Amish Doughnuts

Amish and doughnuts go hand in hand. As a homemade treat, they require a relatively easy assemblage of ingredients.  And a yummy, yeasty doughnut dipped in chocolate, smothered in cinnamon, glistening with maple glaze, or filled with homemade cream, is something that almost anyone can enjoy (I'll take a cream-filled, please).  The above is a box of doughnuts from the Rise N Roll Bakery near Middlebury, Indiana.  One word, no, two, to describe them: MASSIVE YUM! Rise n Roll is an Amish-owned bakery that was started in 2001 by Orvin and Viola Bontrager. The bakery was located next to their home and quickly created a cult-following with their five-star selection of hot from the oven baked goodness.  The Bontragers sold the bakery to a non-Amish couple in 2009, but they still work and manage the place. This is an article from 2009 describing the transfer.

Here is a photo of a non-Amish owned doughnut shop in a small commercial strip mall in Michigan.  A young Amish woman was working the register and helping customers with their doughnuts.  This is a good example how more and more Amish young people are working in non-agrarian increasingly service-sector jobs, like fast food.  This young woman effortlessly worked the register despite living without electricity and computers at home.

And while we are on the topic of doughnuts here is a recipe that comes to me from an Amish woman in Pennsylvania:

LIGHT AS A FEATHER DOUGHNUTS

1 1 /2 cups milk, scalded

1 /2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 /2 cup margarine

1 1 /2 cup warm water

1 /2 tablespoon sugar

2 packages of yeast

2 eggs

8 - 10 cups bread flour

Add sugar, salt, and margarine to hot milk. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and sugar to warm water. Let rise for 5 minutes. Pour both liquids together plus eggs and add flour, After last flour has been added knead for 10 minutes. Let rise 1 hour and knead again. Let rise 1 hour and punch down and roll to 1 /2 inch and cut. Put on floured pan, let rise and deep fat fry at 350. Glaze while still warm

GLAZE

8 cups powdered sugar

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Enough warm water for a medium thickness