Super Market Spy: A tasty Berliner at Whole Foods

Jelly doughnuts aren’t for everyone. It takes a special kind of doughnut devotee to blindly tuck into fried dough stuffed with, well, you never know. It’s a game of dining roulette to bite into what is essentially the Mystery Bag of pastries.

But when you get it, you get it. One perfect jelly doughnut with just enough sugar coating the top, jammy raspberry insides and sweet, yeasty, soft doughnut outside. It must hold up to multiple bites without succumbing to wilt or landing in your lap.

I consider it one of my gastronomical White Whales.

And yet, thar she blows.

Recently, the bakery at the Yulupa Avenue Whole Foods market began making Berliners - a heartier, more Teutonic version of the jelly doughnut - each morning.

Filled with rich chocolate ganache or raspberry preserves, they’re the Cadillac of doughnuts, and command a hefty $3.99 rather than a bit of pocket change.

Worth it? Like most doughnuts, these fried pastries don’t stand the test of time.

Be sure to get them early in the day, as they tend to get a little greasy and stale by evening. But if you’re a jelly doughnut fan, it’s a delicious history lesson, since these gut bombs have been enjoyed by Germans since the 15th century.

Just make sure you’re getting the real deal if a German friend offers you one: It’s a common practical joke to hide a mustard-filled Berliner among the sweet ones.

By the way, it’s a myth that John F. Kennedy once told a Berlin crowd, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” or “I’m a Berliner (meaning the pastry). Though we would probably have loved him even more if he had.

Berliners at Whole Foods Market Bakery, 1181 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa, 575-7915.