Gail has been talking these up for awhile and I’ve kind of tuned it out. She reads all of the food blogs and is in charge of finding new places, but I figured the chances of us dragging ourselves out of bed on a Saturday morning to hit the Oak Park Farmer’s Market were pretty slim. Saturday is usually a busy morning and Oak Park is about 10 miles away, about 9 miles further than our local farmer’s market here in the city. What’s the point? Could they really be that good?
Yes. Yes they could be.
I thought it was a dream actually. We got up early last Saturday for some reason. It was maybe 6am when we both decided that sleep was no longer an option. We started planning on getting an early morning workout in but then Gail pipes up with, “Maybe we should hit Oak Park and check out those donuts.”
Huh? Sure.
So at about 7:15am, on a perfectly crisp and clear midwestern autumn morning, we park on Lake Street in Oak Park about a half block from the Farmer’s Market. In the far corner of the market, backed up to the adjoining church, there’s a tent set up with three different styles of cake donuts for $0.75 each and some coffee, tea, and juices. They’re pulling bins of these donuts out of some trap door that leads to the basement of the church.
My initial reaction was, “Oh, cake donuts, big deal.” But after the first bite of the cinnamon and sugar version, my reaction was, “HOLY COW, CAKE DONUTS!” They had a perfectly crispy outer shell and a fluffy center. They must have flash-fried them in perfectly warmed oil for just the right amount of time. You don’t get that stark contrast in textures with yeast donuts. My perspective on donuts was turned upside down after a single bite.
I will plan on multiple visits in 2012 to the Oak Park Farmer’s Market.