Have I mentioned that I love donuts? Yeah, I love donuts. I'm always look for an excuse to try out a new donut shop.
One place I heard great things about is Donut Savant, known mostly for the size of their donuts. And no, not because they are huge. Instead, they are known for having actually reasonable size donuts. The donut holes are bigger than a standard donut hole (probably twice the size of a Munchkin, for you Dunkin' Donuts folks), a bit bigger than a golf ball. Really, the perfect size to be able to try a few different donuts (which you know you always want to do anyway). They also make bars that are slightly bigger, rolls that are a bit bigger still, fritters that are bigger yet, and some full size cronuts and jelly donuts. But none are monsters. The story goes that the owners wanted to solve the problem of having folks always hacking up donuts and leaving behind a box of carnage so they could try multiples / take less.
Since I like to try all the things, this sounded great to me. Plus, the donuts are supposed to be excellent. The only problem? Um, Donut Savant is in Oakland. Luckily, they deliver to SF! But ... only if you order $50 of donuts. Which, for some places, (ahem, Dynamo), is easy. But at Donut Savant, each donut is ~$1 (even less when you buy them in person, basic holes are only $0.50!). I needed a reason to order 50 donuts. I finally got one, when I organized a large event for my team. We obviously needed donuts for our morning break, right?
Ordering online and delivery were easy. But, honestly, I didn't love the donuts (except for the fritters!). For the most part, they were fine, but, really nothing special. Maybe I went into it with too high of expectations? That said, the size really was great, and the fritter was one of the best I've ever had. I'd eat them again, but, I'll be seeking out somewhere else to try next time ...
"Baker's choice of a dozen assorted cake donuts plus one free specialty donut."
To make decision making easy, I opted for several boxes of Baker's Choice Dozen, which come with 12 of the donut holes, plus an extra large special one thrown in. Our boxes of dozens included all their standard offerings: chocolate glazed, vanilla glazed, salted maple glazed, chocolate dusted, maple pecan, coconut dream, and cronuts for the extras.
From this box, I tried a donut hole, the chocolate dust (center near the top, below the pecan topped one).
Chocolate Dust Hole: "Buttermilk cake with a dark chocolate cocoa and sugar dusting." I tried only one of the holes, since I had my eye on the specialty donuts. It was a standard cake donut, not too dense, and coated in cocoa and sugar. It was what it was. Not particularly interesting, and I didn't really taste that much cocoa.
Delivered, the dozen is $12.50, pickup is $10.
I mostly ordered boxes of the Baker's Choice Dozens, but, I did also pick out a few specific special ones.
Cinnamon Roll: "Raised dough cinnamon roll."
One place I heard great things about is Donut Savant, known mostly for the size of their donuts. And no, not because they are huge. Instead, they are known for having actually reasonable size donuts. The donut holes are bigger than a standard donut hole (probably twice the size of a Munchkin, for you Dunkin' Donuts folks), a bit bigger than a golf ball. Really, the perfect size to be able to try a few different donuts (which you know you always want to do anyway). They also make bars that are slightly bigger, rolls that are a bit bigger still, fritters that are bigger yet, and some full size cronuts and jelly donuts. But none are monsters. The story goes that the owners wanted to solve the problem of having folks always hacking up donuts and leaving behind a box of carnage so they could try multiples / take less.
Since I like to try all the things, this sounded great to me. Plus, the donuts are supposed to be excellent. The only problem? Um, Donut Savant is in Oakland. Luckily, they deliver to SF! But ... only if you order $50 of donuts. Which, for some places, (ahem, Dynamo), is easy. But at Donut Savant, each donut is ~$1 (even less when you buy them in person, basic holes are only $0.50!). I needed a reason to order 50 donuts. I finally got one, when I organized a large event for my team. We obviously needed donuts for our morning break, right?
Ordering online and delivery were easy. But, honestly, I didn't love the donuts (except for the fritters!). For the most part, they were fine, but, really nothing special. Maybe I went into it with too high of expectations? That said, the size really was great, and the fritter was one of the best I've ever had. I'd eat them again, but, I'll be seeking out somewhere else to try next time ...
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| Baker's Choice Dozen. $12.50. |
To make decision making easy, I opted for several boxes of Baker's Choice Dozen, which come with 12 of the donut holes, plus an extra large special one thrown in. Our boxes of dozens included all their standard offerings: chocolate glazed, vanilla glazed, salted maple glazed, chocolate dusted, maple pecan, coconut dream, and cronuts for the extras.
From this box, I tried a donut hole, the chocolate dust (center near the top, below the pecan topped one).
Chocolate Dust Hole: "Buttermilk cake with a dark chocolate cocoa and sugar dusting." I tried only one of the holes, since I had my eye on the specialty donuts. It was a standard cake donut, not too dense, and coated in cocoa and sugar. It was what it was. Not particularly interesting, and I didn't really taste that much cocoa.
Delivered, the dozen is $12.50, pickup is $10.
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| Chocolate Bars - $1. Sufganiyot - $2.50. Chocolate Glazed Cronut - $2.50. |
Chocolate Bar: "Raised dough with dark chocolate frosting."
I ordered a bunch of the chocolate glazed bars, since I knew they'd bit a hit with my crowd. They were about double the size of the holes, yet still only $1. I didn't try one, but I'm assuming it was the same dark chocolate frosting as the others, which was fantastic.
Chocolate Glazed Cronut: "A labor of love which blends the best of a donut and a croissant. Our raised donut dough is rolled and folded like a croissant. The result: a unique combination that tastes like a donut with the flaky, layered texture of a croissant. We call this creation 'The Cron't' (rhymes with “don’t”)."
Ojan wanted a cronut, and selected the chocolate glaze. I stole a bite before delivering it to him. It wasn't like other cronuts I've had, in that it wasn't really layered and laminated like a croissant. I think they used the same regular raised donut dough and just folded it differently, rather than frying a laminated dough? It was kinda chewy. So it wasn't really a croissant, and it wasn't really a donut. Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the texture at all. The chocolate ganache on top however was great, very thick, very rich, great chocolate flavor. Cronuts are the most expensive items at $2.50 ($2 at the store), and are basically regular size donuts.
"Raised dough filled with strawberry raspberry jam and dusted with cane sugar. "
This donut was the reason I was excited for Donut Savant. I really, really love a good jelly donut. I didn't know anything about Donut Savant's jelly donuts in particular, I just know they are my favorite donuts, so I couldn't wait to try one from a donut shop that was supposed to be all around great.
Sadly, it was the most disappointing donut I tried. It was just a basic mediocre raised dough donut. The dough didn't seem special in any way, not slightly sweet, and, almost even a bit stale and chewy. It was nicely coated in sugar.
The filling ... also not great. And there wasn't that much of it. Really, everything about this was mediocre.
It was a standard full size donut size, and the most expensive item (besides cronuts) at $2.50. I wouldn't get again.
One of my co-workers loves cinnamon rolls, so, I also got a ton of these.
I ordered a bunch of the chocolate glazed bars, since I knew they'd bit a hit with my crowd. They were about double the size of the holes, yet still only $1. I didn't try one, but I'm assuming it was the same dark chocolate frosting as the others, which was fantastic.
Chocolate Glazed Cronut: "A labor of love which blends the best of a donut and a croissant. Our raised donut dough is rolled and folded like a croissant. The result: a unique combination that tastes like a donut with the flaky, layered texture of a croissant. We call this creation 'The Cron't' (rhymes with “don’t”)."
Ojan wanted a cronut, and selected the chocolate glaze. I stole a bite before delivering it to him. It wasn't like other cronuts I've had, in that it wasn't really layered and laminated like a croissant. I think they used the same regular raised donut dough and just folded it differently, rather than frying a laminated dough? It was kinda chewy. So it wasn't really a croissant, and it wasn't really a donut. Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the texture at all. The chocolate ganache on top however was great, very thick, very rich, great chocolate flavor. Cronuts are the most expensive items at $2.50 ($2 at the store), and are basically regular size donuts.
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| Sufganiyot: Inside. $2.50. |
This donut was the reason I was excited for Donut Savant. I really, really love a good jelly donut. I didn't know anything about Donut Savant's jelly donuts in particular, I just know they are my favorite donuts, so I couldn't wait to try one from a donut shop that was supposed to be all around great.
Sadly, it was the most disappointing donut I tried. It was just a basic mediocre raised dough donut. The dough didn't seem special in any way, not slightly sweet, and, almost even a bit stale and chewy. It was nicely coated in sugar.
The filling ... also not great. And there wasn't that much of it. Really, everything about this was mediocre.
It was a standard full size donut size, and the most expensive item (besides cronuts) at $2.50. I wouldn't get again.
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| Cinnamon Rolls. $1. 007 Sean Pecan-ery. $1.25. |
Cinnamon Roll: "Raised dough cinnamon roll."
I started with a basic cinnamon roll. These were slightly bigger than the smaller donuts, but still much smaller than any other cinnamon rolls I've seen.
It was ... fine. The defining characteristic was the amount of cinnamon, very generous between the folds. Nicely glazed. Overall, solid I guess, but not particularly distinct from other cinnamon rolls, besides the smaller size.
007 Sean Pecan-ery: "Raised dough cinnamon roll with buttercream frosting & toasted pecans."
Of course, I really had my eye on the 007. Why have just a glazed cinnamon roll when you can add frosting and pecans? I liked the addition of the sweet frosting and crunchy pecans, and this was a far more exciting option than the plain cinnamon roll.
And finally, fritters. Because, although I said I love a good jelly donut, I adore a good fritter. I'm a sucker for fritters.
"Raised dough with granny smith apples and cinnamon."
007 Sean Pecan-ery: "Raised dough cinnamon roll with buttercream frosting & toasted pecans."
Of course, I really had my eye on the 007. Why have just a glazed cinnamon roll when you can add frosting and pecans? I liked the addition of the sweet frosting and crunchy pecans, and this was a far more exciting option than the plain cinnamon roll.
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| Apple Fritter. $1.25. |
"Raised dough with granny smith apples and cinnamon."
And these delivered. This was basically the best apple fritter ever. For multiple reasons.
First, let's start with the apple part. They actually had chunks of apple. I know most fritters have some little bits of apple here or there, but in these, you could actually find the chunks, and they were good. And I don't even really care for apple!
The dough was slightly sweet, moist inside, slightly crisp outside, nicely glazed. Very solid.
Next, the size. These were the second largest donuts (besides the cronuts and full size jelly donuts), about twice the size of the small ones, a little bigger than the cinnamon rolls. Literally the most perfect size. Plenty big enough to satisfy, but not pushing you towards feeling gross at all, which can really happen with standard super sized fritters (seriously, why are fritters always so crazy big?). I had one after lunch (yes, after having 3 different donuts that morning), and it still didn't feel like "too much".
I really enjoyed this fritter, and would gladly get another. Hands down favorite item I tried.
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