THE HISTORY OF THE DONUT

The history of the donut can be traced back to a recipe for stuffed fried dough cakes without sugar found in a German cookbook from the year 1485. Not quite the ones we know and love today, but we’re getting to the good stuff!

Eventually, the Dutch put their own spin on this doughy goodness. They thought their ‘olykoeks’ (basically oily cakes, for those wondering) were so damn delicious that they’d bring them over to New York. Well, let’s just say the Americans were pretty big fans and the modern donut leaped out of the frier and into all our hearts, appearing in an 1805 cookbook of American recipes under the name ‘doughnuts’. At last, the donut was here, and now, in the year 2022, I think we can safely say, it’s here to stay.

THE REBEL DONUTS STORY

But enough of that! It’s time for the cinnamon and spice and everything nice. Just how does your friendly neighbourhood donut dealer Rebel Donuts fit into all this? Well, Rebel Donuts isn’t just rebellious in name. In fact, their story doesn’t start where you think it would. It starts with – drumroll please – cinnamon! Ben’s fascination with the spice sent him to Sri Lanka on a quest to make the perfect, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon scrolls. But it also led him to an important question, one that would propel the rebels, Ben and Hayley, to new heights. Surely, they could do more than just cinnamon scrolls?

One fateful day, inspiration struck the pair of donut die-hards. One bite of a donut from Byron Bay sent the two down the magical road of doughy dreams. They were going to open a donut store, one that served delicious donuts made from local produce, all made from scratch, in store, every day. And I hate to spoil the end of a good story, but they sure did! In 2017, more than 500 years after the donut had just started to make its mark on the world, Ben and Hayley opened their first Rebel Donuts store on the Mornington Peninsula.

WRAPPING THINGS UP

So next time you sit down to demolish one of Rebel Donuts delicious donuts, just stop for a moment – and I know it might be hard with all that sugary sweetness and heavenly bliss, that custard cream thickness and that peppermint crisp – but just stop for a moment and think about the history of the donut. After all, a little bit goes into every bite!

Fancy tasting some of this history yourself? Hop down to your local Rebel Donuts or click on the link below to start your order now.