I don't have much of a sweet tooth, really. I'm much more inclined to reach for salty or savory foods when I'm craving a treat. That being said, I occasionally do want for something really decadent and my standard indulgence of vegan chocolate chips and walnuts doesn't cut it. Donuts are one such food. It is probably the least healthy food that I'll ever admit to liking and even before I went vegan they were not something I would eat very often. On rare occasions in college I would eat a few donut holes and that was only when my college roommate and I were just hungover enough to warrant eating greasy food, but not hungover enough to prevent us from walking up the street to Dunkin' Donuts. I wouldn't be caught dead going to a Dunkin' Donuts today because everything on the menu contains torture-stained eggs and milk. They also don't even offer soy milk for their tea or coffee.
There are vegan donut shops all over the country and I had the opportunity to go to one called Ronald's Donuts in Las Vegas about a year ago. The donuts were quite good and tasted just like the ones that I would get as a child after dance class. It was also great being able to just walk into what looked like any other donut shop and order pretty much anything I wanted without having to put the clerk through the third degree. It was proof that vegan donuts could taste great and be sold just like any other donut. This brings me to my motivation for this entry: Dunkin' Donuts' 60th Birthday Contest. Now through March 8th you can create a virtual donut of your own and submit it for a chance to win $12,000 and the opportunity to have your recipe made to be sold in stores. The animal rights group, Compassion Over Killing, which is currently running a Dunkin' Cruelty campaign against Dunkin' Donuts, is encouraging people to utilize this contest to request vegan donuts. I made my own donut which I dubbed Spice of Life. It's a pumpkin donut with vanilla chai creme filling, maple frosting, and it's covered in walnuts and almonds. Best of all, it's completely vegan! I think almond milk would be a great replacement for cow's milk and flax seeds could be used to replace eggs (and boost the healthy fatty acids!).
I submitted my design to Compassion Over Killing along with my donut "inspiration." I'll be sure to post the picture of my donut here if it makes it into the gallery.
Update: After posting this I found a local bakery in Tucson that makes vegan donuts! It is called Le Cave's and a co-worker and I checked it out last week. We're looking into carrying their donuts at Whole Foods. We sampled the apple fritters and they were amazing although due to the fact that neither of us regularly eat that much sugar we suffered a major crash at work that afternoon.
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