How To Tell Cake And Yeast Donuts Apart

Back when I was a kid, they were all just "donuts" to me. But, as I grew older and (marginally) wiser, I came to realize that there are all beyond just "all good ones." I noticed that the types of donuts that we'd get from the grocery store were always the dense kind, while the ones we picked up from (now just Dunkin'), tended to be lighter and fluffier.

Little did I realize that I'd already learned the difference between a cake and a yeast donut — I was just too busy enjoying them to notice. The word "cake" describes the crumb of since it's, well, much like cake. These types of donuts are dense and soft, and the exterior tends to have a bit of contrasting crispness due to the fact that it comes in direct contact with the frying oil.



They're also leavened with an agent like baking powder or baking soda, similar to cake batter. Yeast donuts, on the other hand, are springy and airy, just like your classic glazed. These donuts have been leavened with yeast, like bread, so they'll have that natural yeasty and slightly tangy flavor once you dig in.

Are fritters donuts? You'll often see fritters sold alongside both cake and yeast donuts. However, a good old apple fritter is technically not a donut. Instead, fritters are either fried pieces of plain dough, like beignets, which are then covered in powdered sugar, or fried sweet mounds of batter studded with fruit and covered in icing.

(The term "fritter" does cover savory options , as well.) Fritters are leavened with either baking powder or yeast, which means the leavening agent isn't the defining part of a fritter's make-up. You'll find some fritters that have the heavier texture of cake donuts, while some fritters bring the light bite of yeast donuts.

But, fritters are at the least spiritually related to the donut, which is why they seem at home on the bakery rack next to cake, yeast, and filled donuts alike (the filled ones are usually yeast donuts, just in case you wondered). Recommended.