—Beer and/or cannabis will be back on the menu next week here in Craft, but for now, beer writer-slash-avowed-doughnut-lover Brian Yaeger spins another yarn about one popular seasonal flavor.
Seattle’s jolly green giant of a coffee chain has weathered years of derision for its pumpkin spice latte to the point where it’s celebrating two decades of PSL. Furthermore, the Beervana Blog’s latest story is about the unexpected return of pumpkin beers. So, it’s only seasonally appropriate to turn our attention to pumpkin spice doughnuts. Nevertheless, if you don’t see your favorite doughnut shop featured in this round-up, it’s because a surprising number of doughnut shops either don’t give into the autumnal aliment or somehow neglected to make them the weekend before Halloween. And one contestant wasn’t technically pumpkin spiced, but close enough.
To the best of my knowledge, the primary difference between pumpkin pie spice and chai is the latter usually also features cardamom and vanilla. And since five doughnuts is better than four, I included it. The delicacies were judged blind by an all-new cohort ranging from fifth graders to those almost in their almost-50s and appear in order of collective preference.
Too Sweet Cakes (1012 SE Cleveland Ave., 541-241-3933)
This shop is quietly becoming Bend’s best doughnut shop although purists may contest that claim since it doesn’t make traditional doughnuts. Of the two pumpkin spice doughnuts*, get the pumpkin spice cronut. We’ve come to love this New York transplant thanks to its incredibly springy cylinder of croissant dough. This one has Too Sweet Cake’s signature outer crust of granulated sugar and a layer of pumpkin frosting topped with yummy cinnamon crumbles. While it was the near-unanimous top-vote-getter, the judges also remarked how un-pumpkin-y it is. “Maple.” “Cinnamon.” “Don’t taste the pumpkin.” Yet, it’s simply delicious and we’re about to see that pumpkin flavor is, depending on your affinity for morsels with that particular seasonal smack, not a requirement. $3.89
The Dough Nut (755 NE Greenwood Ave., 541-241-8788)
Nary a speck of pumpkin in the display case, but a chai frosted yeast doughnut caught my eye. This morsel fell one single point shy of the gold medal. And yet, it’s way more of an authentic doughnut as it’s built on a classic yeast doughnut. “Fluffy.” “Everything I want in a fall doughnut.” And, although the power of suggestion is strong and got a few judges to believe it was pumpkin spiced, one critic nailed it by saying, “Tastes like fall, just not pumpkin, more like cinnamon chai.” $2
Chalk to Flour isn’t a brick-and-mortar; it’s a “cottage” bakery. If you’re on Insta, feel free to drool over her ‘gram. The pumpkin chai cake doughnut (well, doughnuts, since you gotta order by the half dozen) got raves for the flavor, but when judging blind, the judges were thrown a bit because these numbers are baked, not fried. As such, some dubbed it “more cakey than doughnut” and a “bit mushy at the bottom” (to which I’d counter: not mushy, moist the way you’d expect from pureed pumpkin), yet the cinnamon sugar and glaze sealed the deal. $15 for six.
Sisters Bakery (251 E Cascade Ave, Sisters, 541-549-0361)
Sisters Bakery doughnuts have fared extremely well in these quarterly round ups, always placing in the top two. But when it comes to its pumpkin cake doughnut, which rose so much it is almost spherical, it failed to win over diverse tastes and preferences. Everyone agreed it was the most pumpkin-forward, but some judges felt it suffered from tasting too healthful, less desserty. It sports a thin, light glaze but perhaps not enough to transport it from mere pumpkin bread into a pumpkin doughnut. So if you’re looking for essence of pumpkin, this is the one, but if you’re looking for essence of doughnut, look elsewhere. $2.25.
Too Sweet Cakes
*Last year when we put the spotlight on jelly doughnuts, one bakery garnered both the highest average score and the lowest with two different entries. Here, in addition to the top-rated cronut, I was also shown a pumpkin cake doughnut that is gluten free. Ordinarily I wouldn’t even include such a baked good in a glutenous doughnut-off, but it was impressed upon me that if I only got one, it should be the GF one. Every single judge had a tough time putting their fingers on what made this one not live up to their expectations, starting with its super crunchy exterior. “Flavor didn’t taste right.” “Tastes more like peanut butter than pumpkin butter.” $3.89
This article appears in Source Weekly October 26, 2023.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
