Steppin’ Out – The Donut Factory (Revisited)

coffee-doghnoutAs I have mentioned several times before, over the quarter century plus I have been writing about food, I like apple fritters. I mean, I really like them and really good ones are often hard to find.

During Apple Hill season, several places make them with fresh apples, but that is only for a few months. What do I do the rest of the year?

Presently my very favorite apple fritter comes from a place called Spudnuts Doughnuts at 2445 Arden Way in Sacramento.

If you are old enough you may recall that Spudnuts was a chain started in 1946 that used potato flour to make donuts. The corporation went out of business, but the name is still in use at a number of places around the country. I don’t know if they still have any potato flour in them, but they are really good and when still warm and with a crisp sugar syrup coating, wonderful.

Locally I have tried apple fritters from every place I can find them: grocery stores, doughnut shops, bakeries, etc. I like the ones from some place for awhile and then maybe they would change staff, the recipe or size and they just wouldn’t be the same. So, I would go looking again.

A number of years ago, the bakery next to the Bell Tower in Placerville had great ones. They were big, so I would take my two children there and split one between the three of us. Yes, they were that big. But, the bakery stopped making them and then closed.

A few years ago I was having lunch at the now closed Taco Bell Express in County Fair Shopping Center on Fair Lane in Placerville. When I had finished, I walked around the corner of the building to check out The Donut Factory, which is located at 23 Fair Lane and faces Placerville Drive and the Fairgrounds.

I walked in and asked if they had apple fritters. Emphatically they said yes, so I bought one. It was big, crunchy and delicious, so I have been going there ever since. And, the fritters are only $1.65.

One Fall day I stopped by for my treat and they were closed. I almost panicked.

It turned out they were still open, but I had gotten into a habit of coming by around 2:30 p.m. Their regular closing time is 2 p.m., but during the summer they had been staying open later and I had gotten used to it. However, with school opening and children to pick up, it was back to closing on time at 2 p.m. sharp, and I was just late.

I came back the next day around 1:30 and as I walked in, I heard a voice say, “You’re late, a lady just bought all the fritters.”

There were none, none at all. Depressed, I said, “I’ll take a couple of old fashioned donuts with maple icing.” The nice lady said, “Have you ever tried our apple bear claws? I think you will like them,” and graciously dropped one to my bag of donuts.

If you have never had one, they are the size of a bear’s claw, full of apple and large enough to enjoy for several days. I may have a new favorite…well, a new equal favorite.

In addition to the fritters and bear claws, the Donut Factory has a lot of different kinds of doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, pastries, etc. that they make there. They also have espresso and coffee drinks, smoothies, milk and other things that go well with doughnuts if you would like to sit at one of the inside or outside tables, read the Windfall and enjoy your treat.

Not only do they sell there, they also wholesale their goodies to various other businesses in the county, including a few places in the Apple Hill area.

They are open from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 5:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday and from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information give them a call at 530-626-1320.

By the way, like the doughnuts I break in two and eat only a half each day (a learned habit), I cut the apple fritters into three pieces and eat one piece each day. I find that a whole one at a single sitting is a bit of an overload for me. Yes, you can put them in freezer bags and freeze them.

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