cruller n Usu |ˈkrʌlə(r)|; for var proncs see quots 1941, 1965–70 Also crull Pronc-spp crawler, croiller, croller, crueller [From the Dutch of New Netherlands, and presumably related to Du krull a curl, krullen to curl. In Du, kruller is attested only in the active sense “a person or implement that curls (hair),” but it is perh relevant that the cognate Frisian kroller, krolder is applied to various things having a curled form.] scattered, but chiefly NEast, N Cent, C Atl See Map Cf friedcake n 1, olykoek n
A deep-fried cake, originally made of thin twisted or braided strips of unraised dough, but later of other shapes, and now often distinguished from a doughnut only by being formed in an elongated rectangle rather than a ring.
1788 in 1880 NY Times (NY) 11 Jan 9/2, Here is [a recipe] . . taken from an old manuscript receipt-book written in New-York in 1788: “Take of buttermilk one-half of a cup, and two cupsful of Muscavado, a piece of sweet butter as large as a walnut, a teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of ground cass, (cinnamon?) just as much wheaten flour as will make a running dough; roll it even, not above a pie thickness; cut in strips, which tie over in lover’s knots; have a skillet with sweet home-made hog’s-fat, and when the fat is hissing hot fry your crollers.” 1820 Irving Sketch Book Crayon 2.386 seNY, Such heaped up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty dough-nut, the tenderer oly koek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller [etc]. 1831 Peck Guide for Emigrants 152, The Yankees may tell us of their pies, and dough-nuts, and crulls, . . but give me the genuine hoe-cake for substantial diet. 1837 Ladies’ Companion 6.196 NYC, “Nous avons change tout cela,” observed a gentleman standing near; “the days of good cheer have passed away, when mulled wine, oly cooks and cruellers, and New Year cakes were the ton. 1848 in 1850 Cooper Rural Hours 433 cNY, Cake-jars are filling up with crullers, flat, brown, and crisp; with doughnuts, dark, full, and round; with raisined olecokes. 1895 DN 1.387, In the Dutch-settled districts the word olykoeks. . is used for some of the varieties [of deep-fried cakes].Crullers is also common for [the type that is “raised with baking soda or saleratus; sweetened; cut in rings or twisted.”] 1896 Youth’s Companion 70.254/4, “I’m afraid you gentlemen are not given to nice discriminations,” remarked Mr. Collamore, the young lawyer. . . “There’s a great difference between a cruller and a doughnut. A cruller is sort of twisted and is solid; but a doughnut is round, and has a hole in it. Now these are—” “It always makes me laugh to hear men discuss any question of cookery,” chirped up Miss Riggs. . . “They see only the outside. . . Now let me tell you the difference between crullers and doughnuts. A cruller is much richer and ‘shorter’ than a doughnut. It is made with eggs, while a doughnut isn’t. The shape has nothing to do with it. A doughnut is made of plain dough—”. 1905 DN 3.7 cCT, Cruller. . . A sweetened cake, not raised, either round with a hole in the middle, or in figure-eight shape, fried in lard or fat. 1906 Pocumtuc Housewife 34 MA, Crullers, Matrimony or Love Knots. . . Roll thin, cut in strips and tie in knots, or braid three strips together. 1907 DN 3.211 nwAR, Cruller. [Defined as in quot 1905 above.] 1941 LANE Map 284 throughout NEng, [Most common pronc [krʌlə]; also [krɔlə], [krʌlṛ], [krolṛ], [krɑulə], [krɒlə].] Cruller, made of ‘unraised’ dough. It is usually described as twisted; but a ring-shaped variety is mentioned regularly . . and an oblong one. 1953 AmSp 28.246 csPA, The sweetened, unraised, doughnut-shaped cake fried in deep fat is here called by the Dutch term, cruller. 1957 Sat. Eve. Post Letters cIN, My mother (at Elwood) use to make “crulls” a doughnut with no hole. 1962 Atwood Vocab. TX 63, Cruller . . is also in limited use, but informants are in agreement that this is different from a doughnut—it has no hole, it is long, the dough is twisted, and so on. 1965–70 DARE (Qu. H28, Different shapes or types of doughnuts) 152 Infs, chiefly Nth, esp NEng, Cruller; CA184, CT12, 18, MA57, 69, NY237, OH98, (Dainty, French, twisted, raised) cruller(s); MO16, Crulls—made around Easter and Christmas time; CA54, Crueller; OH21, Croiller; MA43, [ˈkrɛlɚz]; NY152, [ˈkrɪlɚ]; CA144, NY181, [ˈkrulɚ]; VA60, [ˈkrʌlɚ]; WI24, [ˈkrᴜlɚ]; (Qu. H26, A round cake of dough, cooked in deep fat, with a hole in the center) 96 Infs, chiefly NEast, Cruller; PA239, French crullers; (Qu. H30, An oblong cake, cooked in deep fat) 45 Infs, chiefly NEast, Cruller; NY194, PA248, (Long, stick) cruller; CT37, Croller; NJ54, NY58, [ˈkrolɚ]; (Qu. H27, . . Joking names for doughnuts) 12 Infs, chiefly NEast, Cruller; (Qu. H32, . . Fancy rolls and pastries) Infs AR8, CA22, CT42, MD12, NJ1, NY205, SD3, Crullers; (Qu. H31, Other foods made with dough and cooked in deep fat; total Infs questioned, 75) Infs MS17, 73, Crullers. 1971 AmSp 46.79 Chicago, (Twisted sugared doughnut) . . crawler. 1973 Allen LAUM 1.281, Doughnut. . . For the twisted variety a scattered half dozen [infs] retain the Dutch cruller that had spread from New York to the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas. 1991 Pittsburgh Press (PA) 4 Mar sec C 2/1, “Crullers”—The long, rectangular doughnuts that may or may not be iced and filled. Some doughnut people say, “crawlers.” 2023 DARE File seWI (as of c1960), When I was a kid I grew up with crawlers—oblong, frosted, deep-fried pastries. Only later did I learn they were crullers.
