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Quiz results: Boston.com readers know their doughnuts — and have opinions about Dunkin’
Most of the respondents can apparently pick out a Dunkin' product blindfolded.
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Unfortunately, the mystery of whether a Long Island baker tried to pass off a Dunkin’ doughnut as vegan, gluten-free gourmet fare remains just that: Although the story was picked up by the likes of the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and delish.com, the parties involved aren’t talking and investigations remain ongoing.
But that didn’t stop Boston.com readers from trying their hand at picking out a Dunkin’ product by sight alone. For our quiz on the subject earlier this week, we posted photos of doughnuts from Dunkin’, Kane’s Donuts, and Union Square Donuts, and asked people to identify which were the Dunkin’ originals. (And unlike the alleged Long Island fraudster, we didn’t make it easy by including sprinkles shaped like little D’s.)
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And guess what? In every instance, the majority of the more than 6,000 people who responded got it right. See below to find out how they voted, where the doughnuts really came from, and what strategies readers employed for their doughnut-spotting strategies. (Mmmmm … Doughnuts …)
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
18%
No
82%
Actual source: Union Square Donuts. With its meticulously placed frosting and hearty cake center, this doughnut may have been just a bit too hearty to pass as a Dunkin’, and readers could tell.
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
59%
No
41%
Actual source: Dunkin’. This classic glazed proved one of the tougher picks, but in the end most were able to identify its sugary goodness as Dunkin’-originated.
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
62%
No
38%
Actual source: Dunkin’. This strawberry-frosted-with-sprinkles (which took something of a beating in the bag on the way to the Boston.com office) was another head-scratcher, but again, most readers made the right call. (The orange and magenta sprinkles probably helped.)
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
20%
No
80%
Actual source: Kane’s Donuts. The vast majority of readers seemed clear on the fact that this glazed model — which, unlike most Dunkin’ doughnuts, actually is gluten-free — lacked that Dunkin’ sheen.
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
87%
No
13%
Actual source: Dunkin’. A full 87% had no trouble recognizing this classic chocolate frosted model from Dunks, maybe because they see it in their dreams.
Is this a Dunkin' doughnut?
Yes
5%
No
95%
Actual source: Kane’s Donuts. Only a mere handful thought that this one might have originated at Dunkin’ — in fact, almost everyone spotted this rugged and robust chocolate frosted, another gluten-free option, as a non-Dunkin’ product.
How Boston.com readers spot a Dunkin’ doughnut:
Many, many readers — 343, to be precise — took the time to elaborate via carefully crafted prose on what sets a Dunkin’ doughnut apart, and unfortunately we don’t have room for them all. But this handful provides a sampling of the best tips.
“Their doughnuts have shrunken over the years, and aren’t nearly as tasty as I remember them from years ago. If you did a side by side comparison, it’d be easy to pick out the DD. That said, I get a large hot 1&1 with a coffee roll every day on the way to work.”
— Peter K., North Andover
“Based on feel, gut reaction alone. Dunkin’ is as Dunkin’ does.”
— Travis B., Alpine, Utah
“I’ve eaten enough Dunkin’ Donuts to be able to tell. Also, the randomly missing frosting on the strawberry one just SCREAMED Dunkin’ Donuts because they look like that when they’re thrown upside down in a bag.”
— Crystal O.L., Revere
“The non-Dunkin’ [doughnuts] are fuller and have more glazing — the Dunks ones look deflated physically and emotionally.”
— Alanna, North End
“Uninspired is the defining characteristic of the offerings from DD.”
— Chezzik, Acton
“Dunkin cake doughnuts have smooth, precise edges. Those are obvious. For the others, the consistency of the frosting or glaze was a clue for me.”
— Jessica M., Merrimac
“Dunkin’ doughnuts are like snowflakes except that snowflakes are a lot prettier than Dunkin’s. A Dunkin’ doughnut will look like the ugliest baked good you’ve ever seen and you’ll still eat it. It will have stray sprinkles from other doughnuts and those stray sprinkles are an extra little bonus.”
— Kinsey, Eastie
“It’s like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said when asked to define pornography: ‘I know it when I see it.’”
— Anna, Cambridge
“It’s clearly not hand-iced and usually a little wonky — the icing is sliding off or the [doughnut] is a little crushed. The [doughnuts] are a little less robust and the icing is thin. And I love every.single.bite. of all the island of misfit [doughnuts]-ness about them.”
— CS, Dracut
“They look like a kid made them.”
— Anonymous
“Dunkin’ [doughnuts] are smaller than some bakeries but the frosting consistency is a dead giveaway. It’s always thin with a dry exterior but leaves a wet area behind where it was rubbed off (which is always at least partially is).
— Dana L., Medford
“The opaque plasticity, and a lifelong history of chomping these [doughnuts] on the reg.”
— Ian V., Manchester
“A real Dunkin’ [doughnut] should be a little bit more rotund, or perhaps fluffy/inflated in the middle. Even though this one has a hole, it looks pretty saggy. I assume this [doughnut] hasn’t been photographed at its freshest, but even Dunkin’ holds up longer than 24 hours. I once ate a jelly [doughnut] four days after buying it, and it still looked pretty robust and had a decent initial crunch that lent it some character. This one just looks soft and decaying.”
— Dennis, East Boston
“Symmetry of [doughnut] shape and frosting dispersion. It should be a uniform O shape. Also, frosting is harder, like a fondant on the top, not mushy or melty. Nothing should look greasy. Honestly, the first one is the only one that MIGHT be a Dunkin’ [doughnut]. Even that looks like the frosting is too dark, it’s the most uniform of all the pictures, and the lighting could be off so I’m giving it a pass.”
— Rebecca, Amherst
“Frosting ratio, [doughnut] fluffiness/thickness, glaze ratio, overall size. You could tell the strawberry frosted one in particular was definitely Dunkin’ because of how half the frosting peeled off the way it did in the bag.”
— Susannah, West Bridgewater
“The Dunkin’ [doughnuts] tend to have larger holes and look like they were made by a machine instead of a person. They were much sloppier than what you would find from literally any other [doughnut] shop other than the worst 7-Eleven in town at 2 a.m.”
— Adrian C., Medford
“Dunks has a solid [doughnut] but lacks the ‘made with love’ that other, independent [doughnut] makers put into their [doughnuts].”
— Dena B., Norfolk
“It’s all in the glaze! Chocolate glaze is dark and liquid looking — definitely NOT fudge-like. The glazed [doughnuts] wrinkle just so — the one pictured is a perfect specimen of a Dunkin’ glazed. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!”
— Rosanne C., Winchester
“As a proud Masshole, I know a Dunkin’ [doughnut] when I see one. Arguably the most difficult to distinguish is the glazed. Dunkin’ glazed [doughnuts] are not typically drenched in glaze frosting, they have just the right amount, so if you see a very sloppy glazed [doughnut], I wouldn’t expect it to be from Dunks. As for chocolate frosted, the color of the frosting used by Dunkin’ is like no other. You’ll see a lot of very dark looking, almost black frosting, and you can bet that it’s not from Dunkin’. There’s a shine to Dunkin’s chocolate glazed [doughnuts], it’s just the right color with a glossy finish. The shape is another pretty big giveaway. It’s not often that I stop at Dunks and get a [doughnut] that’s not an almost perfect circle. With all that said, make sure you watch out where you’re buying your [doughnuts], because if it ain’t Dunkin, it ain’t right!”
— Conor, Milton
Finally, an observation from “G,” who must be fun at parties:
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“Other than being victim to sugar addiction in a manner that prevents rational insight, why would we care about a food product designed to inflict maximum health damage to individuals and produce a massive burden on our society who has to then support the diseased victims for decades?”
Some responses have been lightly edited for grammar.
Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
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