The Nutella Chocolate Donut

I have a moment to pay homage to Michelle's latest pastry efforts: this time a foray into the world of donut making.

Last Sunday, with a few of my sisters visiting, Michelle offered to make homemade donuts for our Sunday Evening Treat.* This was Michelle's second attempt to make homemade donuts. I'd meant to post about her first efforts at the time, but blogging time doesn't seem to come as easily these days. [They were great donuts, with an impressive homemade glaze -- though, as she'd acknowledge, many were a little doughy in the middle. The holes crispy cinnamon homemade donut perfection. A fine first effort!] Here's a picture:



Showing off her budding mastery of pastry know-how, Michelle's second effort had none of the weaknesses of the first. The second batch of donuts was nice and crispy on the outside, and cooked through on the inside. [She'd even asked me before she made them just how crispy I wanted the donuts to be.]

This time around Michelle had more of the same glaze, as well as cinnamon sugar for the donut holes. These easily would've satisfied anyone looking for a meaningful homemade donut experience.

I want to call attention to a particularly innovative, and tasty, effort of hers: the Nutella donut.


As Michelle tells it, my sister was searching through our cupboard, found some Nutella (which, for some reason, manages to survive in the cupboard even as all other chocolates in the house are devoured within hours.) Michelle suggested they spread it on some of the donuts.

Michelle's homemade donuts held up well against the thick Nutella spread, and were just plain enough to allow the hazelnut chocolate taste to take center stage with every bite. There was nothing light about the donut, but, especially with a glass of milk, it was the best chocolate frosted cake donut I'd had in some time.

I'd like to think she owes all of her inspiration to the Forbidden Donut.


*These Sunday evening treats are part of the reason we'll be seeking refuge in our "Six Week Plan" of exercise and good eating. . . that'll start this Tuesday.

Golden Donuts: Go For The Toasted Coconut

Last February, Michelle's anniversay gift to me came in a pink pastry box -- the kind that scream "sugary and delicious" even before you know what's inside. There were some Little Debbie's Donut Sticks inside, a few Hostess Donut Gems, and then a series of 6 envelopes and a small notebook with a picture of a Donut on the front.

Inside each of the envelopes was a $5 bill and directions to a local donut shop. As she excitedly told me, she'd researched and tried to find the six top rated donut/pastry shops in San Diego County. Few gifts could've been more thoughtful.

As I've visited these places, I've posted my reviews here.

Two Saturdays ago, I visited the last shop on my list.

Golden Donuts (North Park):

Golden Donuts is nestled in a tiny strip mall in North Park. It's not the nicest part of the town. A small sign with a dragon greets you as you enter, letting you know that they only take cash. I left in the early hours of the morning and didn't tell Michelle were I was going (or even that I was going), so I felt a bit rushed to get home. I quickly surveyed their fare and was initially a bit disappointed with what seemed to be yet another spread of mediocre donuts.*

(Smiling is So Much Easier With Donuts)

Whatever the donuts look like, I'm always bound to choose three specific donuts: a chocolate sprinkled donut (for Jared), a "pink" donut (for Emily), and a maple bar. I'm free to choose the rest. I was trying to be strong, and the donuts didn't do much to overcome it on this morning, since I only bought a 1/2 dozen [a cinnamon crumb, an old fashioned, and a toasted coconut yeast raised donut.]

The chocolate sprinkled donut was just what it purported to be: nothing more, nothing less. The pink donut was supposed to be cherry. There wasn't much cherry about it, though the frosting was red. The cinammon crumb was ok, and the maple bar frosting was crumbly and too thin.

The more donut tasting I do, the more I'm drawn to the old fashioned glazed donuts. Theirs was a quality old fashioned donut, with a healthy amount of glaze (some of which had seeped into the cake itself) and crispiness. I'd buy it again.

Their toasted coconut donut was the value of them all, perhaps mostly because I'm a sucker for toasted coconut and because, for all of the shops I've visited here, I haven't seen many yeast raised toasted coconut donuts. It was delicious, and it alone is the reason I will visit Golden Donuts again.

* I say this simply because I've found very few places here that seem to input any passion or creativity into their donut offerings, both of which is evident immediately both from the donut selection and aesthetics. Save for a very few, they all seem content to offer the same 10-12 types of donuts everyone else is offering.