Going back to one's hometown can sometimes fall somewhere between drudgery and super fun time, mine usually drag someplace in between. When you live 3000 miles away just getting through the journey can be a chore. But one of the things I look forward to is trying some of the foods that are specific to North Carolina and the South that you just can't get when you aren't there. Of course that is also a double edge sword as they say, cause while you get to indulge in them they also are not always the healthiest of things and sometimes it is hard not to put on a pound (or two). I mean it's the South where gravy is a beverage and butter is a condiment. I try not to think about it too much though since I'm only around a week or so and I can just work it off when I get back--hopefully.

The first such item I search out is the long john, which is basically a Southern version of an eclair, just without the chocolate and instead of a custard filling it's more of a fluffy butter cream. One of the best original places we would always get them was Davis Bakery. They had the best in town, but sadly the bakery closed years ago and several other companies have taken up the mantle to try and make them with varying degrees of success. Here is the one that stood out for me.

From Buttercreme Bakery in Wake Forest North Carolina these are about as close to the original as I've had. They are deep fried logs of donut dough filled with cream. They've done a really good job with the donut part. It's like a cross between cake and bread and let's face it you can't go wrong when you deep fry something. The filling is where there is a difference between the original Davis Bakery one and the current iterations. The original was a creamy yellow thing that was fluffier than custard and made more with milk, powdered sugar, butter and a few other things they kept secret. The newest is this

It's basically a white butter cream frosting made creamier probably with milk and extra powdered sugar.  While you can never have too much filling they have (I'll always want more) enough here for most folks so you will get cream with every bite. (Minds out of the gutter people) All in all it's not bad and works well with their version of the long john. Sometimes I like them slightly warm and will pop them in the microwave for 8 seconds to heat it up, but no more than that as the cream inside will break down and become runny, which isn’t very appetizing. Plus you also have to eat these within a few days of being made so check freshness dates, otherwise they get a little stale. They show up in quickie marts here and most get them on a daily basis so it's pretty easy to find a relatively fresh one. I really have to limit myself to one every other day, though I so could eat 2 a day.