My wife sets up historical displays and gives presentations for museums, community groups, and special events. I have made donuts from the original Salvation Army “Doughnut Lassie” recipe for many occasions. It is a very simple recipe, but getting everything just right for a perfect donut can be a little tricky. They are not as sweet as a modern donut and denser, but people really do wolf them down. I usually fry up several dozen and still have to cut them in half so that there are enough to go around.
https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/metro/famous-donut-day-recipe/
The first time we made them it was for the Museum of Flight in Seattle. A local donut shop also had provided boxes of goodies for the event, and I put a sign saying that the ones that I made were for display. But it didn't take much time before people figured out that the display donuts tasted pretty good and we had to slap quite a few liberal Seattlite hands to keep them all from disappearing before my wife's presentation. They have a rustic look that caused people to think that they were some type of “organic” “eco-friendly” donuts, even though I had the recipe prominently posted that showed the primary ingredients were white flour, white sugar, and lard.
“I must admit that I had never heard of salt rising bread”
I have an idea it’s specific to a smallish geographical area. We’re from rural western NY State, and I’ve heard of it in PA and WV.
The donut recipe with lard sounds good. I love donuts so much that I won’t make them. I’d be as big as a house. Mom used to make the “old fashioned” cake donuts in a deep fryer. When she took them out, we’ shake them in paper bags with confectioners sugar. The sugar would soak in. Yummy.