I have only just arrived at De Doughnut at 3:15 on a weekday afternoon, and already two high school customers have suggested which doughnuts to try as I stare at the overwhelming options of rainbow-hued doughnuts and chunky cookies that fill the pretty shop’s glass cabinets.
“I love doughnuts,” owner Neil says. His previous experience owning a cafe in Sydney means that he and his girlfriend Amy are also skilled baristas.
The couple focuses on the quality of the beans, the roastery, and the entire coffee chain: “90 per cent of a good cup of coffee originates on its journey from farmer to roastery,” he says.
“The barista’s skill accounts for the last 10 per cent of the job.”
Sitting outside with a fresh brew, I can attest that De Doughnut provides a good cup of coffee!
Neil’s behemoth of a doughnut machine can turn out a thousand doughnuts a day if needed, but Neil says they prefer a small batch, ensuring each doughnut’s quality is perfect.
The shop boasts a range of 16 cookie flavours and I count 24 unique doughnut offerings on their website.
Each month, they release a special doughnut flavour. When I visit, the special is the Long John.
Time to eat doughnuts!
The tiramisu is a filled doughnut, tender fried dough stuffed with coffee cream made from fresh espresso, cream cheese and fresh cream. It is mouthwateringly delectable.
Topped with cream and a dollop of strawberry jam in the shape of a love heart, the strawberry and cream doughnut is a delicious take on a jam doughnut. Never a jam doughnut gal, this delicate doughnut, soft and full of jam and cream, wins me over.
Long John is bar-shaped, sliced sideways, filled with cream, and then coated in Cadbury chocolate. When you bite down into it, you hear the crack of the chocolate coating.
Next, we taste some of De Doughnut’s glazed offerings.
The matcha doughnut’s glaze melds matcha’s earthy flavours with the creaminess of white chocolate.
Homes pay homage to arguably the greatest purveyor of doughnuts, Homer Simpson, with a distinctive pastel pink glaze coated with sprinkles.
The Earl Grey tea doughnut boasts a delicately Earl Grey-infused glaze topped with purple flower petals.
Each is delicious, but the filled doughnuts are my favourite.
Next, we tuck into some cookies. These cookies are massive.
The lotus cookie is my favourite. It’s a dense cookie with a comforting cinnamon warmth from the lotus biscuits incorporated into the cookie dough. And it’s generously packed with chocolate chunks. It is so chewy and delicious, and there is a yummy drizzle on this cookie.
Similarly packed with chocolate chips, the Tim Tam cookie is topped with, you guessed it, a Tim Tam.
The Red Velvet cookie is soft and less chewy than the others, with white chocolate chips running through it.
Yummy mouthfuls of matcha flavours, the matcha cookie is packed with cranberries and white chocolate.
The M&M chocolate cookie is my other favourite cookie here. Again, it is dense and chewy with a deep and addictive chocolatey taste.
The other chocolate option we eat is a softer cookie, topped with mini chocolate chips.
Neil and Amy plan to continue to expand their ‘heaven of sweets’. Keep an eye out for what they will do next!
De Doughnut is located at Shop 23/23 Challis St, in Dickson. It is open Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 6:30 pm. But if you want to grab a coffee before catching a bus or tram next door, they are brewing from 7 am.
Follow De Doughnut on Instagram and TikTok to drool over deep-fried sweet, pillowy deliciousness, and see their complete doughnut range at De Doughnut.
Original Article published by Michelle Taylor on Riotact.