Ah, donuts! Who does not love this fried dough that can be a yeast or cake donut, with many combinations that show the inventiveness of their creator. From the day I set foot in this country, I loved them, remembering the six Krispy Kreme donuts I used to have for breakfast in the hotel I stayed in at that time, to the discovery of the fancier donuts the Doughnut Plant or Doughnut Project crafted. I still love a simple glazed donut from a street cart though, unless day old of course that never happened to me. Not that I never had donuts before if we consider that beignets are their French relatives. When I was a kid, I remember eating a “chichi” that was similar to a sugar twist or beignets filled with jam (my favorite was strawberry) or Nutella (of course).
So, going to Philadelphia, there were two spots we needed to go back to: Beiler’s in the Reading Terminal Market and Federal Donuts.

Beiler’s is quite known and not just for being the first Amish place for that market. Their donuts, that all cost the same price ($1.45) are simply delicious: the yeast dough is very light and slightly crispy. They also propose a wide selection that can be overwhelming like Nutella filled, chocolate with coconut icing, caramel cake, etc. We tried several: of course, we had to get the coconut donut filled with cream that is Jodi’s favorite.
My least favorite was the glazed cake, preferring the yeast donuts for the reasons I mentioned before. Between the old fashioned and the glazed (that I admit was small) to the French cruller, I was in even. Their Boston cream that does not look good in the photo because the icing was stuck in the bag was great: the sweetness of the dark chocolate frosting was balanced by the vanilla custard that was inside. I was in heaven!

Another place we went for donuts was Federal Donuts. We already went back in 2017, so I was looking forward to see if that place, that is also known apparently for fried chicken, had new additions, still remembering the churro donut we had that time that was awesome.

It was in a different area, in the basement of a building, a bit dark but we an old feel that I really liked. They offer cake donuts that are really like a fusion between desserts and a donut. The banana pudding was definitely better than the cannoli, and I really liked the caphe con leche (yes, caphe, not cafe). The last we tried was the old fashioned that I found was better than the glazed cake from Beiler’s.

Overall, Federal Donuts is good, but, when eating several donuts, the cake donuts start to be boring (ok, I tried 4, so I might be pushing it), while I could have 10 donuts from Beiler’s that I find very addictive. So, if you ask me, Beiler’s beats Federal Donuts and if you go to Philadelphia and have only one shot at a donut place, a visit to the Reading Terminal Market is the way to go.

Enjoy (I did)!

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The battle of the donuts in Philadelphia

I Just Want To Eat!