I must say, I'm one to cling to summer as long as possible, but the one nugget of autumn I'll willingly accept and seek out is the perfect apple cider donut. **please pause for a moment, as I research the history of apple cider donuts** As I suspected, apple cider doughnuts originated in northeast America, so there may be a good chance you never heard of them. In fact, I've talked to a few genuine New Englanders who had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up cider donuts. If this is your first introduction to this autumnal delicacy, you're welcome. You can now ditch your pumpkin spice and hunt down an apple cider donut.
The first step to finding a good cider donut is to travel to the area of Connecticut or Massachusetts. I don't know why, but those two states have mastered the art of cider donut better than any one else. I've been to great apple orchards in Pennsylvania and the donuts were not anything to be excited about. You have to go to New England. Once there, you can basically get off the interstate, randomly drive a few country roads to find an orchard selling donuts, and there's a good chance they will be good. *but maybe you're reading this because you'd like a little more guidance...if that's the case, keep reading*
My family has recently started a tradition of taking a long weekend in October to go on an apple cider donut tour. Very little research goes into this trip. We start out on a Friday, aim our car for Connecticut and then book a hotel based on where we will be when it's time for dinner. We've learned to ask hotel employees for donuts recommendations because locals always know the best places. This year the front desk pointed us towards Holmberg Orchards. After arriving we learned they happened to have just stopped their donut production for the season. We weren't very organized this year, and actually ended up taking our trip the first weekend of November, which happen to be just outside the prime cider donut window. If you're taking notes, write this down: seek out cider donuts during the prime cider donut window - the month of October. But being flexible, easy-going people, we googled other nearby orchards, and found Clyde's Cider Mill. Little did we know, Clyde's seemed like the place to be that weekend.
We rolled into the completely full parking lot, behind several other cars also looking for a space but luckily managed to score a spot as several people we leaving. If you are unable to get parking in the actual lot, you can join many of the others who simply park on the street and walk. Clyde's is more than just an orchard selling miscellaneous apple products. It's a full attraction, guaranteed to please everyone. It happens to be the only steam powered cider mill in the US, and they do actual cider making demonstrations three times on Saturdays and twice on Sundays. There's a store selling cider, wine, jams, honey, and, of course, fresh made donuts. The mill is in an adjacent building, and can be identified by the clouds of steam pouring out of the building. Guests can walk through the mill and watch the apples being pressed during the demonstrations. As you can probably imagine, the air is saturated the smell of fermenting apple juice. If you're someone who's interested in history or mechanical things, then the mill will be of interest to you.
On the other hand, if none of that floats your boat, and you are 21 or older, you can make your way around to the back of the mill, where a path leads to the basement which happens to be offering alcoholic cider tastings. There you can taste the numerous ciders they have available for purchase, and even walk away with several growlers filled of cider. The alcohol content is high, and the cider is good. I do recommend if you are purchasing the alcoholic cider, taste a sample first. They have several varieties and you can definitely taste a difference between them. Also, drink it sooner rather than later because they do tend to go flat. Growlers can be brought back to be refilled, but you can also purchase the ciders in non-refillable jugs.
But lets get back to the reason we came to Clyde's...to find an apple cider donut. In the store, they have a case filled with wonderful golden brown rings, fresh out of the fryer, coated in cinnamon sugar and warm to the touch. The taste is spot-on cider donut perfection, and I understand if you haven't had one before, that's probably not a helpful description. They don't taste like apples, like you might get with an apple fritter, but they have a sweetness from the cider, along with traditional autumn spices of nutmeg and cinnamon. The donut itself is a traditional cake donut, so expect it do be dense and moist, rather than airy like a yeast donut. My only complaint with the donuts at Clyde's is that they seemed a little dry. They fell apart easily once you took a bite, but were still delicious, so I do recommend them. For the best experience, wait until you see a new batch get loaded into the case, and eat them right away while they are still warm.
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