i just had my first donut since i went vegan, and that was about ten years ago. if you haven’t heard of the donut co-op yet, i will assume that you’ve been living under a rock. but now that you’ve emerged ill fill you in. a couple people from minneapolis who liked making donuts utilized kickstarter to raise 12k, and proceeded (after a few set-backs) to occupy the old cake eater space where they offer both conventional, and vegan donutty goodness. today was their 3rd or 4th day in operation and the line i found at 9:15am was intense. when i wandered in i was a little nervous; the bakery case had 3 donuts sitting on a tray- i was afraid they had sold out again. nope, turns out that their little gems are so in demand that owner Dawn and her assistant baker were feverishly pumping out a dozen at a time to try keep up with the demand. granted, that kind of practice will most likely burn you out, and burn out the already grumbling patrons i encountered, but as i said before, considering that this is barely one week in for them, i’ll let the 15 minute wait slide. besides, since i got the last 3 vegan pumpkin donuts and had another 3 coming my way, I got to pick the next flavor (apple cinnamon sugar)! it was entertaining to witness the dynamic behind the counter as i’m fairly certain the barrista had never made an espresso before, but his cheery demeanor and eagerness to give out free samples of coffee won me over instantly, and my americano was better than (but smaller than) i had expected. dawn and her fellow baker consistently notified the hungry line of people of what flavors were coming up next, and i noticed that the vegan selections were the first to clear out each time they popped up. i’ve perused their flavor varieties on facebook, and i feel as though i’m going to put on 8 pounds in the next few months.
so, you’re probably wondering how they were.
they were awesome.
my first donut was thoroughly enjoyed in the car before i left. it was a pumpkin spice topped, cinnamon sugared donut. it was like a crispy, warm, pillow. i loved that even though the donut was encased in cinnamon sugar, it wasn’t overly sweet at all. the texture of the dough was amazing, very soft and not too airy. i remember donuts of my youth being a little chewy, most likely due to being a day or so old before landing in my stomach, but these were delightful- more like the fresh mini donuts you could get at the state fair, but far superior. i think for the pumpkin to really shine it would have been better paired with some sort of faux cream cheese icing. my second donut was cinnamon apple pie- it was definitely my favorite of the two. the donut itself was the same with the exception of the topping, but it’s a tried and true flavor combination, and it was heavenly. by the time i got to eat it, it had cooled almost completely, leaving the exterior perfectly crispy. i could have eaten the entire tray. i also have to note that even sitting warm, in a bag, the cinnamon sugar did not turn to slimy, greasy icing goo at the bottom of the bag.
random- i saw a tray of vegan bahn mi sandwiches, and a few other savory lunch-ish items so i got one of those as well. i appreciated the unconventional use of cashew spread on the sandwich, but pastries are obviously this cafe’s forte.
i think the only real criticism i can give beyond the coffee snafu is that the co-op didn’t have any carry out boxes on hand- to go to so much effort to ice, sugar, and decorate donuts with little dollops of filling only to have each one smashed down in a bag seems so defeating. and getting them out of the bag without dumping what filling was left was tricky as well. but regardless, they still tasted delicious.
vegan coffee and offerings from the donut cooperative!
in other news, pizza luce has a new seasonal pizza! coconut curry butternut squash! pizza is one of the few instances that i consume daiya, and it worked perfectly with the new flavor. i didn’t really taste the coconut and i felt that the curry could have been stronger, and hotter, but i liked where it was going.
vegan coconut curry butternut squash pizza
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