Best bets: Doughnuts

The New Orleans at Gibson's is a favorite among doughnut lovers.

Photo by Jennifer Biggs // Buy this photo

The New Orleans at Gibson's is a favorite among doughnut lovers.

Doughnuts are a treat for all ages, but some of the confections are more grownup than others. And while plenty of grownups still go for chocolate frosted or even indulge in sprinkles, I moved on to cake doughnuts about the same time I started plucking the here-and-there gray hair.

The New Orleans at Gibson's is a favorite among doughnut lovers.

Photo by Jennifer Biggs

The New Orleans at Gibson's is a favorite among doughnut lovers.

If there's a better cake doughnut than the New Orleans at Gibson's, I've never had it. They're so round and fat that they look more like wonky balls than doughnuts. The interior is dense, with a coarse but tender crumb. The outside gives way with the slightest resistance when you break through the glaze and hit the crusty edge. Careful of these, unless you want to be round and fat and maybe a little wonky yourself...

Good backstory: The now-defunct McKenzie's bakery in New Orleans sold these as, I'm pretty sure, Buttermilk Balls. Gibson's owner Don DeWeese couldn't get the exact recipe, so he had one created that tasted just like the Buttermilk Ball and called it a New Orleans. McKenzie's was a New Orleans treasure, and Gibson's is special to Memphis, too.

-- Jennifer Biggs: 529-5223

Gibson's Donuts, 760 Mount Moriah, is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 682-8200.

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Comments » 1

Penguin writes:

I'm not a big sweet eater but if I get the hankering the only place to go for an apple fritter is Gibson's! They are IN-CRED-I-BLE!!!

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