Back Door Donuts

The Andelmans aren't exactly Massachusetts Island material. Unless of course you're talking about hot dogs at Castle Island in South Boston. But today I'm going to take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard because I'm dying to try a Hall of Fame donut spot called Back Door Donuts.

We've reached sacred ground for donut lovers. It's a beautiful part of Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs. The water is right nearby, they've got tons of great restaurants and shops. But if you come here in the morning or the afternoon, you want to go through the front door of Back Door Donuts. But from 7pm to one as the door opens, the screen comes down the cash register comes up and they are selling delicious doughnuts out the back door.

Here we focus on late night doughnuts. I think it's something I'd offered everywhere. What's not to like about donuts, you know, it's fried. It's sugar, it's chocolate. It's all the good stuff people love. They're fresh, but when you get a hot one melts in your mouth. There's really nothing else like it. This has been a bakery for over 50 years, but early 2000s, our Chef Rafi was here in the middle of the night making donuts for the morning. But people coming off the beach come from the bars looked back on the back door and they see what Raffi would give them and then it became more legitimate. That's when the line started. And that's when we started bringing out more of a full menu for the back door.

This is the fritter that made this place famous. It's got apple pie filling real apples, some cinnamon you can see the glaze on there. It's proved and then fried. It's sort of the shape of a heart but it's the size of my head.

We take the yeast raised dough cut into it we spread out apple pie filling fresh apples and cinnamon then it's got to rise we got to cut it into six and a half ounces that proves again gets fried through the glaze and then it's ready to be served.

These are like snowflakes. I mean no to really come out exactly similar. Look at all the nooks and crannies the peaks and the valleys and those gigantic apples mixed in with the glaze. It's like the surface of the moon. If the moon was completely delicious.

In some places, it's chewy. In some places, it's crispy and it is jammed with apples. They sold 60,000 of these last year. That's triple the population of the vineyard seems impossible but after trying it you know it is possible.

You know a donut shop is nuts about donuts if they have three kinds of chocolate and they do here at Back Door. My favorite is the chocolate glaze. I happen to just love that flavor. I did since I was a little kid. But if you really love chocolate, you may want to get the double chocolate. So they take the chocolate glaze, dip it in more chocolate. Trust me, I don't think you can put any more chocolate on a donut. If you're a little more adventurous. You may want to try the chocolate coconut. That's more of an unusual combination. But I say hey, go all the way get all three of these chocolate donuts and wash it down with a chocolate milk.

This is the Boston Cream doughnut. It was invented in 1856 at the Parker House Hotel in Boston. It's filled with Bavarian cream and topped with chocolate. This thing is messy. You're gonna need napkins or you may need to jump in the Atlantic Ocean, but it's worth it because it is delicious.

The truest donut is the old fashioned donut. You cannot cover up your mistakes with sprinkles or cream or any distractions. It must stand on its own and this one does. I'm gonna need a minute here. This is airy and chewy it is made to be dipped into a cup of milk.

This is a butter crunch. True to its name, it is crunchy and it is buttery. I think this one pairs best with a cup of coffee and they have a great coffee selection here.

If you want to try the best fritters and donuts you ever had. You can go late night to the back door you can go in the daytime to the front door but you've got to go into the Back Door Donuts.

In breaking food news, Loretta's Last Call next to Fenway Park is now serving Back Door Donuts. Yes, they have the signature fritter and about a dozen kinds of donuts. I'm gonna get out of the way so you can see what's going on here. They are serving Back Door Donuts out the back door every night from 7pm to 2am. This is breaking food news for the Phantom Gourmet food news team from Lansdowne Street in Boston, I am Dave Andelman.