Britt's donuts of Carolina Beach high on national list

You may have come across thedailymeal.com directly if you're a foodie, or while poking around at huffingtonpost.com, which reposts some of its articles.

Thedailymeal.com covers a wide range of  food- and drink-related subjects, from chefs and cookbooks to traditional food-related breaking news to food-related travel.

Its forte is lists: "10 Best College Football Stadium Eats," "7 Healthy Kids' Drinks," "11 Rum Cocktails for National Rum Day," etc., and one posted recently was "America's 25 Best Donuts."

No, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme didn't make this particular roster, though thedailymeal.com's "8 Decadent Donuts From Around the Country"  included KK's Key lime.

But the just-out top-donut list did have the plain glazed created at Britt's Donut Shop, in Carolina Beach, in  11th place.

It's an inspired choice, even if Britt's is open only during tourist season.

H.L. Britt's debuted in  1939. Britt sold the operation (and secret recipe) in the mid-1970s; the Nivens family has operated it since.

The glazed, airy  wonders cost 90 apiece in 2013; the shop usually opens for the season around Easter. Regular-season hours are 8 a.m. to around 10:30 p.m. Monday Saturday, with an early closing (4 p.m.) Sundays.

It's right on the Carolina Beach boardwalk, adding a  sweet and tasty morsel to North Carolina history.

The illustrious Oxford American magazine did a detailed and glowing feature on Britt's in its July 2012 issue. And on the Internet you'll find its fan club site.

You'll learn at the fan site that a book about the place , "Britt's Donuts: Forever Sweet," will be coming out in March.

And while you can't buy donuts at the site -- and the shop doesn't open until spring, remember -- you can pad your holiday gift list by ordering Britt's bumper stickers (starting at $2) or art prints (starting at $45). One of the stickers available from the fan site is shown at the top of this tale.

Of the top 25 on the "Best Donuts" list, only three are from the Southeast. Britt's is the only one from the Carolinas.

Here, by the way are the 10 ranked just above Britt's:

1              Doughnut Vault, Chicago (Plain glazed)

2              Round Rock Donuts, Round Rock, Texas (Plain glazed)

3              Dough, Brooklyn, N.Y. ( Lemon poppy)

4              Bouchon, Yountville Calif (Broiche with seasonal preserves)

5              Stan’s Doughnuts, Los Angeles (Peanut butter and banana)

6              Danny’s Donuts, Vista, Calif (Blueberry cake)

7              Verna’s Donut Shop, Cambridge, Mass. (Chocolate honey-dip)

8              Congdon’s Doughnuts, Wells, Maine (Blueberry jelly)

9              Federal Doughnuts, Philadelphia (Cookies and cream)

10           Donut Man, Glendora, Calif- (Fresh peach and strawberry)