Do(ugh)nuts

If you can resist this, well then off with your head. This Crème Brûlée Bomboloni ($8) by PBD is, beyond a doubt, the most memorable doughnut I’ve had this year. As a crème brûlée dessert, it’s got that hard, burnt sugar crust that cracks audibly when you bite (or tear in my case) into it. The custard filling’s smooth, creamy and rich, but not overly heavy or thick so it’s very light on the palate. As a bomboloni, it boasted the quintessential fluffy and buttery dough and a GENEROUS amount of filling. I was a little sad to find the custard pooling into the box, but the thing is there’s sooo much of it you can just dip and dunk the doughnut as you eat along. And I’m proud to share that there was zero wastage — sustainable dining at its finest 🙃 What I found really interesting, is that as the sugar’s being torched and caramelised on the surface some of it melts into the doughnut as well; so when eating the doughnut it tasted extra moist and shiok while still retaining its fluff, structure, and crumb. Also noteworthy is how neither the dough nor the custard was too sweet, so as saccharine as this sounds it’s actually just perfect.

I felt that the custard was a little too cold so it’s definitely stiffer and less oozy compared to my previous takeaway; and perhaps cause it’s freshly piped so the custard didn’t quite have the time to nestle into the dough and work some magic, so I did find the doughnut drier. Not that it was bad; it was still fluffy and tender, but wasn’t quite as moist and shiok as before. Still a fabulous bomboloni nonetheless, I may just let it sit longer before tucking in the next time 😉

Or doughnut, if you will. Exciting sounding Yam ‘Nian Gao’ flavour aside, the dough on its own is worth a shoutout. It’s fluffy, light, and bouncy, yet chewy and stretchy like that of those super yumz regular bakery hotdog buns — all at the same time. Buttery and sweet like a good brioche dough, but not overly rich as well so you can really go at it without stopping. Now what I liked about the yam filling was that it was really really smooth and I could really taste the yam. I did find it a little bland though; I’d have personally preferred it to be a touch sweeter or just more aggressive, but I can see how many would enjoy how light this was.

If there’s a higher being somewhere up there: forgive me, for I have clearly sinned. And will continue to in the foreseeable future. Cause these Pandan Doughnuts by Burnt Ends Bakery are seriously too fucking delicious. The brioche dough I’ve raved about multiple times, so let me get down to why this flavour release is my fave thus far: THAT KAYA. So smooth, so luscious, so rich, and so packed with flavour. The coconut and pandan comes across really aggressively, but in a way that keeps you begging for more. And because there can never be enough coconut, all that’s rounded off with a layer fragrant coconut icing and some crunchy desiccated coconut. Now I thought paying $24 for half a dozen of doughnuts was hefty enough a treat and outta hit the spot right? Let’s just say...I’ve put in the next order for a full dozen 🥲🥲 Take my money guys, just freaking take it and feed me doughnuts already.

You guys know I’m always everything but frank about my food right? So don’t hate on me when I say I was genuinely unimpressed with City Donut’s doughnuts (yeah DOUGHnuts all ye AmE suckers). I liked that they introduced a fabulous range of super enticing flavours — from Pandan Ondeh Ondeh, Orh Nee, to Pulut Hitam — but as good as they sound on paper, they don’t always imho turn out as expected. The Pandan Ondeh Ondeh was my favourite of the lot, arguably cause I’m incredibly partial to the flavours in ondeh ondeh, and the only one I found worth trying. I love how generous they were with the sweet grated coconut, and the rich liquid gula melaka nestled within the doughnut was an absolute joy. If ondeh ondeh were a doughnut, I’d say this is probably it.

Similar to their Chocolate one I shared about previously, their Kaya doughnut boasts an amazingly fluffy brioche that’s soft, springy, and very neutral in flavour, thus leaving the spotlight to the lovely kaya custard. Now, that custard: smooth, wonderfully perfumed, aaaaabsolutely delish. Just swipe left and see for yourselves guys it was beyond generous and utterly stunning.

Idk how long these would be available, so I apologise in advance if this is giving you a severe case of blue balls; but I have to immortalise this moment. In particular, the sheer joy I felt taking my first bite. I’ve been blessed to have had really really great doughnuts the past year — Sourbombe’s bombolonis, Korio’s amazing brioche doughnuts, Nassim Hill Bakery’s kaya doughnuts among the many; and now with Burnt Ends Bakery’s SFF-special Milo Dinosaur doughnuts I can safely say I’ve died and gone to doughnut heaven. These babies were utter pillows of joy. The dough’s so so fluffy and soft, light and buttery, and just a wee sweet. It was an instant win on its own, and I was in love before even getting to that milo ganache snuggled within. I feel it’s challenging to nail a milo-flavoured dessert; more often than not we end up tasting more chocolate than the malty drink we love. But these: maaaaan they were so malty. So luscious, rich, and intense. I usually only down one doughnut and keep the rest for later, but with these I had two right at once. They were THAT good.

I maintain that they make pretty much the best doughnuts in Singapore, frying up small batches of 18-hour brioche and dipping them in the best glazes — like this beautiful Pandan with Salted Gula Melaka one. I like how fragrant yet subtle the pandan was here (not the artificial and in-your-face sort), though tbh I would’ve preferred more aggressive flavours but that’s just me. I can’t exactly taste the salt in the gula melaka drizzle either, but it wasn’t too sweet so I guess the salt must’ve played a great balancing act without being the star of the show. Not complaining, cause the doughnuts themselves were so good I honestly wouldn’t have minded any glaze at all.

Didn’t know what to expect, thought it’d be a “oh this is pretty good” kinda experience...but no this turned out as a “fuck me have I actually eaten a donut before this?!” type of situation. Read: these were fucking amazing. The texture of the donuts were mind-blowingly fluffy, pillowy, and just so so soft. My fingers left visible dents just trying to pick them up! They were also exceedingly light and not greasy at all, which made it so easy to just wolf one down in seconds (like I did). The winning factor here though has got to be how every donut was the PERFECT amount of sweet. They all look diabetic, but the donuts themselves are just very very lightly (almost indiscernibly so) sweetened so most of the sugar comes from the glazes instead. That means you can really taste the flavours from the glazes, the stellar donuts, and not die from a massive sugar overload after.

These, look deceptively big on social media. They're actually barely bigger than a ringlet formed with my thumb and index joined at the tips. Tried the nutella and jam ones, which didn't taste too bad, but weren't extraordinary either. Texture was good, fillings were meh. I'd rather have the HDB bakeries' sugar doughnuts.