Donuts
What Is a Bismark? The Filled Donut With No Hole
15 September 2026 · 5 min read
A Bismark is a filled donut with no hole. That is the entire definition, and it is more interesting than it sounds — the missing hole is not a style choice, it is a consequence of how the thing is made. Ours come lemon and raspberry, with Bavarian cream in the same format.
Why there is no hole
The hole in a ring donut is not decoration. It is engineering. Fry a solid ball of raised dough and the outside is done long before the centre is, so you get a brown shell around underdone dough. Cutting a hole removes the slow-cooking middle entirely and gives you a shape where everything is close to hot oil.
A Bismark solves the same problem differently. It is fried as a flattened round rather than a ball — thin enough in cross-section that heat reaches the middle without help. No hole needed. And because the inside is intact rather than open, you are left with a sealed pocket, which is exactly what a filled donut requires.
So the order of operations is: prove the dough, fry it solid, let it cool, then inject the filling through a small opening in the side. The filling never sees the fryer. That matters for anything fruit-based, which would break down and weep under heat.
Bismark, Bavarian cream, jelly donut
These three words get used as if they were three different pastries. They are not.
| Name | What it refers to | Filling |
|---|---|---|
| Bismark | The format — filled, no hole | Any |
| Bavarian cream | A Bismark, named for its filling | Vanilla custard |
| Jelly donut | A Bismark, named for its filling | Fruit preserve |
In other words, Bismark is the shape and method; the other two names describe what is inside. Our lemon and raspberry are what most people would call jelly donuts. Our Bavarian cream is the custard one. All three are the same donut with different injections.
Lemon or raspberry
Worth choosing deliberately, because they are not interchangeable.
- Lemon is sharper than most people expect. It cuts through the sweetness of the dough and the sugar on the outside, which makes it the more interesting of the two and the one that divides opinion. One of our reviewers named it their favourite outright.
- Raspberry is the rounder, safer one — sweet on sweet, no acid edge. This is the one to buy for a group, because nobody dislikes it.
- Bavarian cream is the richest. Order it if you would otherwise be ordering a dessert.
All three are specialty donuts: $2.75 each, $27.50 a dozen, and a dozen here is buy ten, get two free.
How to tell a fresh one
Two tells. The sugar on the outside should still be loose and dry rather than dissolved into a damp patch where the filling has begun to migrate. And the donut should feel heavier at one end than a ring donut of the same size would — that weight is the filling, and it is the single best evidence the thing was injected today.
Filled donuts are among the first things gone in the morning at all three shops. They are fried from 5:00am and there is no second batch.
Where
- Spanish Fork — 1306 E Center St, (801) 416-0800
- Ogden — 554 Washington Blvd, (385) 865-1029
- St. George — 922 E Brigham Rd, (435) 628-9290
The rest of the board is in specialty donuts explained and the Utah Donut Index.
Common questions
What is a Bismark donut?
A Bismark is a filled donut with no hole. The dough is fried as a solid round and the filling is injected afterwards through a small opening in the side, so there is no ring because there was never anywhere for one.
Why does a Bismark have no hole?
Because the hole in a ring donut exists to let the middle cook through. A Bismark is flatter and thinner in cross-section, so it fries evenly without one — and leaving it solid gives you a sealed pocket to fill.
What is the difference between a Bismark and a Bavarian cream?
The shape and method are identical. The difference is the filling: Bavarian cream is a vanilla custard, thick and pale, while our Bismarks are fruit — lemon or raspberry. Fruit tastes lighter and sharper, custard tastes richer.
Is a Bismark the same as a jelly donut?
Functionally, yes — a jelly donut is a fruit-filled Bismark. Bismark is the bakery name for the format regardless of what goes in it, so a Bavarian cream is also a Bismark, and a jelly donut is not.
What Bismark flavours does The Donut Run have?
Lemon and raspberry, plus Bavarian cream in the same format. All three are specialty items at $2.75 each, $27.50 a dozen.
Do filled donuts sell out first?
Frequently. Filled donuts are consistently among the first things gone in the morning across all three of our shops. If a Bismark is specifically what you came for, come early or ring the shop ahead.