Roseville Columnist Remembers Bobbing For Apples

Halloween makes me recall a simpler, youthful time when party games involved bobbing for apples and dunking doughnuts -- or doing something with doughnuts besides just eating them. I do remember they were homemade and tasted of autumnal spices.

The apple challenge involved trying to snag an apple with one's teeth as it danced in a vat of water without getting your face all wet. No hands allowed. We were so easily amused back then.

Were apple bobbing revived for he 21st century, I'd suggest setting the new SweeTango variety afloat in the vat. They'd be worth the effort. I've seen them in Cub and Rainbow recently, though the $2.99 per pound price made me hesitate.

My Big Spender neighbor was the one who gave me a SweeTango to taste, and it was love at first bite. I expected them to be tangy but they were predominantly sweet, juicy, with just a little residual tingle.

Thanks to the agronomists at the University of Minnesota for developing SweeTango by crossing Honeycrisp with Zestar!, two of their biggest apple success stories. Growers must be licensed to produce the new variety, which could surpass Minnesota's own Honeycrisp, debuted 20 years ago.

Did you know that Honeycrisp has become the favorite of Canadian apple growers, especially in the Niagara Frontier region? It has taken to that climate especially well.

I plunked down $2.99 a pound to buy some SweeTangos, and also bought Honeycrisp which were half that price at Cub Foods his past week. I did a side-by-side slice test, and as much as I was previously addicted to Honeycrisp, SweeTango won my tastebud trial. You've got to try them.

So now let's turn to doughnuts. Roseville has only two free-standing bakeries anymore as the chain grocery and convenience stores have filled doughnut desires. Target, Cub, Byerly's and Rainbow all have bakery departments, and SuperAmerica fills the need for grab and go.

I was in search of the best glazed and old-fashioned doughnuts, which I bought at six places. To help with judging all those sinkers, I recruited Roseville resident Ellen Carlson, who used to share food writing duties with me at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We both go back to the Dispatch days, and we've judged heaps of food contests between us.

Identifying each sample only by number, we sampled six of each variety. I even put the contestants on sheets of colored paper so we could see which left the biggest grease rings.

Ellen and I agreed on the winners after wading through doughnuts that were sometime dry and often flavorless. Tough duty.

Our clear favorite in the glazed raised competition was from Rainbow. It was light and had the most inherent flavor. Runner-up was the Cub entry, purchased at the HarMar location.

I have a standard for Old Fashioned doughnuts which, during my early years at the newspaper, we used to buy at a bakery on Wabasha Street downtown. The name escapes me -- maybe The Lighthouse. Does anyone remember? Their doughnuts were crispy on the exterior and fragrant with nutmeg.

Although I didn't color Ellen's opinion by telling her about that long-ago doughnut love affair, she and I both chose the dunker that had the most nutmeg flavor and wasn't overly greasy. That favorite was from SuperAmerica on Lexington Avenue, and it was the least expensive, 69 cents. Runner-up was from Target which made a slightly-less spiced but not over-fried product. Some that we tried were fried until they were dry.

The Roseville Bakery wasn't part of the contest because when I got there around 11 a.m., all of their glazed raised and old-fashioned doughnuts were sold out, which speaks highly of their popularity. I bought a pumpkin doughnut there, which Ellen and I both praised, and is just right for Halloween partying.

Also not judged, but my personal guilty little secret are the doughnut holes, $1 a bag, sold at Lee's Bakery, 1237 Larpenteur Ave.(Lee's raised and old-fashioneds were in the running in our contest).

I'd tell you to try Lee's doughnut holes, too, but then there might not be any left for me.