Remember trying to eat an entire doughnut without licking your lips? May be you still do. Whenever I eat a doughnut I can't help but think of the time I tried to eat one on the wind swept seafront in Brighton. Six or seven years old, jam dripping down my chin, spattering my freshly cleaned clothes, sugar stuck in my hair and round my mouth and nose; it was the best doughnut and as I remember it, the size of a pillow.
Rumour has it that Stateside, the cupcake, the (ridiculous) cake-pop and whoopee pie are all dead and the gourmet doughnut is King. Places like
Beyond Glaze and
Doughnut Plant amongst others are leading the way with flavours such as crème brulee custard, coconut cream cheese, chocolate bacon and Guinness molasses. Call it a beignet, Berliner, churros or fritter the doughnut has also found its way onto the menu of some of the smartest and hip restaurants in the UK and, very much making a foodie resurgence.
This is all well and good, but sometimes all you want is a decent jam doughnut that doesn't taste of slightly stale oil and, isn't under filled.
Pippin Doughnuts have been up and running since 2008; based in Swindon, they sell doughnuts in Bristol every Friday from Wine Street Farmers' Market. Trained as pastry chefs, Jim and Carol honed their skills at places such as
Baker & Spice,
Ottolenghi and
St John, before setting out on their own.
Amongst the cappuccino, chocolate ganache, cinnamon apple, passion fruit strawberry and rhubarb vanilla, they do a corking mixed berry. A traditional yeast raised doughnut, they are light and fluffy and generously filled with a delicious, tart, homemade jam. Lemon curd runs a close second, with a creamy richness balancing the sharpness of the citrus.
Jam dripping onto my hands and down my chin, I could be at the seafront in Brighton again -just magic!
