doughnut
/ˈdəʊnʌt/
noun
- a small fried cake of sweetened dough, typically in the shape of a ball or ring.
- a ring-shaped object, in particular a vacuum chamber in some types of particle accelerator.
I scanned the shelves of the bakery on the hill after a gruelling session of doggy paddle and seven year old me avoided those sugar coated dollops of dough with the rather too sickly sweet jam inside, that was so far from real jam than it’s deemed possible, and pointed out and chose the fresh iced finger bun – which was much more up my street.
Years later, hidden on a packed out Regent Street, London, I had a glimmer of what a doughnut could be. A fancy bakery was a regular haunt for the company I worked for, with regular boxes arriving at office, heaving with sweet treats. I discovered the joy of creme patisserie or vanilla custard filled doughnuts and that was something special.
Doughnuts have come along way. Their presence in the cake world has been elevated and now the competition to produce the best is fierce with taste and look, equally important.
Now, of course they need to be vegan and that changes everything.
It shouldn’t be so hard to find a good vegan doughnut, should it?
I wasn’t a huge fan before I was a vegan but it seems a worthy quest to find a decent doughnut has developed since becoming vegan. Maybe this has come about because I’ve become more of a fan, my taste buds have changed, doughnuts have got better or perhaps because some I’ve had, just haven’t been that good and sets a challenge to find decent bakes.
So, I try a lot of doughnuts.
I’ve had the ones that arrived like an intriguing picasso painting through the letter box – unsurprisingly with the limited packaging that surrounded them. They were however pretty tasty. Then there were the ones that were rather tinier than I was expecting. Again another postal service, and it seems with less volume came less flavour. I tried some that were an adornment on a birthday cake and it seems the effort had gone into the cake but not the doughnuts – however pretty they were. There were definite highlights though, like the delivery, that although it came from afar, looked as though they had been carried so carefully by hand, the contents were immaculate.
To date, there have been some tremendously delicious doughnuts that have been scoffed. The hunt is ongoing but so far there have been a number of delights to recommend.
CROSSTOWN DOUGHNUTS
Justifiably like royalty in the doughnut world – Crosstown don’t just do doughnuts and don’t just do vegan doughnuts but this definitely does not mean that their foot is taken off the pedal when it comes to excellence in the vegan doughnut making. Vegan flavours include; Dark Chocolate Truffle, Peanut Butter + Blackcurrant Compote, Tongan Vanilla Bean, Sri Lankan Cinnamon, Pistachio Scroll and Lime + Coconut. These can be delivered to your door (dependent on location) or picked up from on of their 12+ stores. It is pretty hard to choose a favourite when they produce such genuinely great flavour combinations but actually the classic Tongan Vanilla Bean might be my top choice. There’s no where to hide with a simple classic flavour but it is quite magical. These are higher priced than a lot (£4.50) but as a treat, it’s worth it, for such incredible flavours.
They keep really well in the fridge for a few days (if they last that long)
PLANET DOUGHNUT
Based in Shrewsbury but with outlets across a wide area, Planet Doughnut, who also sell online, have (as they say themselves) ‘out of this world’ doughnuts. Again, they are not solely vegan but at £23 (delivery included) their ‘The Accidentally Vegan’ 6 pack is packed full of great vegan flavours. It contains six doughnuts – OG Glazed, Planet D Party, Caramel Brownie, Chocolate Biscoff, Jammie Dodger and Cookies + Cream. Having ordered them online I was open minded as to how they would arrive but I was super impressed at the quality of the packaging and clever design for ensuring safe transport but then still was astonished at the immaculate condition on opening and seeing the contents. My personal favourite was without doubt the ‘Cookies + Cream’ – a not overly sweet but chocolaty creamy delight – they absolutely nailed the flavour!
They kept well for three days in the fridge (with family over they didn’t last longer to test how they would be kept for any more time!)
BOROUGH 22 DOUGHNUTS
Gluten free and vegan, this South East London based doughnut baker launched Borough 22 after discovering a shortage of multi allergen friendly choices currently on the market. Since 2014 they have been producing gluten free doughnuts, then dairy and soya free, and finally egg free doughnuts – so now are a full vegan product.
After trying the mini doughnut selection, I was impressed with great flavour being packed into mini doughnuts and ticking all the allergen problems. The texture is alike to many gluten free options but the taste is lacking nothing. They come in mini and regular size but I love the minis for making a great visual for a tasty sweet spread to enjoy with friends or family. Prices are from £29 for a selection box, and flavours include Cinnamon, Raspberry, Cereal, Cookie, Salted Caramel, Jaffa, Pumpkin Spice and Red Velvet. They were a little in thrown array on arrival so visually a little messed up, but we all are all too aware how hard it is to rely on delivery services being considerate of contents.
A KIND MAMA BAKERY
This online vegan bakery keeps very busy posting brownies and doughnuts all over the UK. At £18 they are good value for a box of six medium sized doughnuts, that can be ordered online. Flavours including Biscoff and Mixed Chocolate are available. The lovely, Eve, runs her bakery from her studio just outside of Manchester, having started baking when realising how hard it was to find good vegan cakes. Vegans shouldn’t have to miss out on tasty treats – so A Kind Mama was created. Her tasty doughnuts are rich in flavour with a good texture and arrive well in the post. It’s not just her doughnuts to enjoy there’s also brownies, whole cakes and baking kits that can be ordered and enjoyed!
CONSIDERIT
Conderit’s plant based indulgance includes chocolate, doughnuts and ice cream. Although based in Edinburgh, they are now available to order exclusively via The Vegan Kind Supermarket. Once a week they have a batch available to order, with four amazing flavours. They can be ordered singly and you can choose between – Chocolate Hazelnut, Chocolate Oreo, Chocolate Dodger and Chocolate Brownie. The two I sampled, Hazelnut and Brownie, at just £2.50 each, didn’t disappoint. Great known-to-be-good flavour combinations, a slightly dense dough but a very good taste. Arrived in small tubs which, as they kept them in a fixed position, meant they travelled well and arrived looking pretty neat.
Only kept good for a couple of days, a little dry after that, but as you can order singles that’s not such a problem.
VEGAN DELICE
Although no longer running, I couldn’t not feature the super Vegan Delice. Having rocked up and set up stall at a local North London market, I was rather excited to be pitched next to a vegan cake stall. Enter the best freshly fried mini sugar doughnuts I’d ever had – served by the warmest hearted las I’d ever had the pleasure to meet. It’s always worth exploring local markets to discover great small independent makers that you might not necessarily be able to find online or in stores.
THE LOCAL VEGAN 