A Persian, Persian roll or Pershing is a fried sweet roll or

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

with a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:cinnamon bun A cinnamon roll (also known as cinnamon bun, cinnamon swirl, cinnamon Danish and cinnamon snail) is a sweet roll commonly served in Northern Europe (mainly in Nordic countries, but also in Austria and Germany) and North America. In Sweden it ...

. It may be covered with a sugar glaze, iced or frosted, or sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon sugar.

Regional variations

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, it is credited to have originated at Bennett's Bakery in Port Arthur, where it is served with a sweet, pink icing made of either raspberries or

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of the genus ''Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The f ...

. Traditional lore is that the Persian was named for U.S. general John "Blackjack" Pershing but the exact date of its inception and circumstances of its creation are no longer known, giving rise to competing claims and stories. Its recipe remains a general secret, with long-running debates on whether the icing contains raspberries or strawberries. Persians are often used as fundraising items to be sold at schools, churches, shopping malls, and other social events. They may be served "toasted" – sliced in half, heated in a frying pan and iced on both sides. Persians are popular in the US states of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

. In

Camden, Maine Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coast ...

, they were historically made with chocolate frosting. In Lehighton, Pennsylvania, they were served with chocolate or vanilla icing with a dollop of cherry–strawberry glaze. A version is also sold as a "Pershing Donut" at Titus Bakery in Lebanon, Indiana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persian Canadian desserts Cuisine of Ontario Culture of Thunder Bay Sweet breads American doughnuts