Know what makes Winona great? Well, a lot of things, but man do we ever have some good donuts. Not just good donuts, but the kind of good that people will write home about, that they will make a special trip for, that they will line up down the sidewalk for. Don’t believe me? Drive down Broadway some Saturday morning at about 8 a.m. and check out the line outside of Bloedow Bakery.
Saveur Magazine, an epicurean authority of global stature, just confirmed what we here in Winona have known for almost 90 years: Bloedow Bakery makes some killer donuts. As in to die for. And they just told the world about it in their March issue, which features a roundup of the 50 best donut shops in the country. And of course Bloedow is in there, because when you’re talking about that kind of lip-smacking heaven, word gets out.
No one really knows how Saveur heard about Winona’s little bakery, though it might have something to do with the fact that Bloedow’s was dubbed the best donut shop in Minnesota last year by CBS affiliate WCCO. In fact, when WCCO polled its followers asking what the best donut shop in the state was, Bloedow’s pummeled the competition with more than twice as many votes as the next runner up. I’d call that a trouncing.
So what IS it about those donuts that makes them so dang good? I just don’t know. I mean, donuts are donuts, right? They have some yeast and some sugar and some frosting and, and… But there is some kind of magic that happens when you bite into one of those things from Bloedow’s. You get teleported to a happy place where the sign posts and flowers and sidewalks are made of sugar and everyone is smiling and little birds made out of sugar are singing and you just lay on the sugar grass and savor every delicious bite… I know. Snap out of it. But goll darn it if I wouldn’t love one of those sugar comas right now.
To be fair, it’s not all sugar. There is some donut in there too, and I don’t know what they cook those things in (in fact, I think it’s a secret) but sweet lord – the whole thing just melts in your mouth. My personal favorite – the maple long johns, of course. A-mazing. I think I can actually hear myself getting fatter when I eat them, but let’s face it, you shouldn’t go to a donut shop if you’re on a diet.
On Visit Winona’s Facebook page, the question was posed a little while ago – asking people what their favorite Bloedow donut was. Holy smokes. The answers were all over the place, and I found out about varieties I didn’t even know existed. Now, of course, I’m going to have to try them, and pretty soon we’ll need a wheelbarrow to get me around. But I’ll be smiling.
So I put the question to you — why are those donuts so good, and which one is your favorite? Share this blog with your friends, and let’s get a good old fashioned unscientific poll of our own going. In one week I’ll randomly draw from the comments and I’ll pony up for a donut gift certificate – 1 dozen of whatever you want. Let’s talk about donuts…
