Doughnuts are all about fat.
No getting around that.
Now, Whidbey Doughnuts in Bayview is burning that fat at both ends — first for its customers and then for its new line of candles called Glonuts.
Strike a match and enjoy the waft of wonderfully tempestuous freshly fried dough — without the calories. Available in “apple fritter” or “jelly doughnut” for $4.
They smell like doughnuts, they’re made from the detritus of the daily doughnut-making process and they could be eaten in an end-of-the-world emergency.
“It’s a product that’s recycled, responsible and reusable,” said Scott Parks, who cooked up the idea while contemplating opening Whidbey Doughnuts just over one year ago.“And it’s a perfect stocking stuffer.”
Parks jokes that soon, Glonuts will be taking the Internet by storm after he starts selling them online. For now, they’re available at Whidbey Doughnuts next to the Bayview Cash Store in Langley.
Parks admits to thinking about fat for awhile.
“Before I even opened the shop, I thought, ‘We’ll have so much shortening, what can we do with it?’”
Making candles from animal fat is as old as the ages. Pork fat, beef fat, lamb, fish oil and fowl fat can be used to fuel candles. Known as tallow candles, they’re still made that way by crafters and homesteaders — both the real and reality star versions.
But producing candles from the stuff that makes apple fritters, maple bars, cinnamon rolls and glazed, sprinkled, red velvet and old fashioned doughnuts could be a novel idea.
“I Googled it and couldn’t find anyone who’s doing it,” Parks said.
While there are doughnut-smelling candles by the dozens for sale online and in stores, none claim — or admit — to be made from the leftover fat essential to crisply frying the tantalizing treats.
Four-packs of Krispy Kreme candles in scents “original glazed,” “maple iced glazed,” “raspberry filled” and “dulche de leche” can be found online with the sales pitch “a mouth-watering way to scatter candlelight at banquets, receptions, outdoor parties, and more.”
Most likely, they’re produced with petroleum-based paraffin, which turned greasy, smelly candle making into child’s play.
Which is why wax candles now come in every shape, size and scent — blueberry pie, fried chicken, beef jerky, scented beer bottle candles, cupcake candles, hand-sculpted brain candle and even a soy-wax-blend-Trump candle that “emits an exquisite and bold scent reminiscent of self-tanning lotion and all-around self-proclaimed excellence.”
Whidbey’s new fangled Glonut candles are made by an employee a few dozen at a time, Parks said.
“Sometimes the shortening gets darker so we filter it and add a little bit of wax,” he explained.
It’s poured into small, silver tins topped with lids. The color is tawny and changes to a butterscotch yellow as the wick burns. It doesn’t puddle and peter out like some candles and burns fairly evenly. Also, it won’t go rancid because rendered fat remains solid — even edible — for a long time, which is why it was used to preserve meat before refrigeration.
Glonuts could become the gotta-get item for home and car emergency kits because they perform the double duty of light and nourishment.
There’s many an old tale of desperate people chomping into candles. Running out of food crossing the Rocky Mountains, Lewis and Clark recorded eating candles they had made from elk tallow as a last resort.
Glonuts — the ultimate candlelight dinner.
Whidbey Doughnuts owner Scott Parks lights his invention called a Glonut. It’s made with leftover shortening from the daily doughnut-making process. (Photos by Patricia Guthrie/Whidbey News Group)
A new twist on candlelight dining, Glonuts could be a one-of-a-kind candle. While there’s other doughnut candles by the dozens for sale online and in stores, none claim to be made from shortening, which could be eaten in dire emergencies. Most likely, they’re made the normal way — with wax.
