Hi Alyssa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The Donuttery first opened its doors in 1970. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year. The Donuttery was the retro holdout for traditional donuts like round glazed that is just a pillow of deliciousness, crullers that are crispy on the outside, custardy and airy inside, and maple long johns rich enough to stop time. I’d like to think of The Donuttery as the old-time, well-worn, and charming juxtaposition to the modern era of loopy invention and Instagram-ready dessert art, preserving traditional flavors–nothing outlandish or cloying. Every donut still hand-crafted with misfits and imperfections and prizing freshness above all. We have been serving Huntington Beach for fifty years. It is a local destination. Beach-goers stop by on their way to catch sun and waves. Locals use the space as their home away from home. There is something about that small, intimate, donut-diner coffee shop that pulls people together with a sense of belonging, where everyone’s personalities seem to fit together, like a friendship jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps that is why old-timers stay, and newcomers return. We see a tussle between new and old, hip and hardened. What unites everything is fifty years of history, people who have come and gone through our doors for those traditional flavors.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I can confidently say that it is never smooth sailing for any entrepreneur working in the restaurant or bakery business. On top of kitchen disasters like equipment malfunction, room temperature and humidity variability that affect dough development, and navigating through the ebb and flow of market demand and ever-changing dietary trends, it’s been a challenge trying to accommodate the increased demand producing out of the limited space at our shop. For more than ten years, we have been making vegan versions of our donuts and, more recently, gluten-free, for people with dietary restrictions to dairy and gluten. Our baking team, with their more than 30 years of donut experience, are poised and excited to explore new processes and avenues for doughs using the myriad of gluten-free flours and ancient grains now readily available as well as in-house milling of nut flours used in some of our vegan donuts. Space limitation remains the primary challenge of our business as we forge forward into expanding our donut menu while preserving traditional flavors.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Donuttery is best known best for its adherence to traditional donut flavors and a destination for vegan and gluten-free options. We are constantly chasing for perfection–finding that synergy between texture and flavor. Our production staff have dedicated immense time and resources to studying, testing, and experimenting with flours for purpose of extracting their natural flavors and character for yielding the perfect crust and crumb, as observed in our vegan raised donuts–moist, fluffy, and light. Some of our popular donuts include apple fritters, pistachio cake, and malasadas (regular and vegan). The apple fritter is fried dough perfection, crunchy on the outside and fragrantly moist with cinnamon apple chunks inside. A balance of sweet and tangy notes with textural contrast that is the tastiest donut you’ll ever eat. Our pistachio cake is special. We roast and mill pistachios in-house. It’s crumbly and light with flavors redolent of butter and sweet hints of marzipan. Malasadas are Portuguese donuts popular in Hawaii, not commonly found in donuts shops on the mainland. Their production is labor-intensive, which is why very few donut shops make them in-house. Malasadas are prepared from an enriched dough (egg and butter) fermented for 36 hours. The master dough is hand-cut, weighed, and individually rolled into golf ball-sized rounds, proofed, and fried. They blister and emerge from hot oil to yield the most luxurious pastry reminiscent of fried brioche balls. They are then filled with our house vanilla bean cream, vegan vanilla bean custard, or vegan guava jelly.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17420 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.thedonutteryhb.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonuttery/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Donuttery-192378407448763
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedonuttery?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-donuttery-huntington-beach
- Other: https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Donuttery/@33.7094376,-117.9886883,17z/data=!4m14!1m8!3m7!1s0x80dd26ee06a5b339:0x5769013287d54afb!2sThe+Donuttery!8m2!3d33.7094376!4d-117.9886883!14m1!1BCgIgAQ!3m4!1s0x80dd26ee06a5b339:0x5769013287d54afb!8m2!3d33.7094376!4d-117.9886883
Image Credits
The Donuttery
