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5 Delicious Facts About Doughnuts

Doughnuts are everywhere. Over the last century, few pastries have inspired as much long-lasting enthusiasm, or as many film and television tributes, as the humble ring of fried dough.

Although we’ve been gobbling down doughnuts by the baker's dozens for years, most of us don’t know that much about their delicious history. Here are 5 tasty facts about the iconic pastry.

1. OVER 10 BILLION DOUGHNUTS ARE MADE IN THE U.S. EACH YEAR.

The American doughnut industry is huge, with numerous fast food chains dedicated to their production. Canada, meanwhile, produces fewer doughnuts (approximately 1 billion per year), but with its lower population, actually has the most doughnut shops per capita of any country in the world.

2. THERE ARE 10 PEOPLE LIVING IN AMERICA WITH THE LAST NAME "DOUGHNUT" OR "DONUT."

At least that was the total in 2011. It's unclear whether "Doughnut" was their given last name, or whether they changed it out of passion for the pastry. Meanwhile, 13 people have the first name “Donut,” making it the 245,396th most popular name in the United States.

3. WASHINGTON IRVING WAS THE FIRST WRITER TO DESCRIBE DOUGHNUTS IN PRINT.

Washington Irving, who is best known as the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, described the pastry as "balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks.” He is widely believed to be the first writer to wax poetic about these delicious concoctions.

4. VOODOO DOUGHNUT USED TO SELL "MEDICINAL" DOUGHNUTS, WHICH WERE COATED WITH NYQUIL OR PEPTO BISMOL.

Portland, Oregon-based Voodoo Doughnut is famous for its wild doughnut flavors. For a while, the doughnut shop even offered NyQuil- and Pepto Bismol-coated doughnuts (the latter were dipped in Pepto Bismol, sprinkled with Tums, and marketed to customers who’d had too much to drink and wanted a snack that was easy on the stomach). The doughnut shop was eventually forced to retire its medicinal flavors after the FDA stepped in.

5. "SPUDNUTS" HAVE DOUGH MADE OF POTATOES INSTEAD OF FLOUR.

Made with mashed potatoes or potato starch, potato doughnuts were once so popular they had their own fast food chain: Spudnuts. The mostly defunct chain (there are apparently a few independent locations hanging on, but the parent company no longer exists) was founded by two brothers—an appliance salesman and drug store clerk—in the 1940s. They were the first fast food doughnut chain to open in Los Angeles.

and as always have a chilled day from the Viking