You guys. I just went on a donut-tasting tour this weekend. My friend Nicole Taylor has been leading these donut tours in different neighborhoods throughout the city and I finally joined her for a tour through Bed Stuy. It was donutastic. It was donutacular. It was a donustravaganza.
Naturally I took pictures of all the donuts -- have a look!
Our first stop was my favorite donut shop, Dough. I've had their super-soft, tangy blood orange glazed donuts many times, but they turned out a couple of specials just for us. One was a lemon glaze topped with candied ginger. And then, the real show-stopper: Olive oil and thyme, fresh out of the oven. I can't even tell you. There's EVOO in the glaze and in the dough. It was just this luscious, creamy, savory-sweet swoon maker.
Next stop was a totally new (to me) approach to donuts: Kolaches. These are the Czech take on donuts, usually filled with preserved fruit. But at Brooklyn Kolache their donuts have a twist taken from the Czech immigrant community in central Texas: Savory pastries stuffed with kielbasa, cheese, and jalapeño. Just one of these plus a hot coffee would make a hearty weekend breakfast.
Finally, we stopped at Clementine to sample some vegan donuts. When I went on a donut tour with Nicole last year, we tried some other vegan donuts from another baker that were an insult to donuts, if I can just be perfectly frank. They were dry and hard like hockey pucks. These vegan cake-style donuts, on the other hand, were soft and super moist. They made two specials for us, vanilla with chocolate coconut, and lemon with jelly.
Only three stops? OH HELL YES. We were stuffed by the end. Happy-stuffed.
If you were to take your friends on a donut tour through your city, where would your top spots be?
Images via Adriana Velez