If They're Not Hot, They're Not Worth Eating
"Are they hot?" asks the native Texan I approached the counter with at Round Rock Donuts. "This is his first time here. He has to have them hot."
It doesn't phase or annoy the teenager working at the famed Texas doughnut shop, "Yes, they're hot." The Lone Star Bakery was founded in 1926 by R.R. Moehring, who tinkered with the recipe for the shops orange-yellow doughnuts for about a decade. Five owners later, that same recipe still draws locals and doughnut pilgrims from around the world.
The cake doughnuts (plain, applesauce, blueberry, and chocolate) are fine, so too the other pastries, but the "World Famous" glazed Round Rock Donut is amazing — light, airy, quick to tear, and covered with a glaze that cracks softly.
The chocolate-covered Round Rock is good, but unnecessarily sweet. Of course, if you're here, you have to order a Texas-Sized Round Rock Donut too, which is as big as your head (it's a little heavier and the texture is a bit more cake-like). Oh yeah, they're hot. And for these reasons this dish made my list of most memorable meals of 2011.