The Donut Hunter

Baking for Dum-Dum-ies

April 12, 2015 / bgonsar

Dum Dum Donutterie
London, England

Colorful Donuts at Dum Dum

If you’re trying to watch your figure, maybe donuts aren’t for you. But, if your craving for sweets gets too overpowering, then maybe you should take a trip to Dum Dum Donutterie. At this Shoreditch-based pop-up shop, they bake, not fry, the donuts, thus giving them half the fat and calories of a regular donut.

I had wanted to come here because most donuts in London are filled with jelly or pudding, so I decided to try a non-filled donut here. The donuts are inspired by chef Paul Hurley’s stints in France and Italy and takes cues from a French patisserie. So what better name to call this baked donut haven than a Donutterie?

The toppings were colorful and eye catching. I grabbed a White Chocolate & Pistachio donut as well as a Strawberry Puree Fondant donut. They also do cronuts, filled donuts, and other donut-like baked goods. Biting into each one, I could tell that they were not as greasy as most donuts, a byproduct of not deep frying them in a solid oil. Though, they lacked the lightness and the fluffy quality of a fried donut. But the glossy icings were surprisingly good and flavorful, without being overly sweet.

The beautiful lineup of donuts and pastries

The boxpark exterior

Boxpark #31 Bethnal Green Rd Shoreditch, http://dumdums.co.uk/

Bread Ahead of the Rest

April 7, 2015 / bgonsar

Bread Ahead Bakery
London, England

Creme Caramel with Salted Honeycomb Donut

I’ve been to London before and have sampled some donuts (mainly in cafes or along Portobello Road), but I’ve never purposely visited some of their top donut shops. That was all about to change with this trip across the pond. It would be a market-hopping, food-binging trek that would get me to three top donut shops and allow me to appreciate the culinary art that are British donuts.

My first stop off the plane was to Borough Market, a culinary-mecca in the food market world. And inside this market is a year-old bakery called Bread Ahead. In addition to making delicious breads and donuts, they also have a baking school that you can take classes at.

Outside the baking school

But I was here for the donuts. Depending on when you go, they’ve been known to have such flavors as Blueberry and Orange Ripple Custard, Velvet Chocolate, Hazelnut and Almond Praline, Lemon Curd, and Raspberry Jam. On my inaugural trip, I was greeted by two flavors: Classic Vanilla and Crème Caramel with Salted Honeycomb.

The Bread Ahead lineup

Both donuts were plump and delicate and coated with a fine sugar. The classic vanilla had a filling similar to vanilla pudding. The pudding texture continued in the Crème Caramel donut, which was sublimely flavored. And the crunch of the honeycomb took it to the next level.

If you want Justin Gellatly’s donut recipe, head to this site or watch this video and try to mimic them. If you’re able to come close, just make sure you share one with me.

[Photo credits: The Donut Hunter]

Borough Market, Mon-Sat 8am-5pm, http://www.breadahead.com/

The Early Bird Gets The Donut

February 24, 2015 / bgonsar

Blackbird Doughnuts
Boston, MA

After an unlikely streak of 2 bad donut hunts in a row in NJ, I was looking to break that streak with Boston’s new kid on the block. Half a year ago, I caught wind that the masterminds behind The Gallows, a deliciously inventive restaurant in the South End, were diving into the world of donuts with a soon-to-be-opened shop in the South End. I even got selected to be a taste-tester before the opening of the store. Unfortunately, I had to travel for business that weekend, so I was unable to make it, which only seemed to heighten my anticipation.

Weekly Changing Menu

It always seems that the movies you anticipate the most or that have the funniest trailers always seem to disappoint. But Blackbird Doughnuts seemed to have taken all the steps to avoid such a shortfall. First off, they often had donuts on the menu at their sister shop, The Gallows. Secondly, they did their research. The idea for a donut shop actually started when co-owner Seth Yaffe’s girlfriend brought him home some donuts in Chicago. After tasting it, he knew that had to be his next move. Finally, the core Blackbird team sampled donuts from all across the country, being sure not to miss some of my favorite spots. So the cards were stacked in their favor.

Walking in for the first time I was greeted by bakery director Tara Bresnick. She gave me a tour of the facility. The entrance is a modest, white tiled room with carefully art directed signs and a cool birdcage lighting fixture. A window allows you to peer into the donut-churning factory of a kitchen (with some of the cleanest fryers I’ve ever seen).

Now to the donuts. These sure didn’t disappoint. The first one I popped in my mouth was the mini Wild-Berry Bismarck. It was a light and airy puff of a donut with a fresh berry filling. My taste buds perked up and asked for some more.

Kettlecorn Donut from Blackbird

I moved onto the Blueberry Balsamic, which was tied for my favorite of the bunch. The yeast donut was airy and chewy with a sweet, Maine blueberry taste. The balsamic just intensified the blueberry flavor and was a perfect compliment.

Blueberry Balsamic Donut

The Maple Miso donut was similar in texture, but topped with a maple miso glazed. It had a light maple taste with hints of butterscotch. I’ve had this flavor of donut before, down in New York City, and was pleasantly surprised both times.

Maple Miso sitting with some other tasty treats

The Chocolate Old Fashioned Crunchy cake was very dense. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The chocolate flavor was super intense, almost like a crunchier devils food cake.

Super Chocolatey Chocolate Cake

On the savory side, they had a Pepperoni Pizza donut. It was like a sweet pepperoni pizza. Though I would have preferred it as a 2am snack versus breakfast, I do love creative, savory donuts.

Blackbird Doughnuts are cranking out around 2,500 donuts a day. And with a notebook of over 200 donuts ideas and a rotating variety of flavors that they’re constantly improving on, the future seems bright for this shop. I heard a rumor that they may add soft serve ice cream and other food items that pair well with donuts in the near future. From seeing what they can do at The Gallows and at Blackbird, my donut wish would be for a cheddar cornbread donut with pulled pork and a red velvet cake donut with sweet cream ice cream….just saying.

Great logo design

Entrance to Blackbird Doughnuts

My sampling

Kettlecorn front and center

A great sampling

492 Tremont St., South End, Boston, 617-482-9000, www.blackbirddoughnuts.com.

Iceland: The Land of Fire & Ice & Donuts

January 4, 2015 / bgonsar

Pepper cookies, caramel, and powdered sugar on some donuts from Dons.

Iceland in the winter is a place shrouded by darkness. In addition, the coldness of winter is unrelenting as the roads and sidewalks caked with ice refuses to melt off. So what can help get Icelanders, and myself, to cope with only having 4 hours of daylight? Donuts of course!

I saw a few donuts called Klenät around town, which looked like braided, deep-fried twists, minus the glaze and fun toppings. More of a fried dough than a doughnut. But I did manage to make it to two places that had familiar looking donuts.

Sandholt Bakari
Reykjavik, Iceland

First stop: a chocolate glazed from Bakari Sandholt

On the main shopping thoroughfare in Reykjavik lies a bakery that all the guestbooks and tripadvisor reviews mention. Sandholt Bakery isn’t that large, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t cranking out a lot of varieties of baked goods, chocolates, and sandwiches. Naturally, I had to sample their donut creation. Since they don’t focus on donuts, they only had two varieties: chocolate glazed and caramel glazed.

I went for the chocolate glazed. The donut itself reminded me of a Krispie Kreme donut. They were roughly the same size and coloring and had a similar chewiness. Not an overly dense donut, but chewy and airy. The chocolate glaze had a spice to it, like a hot chocolate. I was pleased.

Don’s Donuts
Reykjavik, Iceland

Outside the truck

Further down the road just off of Laugavegur in Hlemmur Square lies the next donut stop. Don’s Donut doesn’t need a brick and mortar establishment to crank out their bite sized treats. Instead, they operate out of a truck and keep everyone up to date on their hours and location on their Facebook page.

Like “Doughnuttery” in NYC, Don’s Donut’s are bite sized and sold in increments of 6. They are made-to-order then topped with whatever you feel like. I topped them with caramel, piparkokur, which are Icelandic pepper cookies, and powdered sugar. (If you were wondering, the piparkokur cookies taste of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg). My donut-hunting partner chose caramel and coconut. The caramel was very tasty. It must be the ingredients they use, because it seemed extra fresh and delicious. The only comparison I can make is that our caramel is like the funny taste of aspartame that you get in diet coke or sugar free gum and Icelandic caramel has a fresher taste like real sugar. It made me want to take some home.

The donuts were crunchy and fresh out the outside and soft on the inside, while the pepper cookies added a nice crunch. This would be my first stop next time in Reykjavik.

The chewiness of the chocolate glazed

Chocolate glazed

Coconut and Caramel

Made to order at Dons

A variety of toppings plus chocolate or caramel sauce.

Happy customers

Sandholt: Laugavegur 36 http://sandholt.is/
Don’s: Hlemmur Square https://www.facebook.com/donsdonutsis

Top Notch at Top Pot

December 24, 2014 / bgonsar

Top Pot
Seattle, WA

In the film, Midnight in Paris, Owen Wilson finds himself transported into the 1920’s where he encounters people and places from a time period he’s been coveting. Head to Seattle and you might find a similar experience if you head to Top Pot, where their “hand forged” donuts are based on a secret 1920’s donut recipe.

(from left to right) A Maple Glazed Old Fashioned and a Yeast Raised Glazed

The interior of their downtown flagship café gets my award for best interior design. It’s a place that makes you feel like you can sit back and relax for a while as the world bustles around you. It has the ambiance of a rare book library, which compliments their classic donuts.

There are a few yeast selections here, but the menu skews heavier to cake donuts. My advice is to try a few of the cake donuts with their wickedly crunchy surface and an interior as moist as warm cake. The toppings and varieties are fairly standard, but the nostalgic taste makes up for that.

I first tried the standard yeast, glazed donut. The glaze was perfect, not painfully sweet, and the donut was chewy and fresh with hints of vanilla laced in. I also had an maple old fashioned donut. The old fashioned cake was very tasty. Traditional with a slight crunch on the outside. The maple glaze had some good spice to it, but watch out because it was tooth-shattering sweet.

Inside of Top Pot’s Flagship Store (Photo Credit: toppotdoughnuts.com)

2124 Fifth Avenue, Seattle; 206/728-1966 or toppotdoughnuts.com

Festive Donuts

December 22, 2014 / bgonsar

Montclair Bread Company
Montclair, NJ

Gingerbread (right) and Eggnog (left) Donuts

Tis the season to eat donuts. So skip the stocking stuffers and get a dozen to stuff your face with instead. Preferably a dozen with some yuletide flavors.

For my Christmas treat last year I opted for Dough Loco’s “The North Hole;” a peppermint-y donut raised about as high as my tree. This year, I kept it close to home at Montclair Bread Company in Montclair, NJ. They get in the spirit with several festive flavors like Chocolate Candy Cane (chocolate cake run, dark chocolate ganache, and crush candy canes), Cranberry Orange (vanilla ring, cranberry orange glaze, Egg Nog (whipped eggnog custard, gingerbread cookie), and Gingerbread (buttermilk cake ring with molasses and spice).

Each year I grow older, I love the taste of ginger more and more. And it’s hard for me to turn down anything that contains cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, or maple. So naturally, I went for the Gingerbread donut. It had the right amount of spice I’ve come to expect from gingerbread and the glaze was very tasty. I would consider adding that donut to my list of Christmas traditions.

Festive Donuts from Montclair Bread

113 Walnut Street www.montclairbread.com

8 Crazy Nights of Jelly Donuts

December 17, 2014 / bgonsar

Hanukkah is here! I’m not of the Jewish persuasion, but I can certainly get down with the Jelly Donut/Sufganiyah tradition. During Hanukkah, Jewish people commonly observe the tradition of eating these fried treats to remember of the miracle associated with the Temple oil not running out for 8 days. Any tradition that involves eating donuts is alright in my book!

Hanukkah Jelly Donut from Montclair Bread Company

Making Donut Friends

November 22, 2014 / bgonsar

Donut Friend
Los Angeles, CA

My Donut Trifecta

I don’t get out to the Eagle Rock neighborhood much when I’m in LA, as I tend to opt for the Westside. But luckily I had a casting session in the area, so I was more than happy to take a quick detour to Donut Friend.

I was excited to go here, not only because I heard the donuts were great, but also to take a stroll down memory lane. You see, the donuts here are all named after late 90’s/early 2000’s alternative/indie/punk bands.

Donut Friend is the brainchild of former producer and drummer turned donut aficionado, Mark Trombino, who mixed and produced tracks for the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Finch, All Time Low, etc. etc. And just like he did for these bands, he’s upping the donut game at Donut Friend.

The first donut I had was the Crumb (presumably named after the band Crumbox). This was my favorite of the lot. A fluffy, chewy yeast donut with an understated vanilla glaze and a chocolate cinnamon crumble on top. Next up was the Poppygandhi (named after Propagandhi). This cake donut with Lemon glaze and poppy seeds on top had a crunchy outside and soft cakey inside. A perfect texture for a cake donut.

Then there was the Jimmy Eat Swirl (named after one of my favorite bands, Jimmy Eat World). Since Mark did an amazing job on all the Jimmy Eat World records he worked on, I figured he would do the Jimmy Eat Swirl justice. This cinnamon roll had a peppery-spicyness to it with a slight crunch on the outside and chewiness on the inside.

There are a bunch of other creative flavors and names to go along with it like Jets to Basil, S’morrissey, or the Starting Lime. And if you don’t like what’s currently on the menu, you can always make your own. Just make sure you give it a creative name.

Donut Friend

Chocolate from the Crypt and other varieties

The Line-up

Hungry yet?

5107 York Blvd Los Angeles, CA www.donutfriend.com
[Photo credits: The Donut Hunter]

The Cider Donut House Rules

November 21, 2014 / bgonsar

I love fall. It could be the crisp autumn air. Or it could be the changing of the leaves. But I think it’s mostly due to the fact that cider donuts are back. In the northeast, they’re always abundant on any “U-Pick” farm or at a local Cider Mill from September until November. And sometimes they even linger around longer. I much prefer them to pumpkin donuts.

Riamede Farms hot cider, pumpkin, and cider donut

I have yet to try a yeast cider donut, but I’m sure that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Typically you’ll find them as cake donuts and then either glazed, powdered, or, more often than not, covered in cinnamon and sugar. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and spiced to perfection. So don’t be shy, head out there and try them all. Best served warm.

Below are some Cider Donuts I’ve tried near NYC:
Carpe Donut – NYC Food Truck
The Cinnamon Snail – NYC Vegan Food Truck
Indian Ladder Farms – Altamont, NY
Ochs Orchard – Warwick, NY
Riamede Farms – Chester, NJ
Hacklebarney Farm Cider Mill –Chester, NJ
Terhune Farms – Princeton, NJ

Donuts at Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ

If you can’t find a local cider donut place, these guilty pleasures will do in a pinch

Fresh from the pick at Riamede Farms in Chester, NJ

Purple Donuts

September 11, 2014 / bgonsar

DK’s Donuts, Santa Monica, CA
Baker’s Donuts, Sacramento, CA

Having just enjoyed the chewiness of a donut made with potatoes, I was on the hunt to find if other vegetables were used in donuts. Luckily, I was able to discover something that Filipino families have known about for generations: Ube.

Ube is a purple yam and is used to color food as well as flavoring them. When cooked with sugar, it can be made into a variety of sweetened desserts or jams.

DK’s Donuts in Santa Monica, CA is one of the few shops around the country that uses Ube in its donuts. It’s a family owned bakery and probably the most creative donut shop in Santa Monica. DKs 5

In addition to their crazy donut toppings, their “Wownuts” (which is a made-to-order waffle/donut hybrid), and their “O-nuts” (their version of a cronut), they also produce several kinds of Ube Purple Yam Donuts.

There’s the original purple crumb, the purple cream cheese frosted, the purple toasted coconut, and the purple pistachio donut. Purple is the color of prosperity for Filipinos, so these donuts must be super prosperous.

The donuts were quite purple (nice that it’s with natural ingredients instead of food coloring). There was a slight crunch on the outside while the inside was soft and moist. Each topping variety had hints of several spices and subtle notes of chocolate.

North of DK’s Donuts in Sacramento, CA is another California donut shop having some fun with Ube. Baker’s Donuts can’t keep their Ice Glazers on their shelves. These summer donuts are each filled with exotic ice cream flavors.

[Photo courtesy of Baker’s Donuts]

Baker’s begins by making plain, yeast donuts. Once someone places an order for an Ice Glazer, they split each fried treat open and stuff them with ice cream. Their flavors range from Thai tea, green tea, pandan (green coconut), and, our friend, the Ube Purple Yam. All the ice cream comes from Pittsburgh-based Magnolia Tropical Ice Cream. Don’t donuts look great in purple?

DK’s Donuts – 1614 Santa Monica Blvd. Open 24 hrs. http://www.dksdonuts.com/
Baker’s Donuts – 5880 Florin Rd. No Website