open when fried. The ridges of that gash are exposed to more oil and become quite hard and crunchy when it comes out of the oil.
3. The "old-fashioned" treatment adds an additional 15 cents to the retail price.

In the jargon of the bakery, the term "doughnut" is usually omitted from "old-fashioned" -- the modifier is used as the noun, e.g., "Give me three powdered cake doughnuts, two glazed twists and an old-fashioned."

Now that I've purchased these specimens for use as photographic subjects in the interest of broad public edification, I'm going to have to come up with a plan for their disposal. Please excuse me while I take a brief break...DOH!

My understanding is that both doughnuts in the photo are cake doughnuts. The irregularly-shaped one is an old-fashioned type of cake doughtnut. These are made with a cake-type batter with baking powder, as opposed to regular doughnuts that are yeast doughnuts (the ones with a spongey texture).