Donuts Redefined

TARA FITZPATRICK

Jason Prout

Culinary Director
Merit Corporate Park
Imperial Coffee Catering & Foodservice
Tulsa, OK

“The Donut Bread Pudding came about by accident. We had some extra donuts, and I said, ‘We can't just throw them out.’ So I chopped up all of the donuts, added milk and eggs and baked it for about 45 to 50 minutes.

“It doesn't need any extra seasoning, and the more types of donuts we use, the better it is. We can make it with whatever we have on hand: strawberry, sprinkled, vanilla filled, cinnamon rolls, bear claws, crullers, blueberry, glazed, maple long johns — whatever's there.

“Customers need to have it every day! It's hard to keep it on the hot line. If I make three bread puddings in one day, we sell three.”

Chris Abayasinghe

Assistant Director, Student Dining
Williams College
Williamstown, MA

“TheVegan Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts are well-received by students both vegan and non-vegan. Williams Dining began offering the vegan doughnuts with the opening of our new Bake Shop in the Paresky Student Center.

The taste profile on this item is really neat. The pumpkin and cinnamon flavors come through the strongest. We roll them in natural sugar cane, cinnamon spice and ginger to give them a crunchy texture on the outside. Bob Volpi, the director, and Ken Bergeron, a vegan cookbook author, developed the recipe with input from Michael Walker, lead supervisor.

All the dining halls on campus serve the doughnuts. The Bake Shop has established a menu cycle and the doughnuts are featured weekly.

Doughnuts in general are not the healthiest baked good! But our recipe calls for whole wheat flour, soy milk, natural cane sugar, and a vegan zero trans fat margarine and zero trans fat oil.”

Natalie Sirois

Communications Coordinator
Jacobs
Riley Hospital for Children-Simon
Family Tower
Indianapolis, IN

“Donuts & Good Deeds is a program that was introduced two and a half years ago when construction started on a new addition to the hospital. It started when a little boy who was in the hospital started leaving notes for the construction workers.

This little boy helped us realize that we need to help our workers understand what we're doing on the other side of the walls they're working on.

“Usually, health care workers don't like construction. It's dirty, dusty and loud. It can cause problems. For example, if you have a non-hearing patient being fitted for implants, vibrations from construction can really interfere.

“Donuts & Good Deeds is a coffee break-style event that takes place about once a month. We provide coffee, donuts, juice, and fruit to construction workers and Riley families. Riley kids get a hard hat, and the kids sign the workers' hard hats. The workers get their companies to donate to the kids and their families. When you think of construction workers, you think of big, burly men, but when it comes to these kids, their hearts melt.”