603 Cafe, Canaan, NH

I love a good local story.  A passionate owner.  *And* a good product.

Which is exactly what you'll find at 603 Bakery and Cafe, in Canaan, NH.

The story?  Yup, a local woman, who, at literally only 18 years old, opened her own cafe.  Her dad, who works a regular full time job, is the ... the donut man, and gets up crazy early to make the doughnuts.  He parents helped her pay the initial rent, and, well, she took it from there.

But 603 Bakery and Cafe has rolled with it, somehow, pivoting from in-person cafe, to takeout, to even adding an ice cream (and hot dog!) stand over the summer.

"Local Cafe. Espresso & Specialty Coffee, Homemade Baked Goods & Full Breakfast Menu & Lunch! Home of the Best Breakfast Sandwich & Almost Famous Doughnut!"

It opened in 2019.  Yes, not able to be open all that long before the crazy year of 2020 happened.

I can't tell you about the cafe experience.  Nor about their breakfast and lunch menus, which seem highly regarded.  The only items I have tried is those (almost!) famous donuts, because during my time staying with family in the COVID summer of 2020, those are what my own lovely parents helped supply me with, knowing how much I, well, love donuts.

Packaging.

My dad surprised me one mid-morning, kinda just grinning as he set this on the counter, without a word.  I smiled too as soon as I saw the bag.

I loved the stamp on it, their logo, featuring the state of NH, and the slogan "Keepin' in Canaan" (the town it is located in).  Cute.

And of course, the signature grease of New England style donuts, so very fried, the grease just soaking through.

I knew what I was in for, just like a few days prior when my mom brought me donuts from The Marsh Brothers Deli at the Little Store (review coming soon!).

Plain Jelly Stick.

My father picked our goodies, and went for the "famous" jelly stick (definitely what I was interested in!), and selected all plain ones (they also make a sugar coated one).

I'll admit I wished he had opted for some sugared too, and really did want to try a raised donut as well, but the plain jelly stick was a great place to start.

He brought home 4, for, us, two of us.  Yup, Dad is just like me when it comes to "goobers" (his word for donuts and the like).

The exterior of the donut was precisely as I expected - fried, crispy.  It was really nicely done though - yes it was fried, yes it was oily, but it didn't taste like bad oil in any way.  Classic dense cake donut texture inside.  For this style of donut, I'd say it is in the top 3 I've ever had.  Dad even said it was "on par with Muriels", which is *seriously* saying something (see review).

Plain Jelly Stick: Inside.

I was equally pleased when I cut into it.

The jelly was perfectly distributed throughout, went full to both ends.  The amount was not extensive, definitely more donut than jelly, but it was well distributed.  The jelly (actually, jam, it had seeds) was seemingly good quality too, not just generic goo, fruity, sweet but not too sweet.

The whole thing together was a very well executed donut that wasn't actually too sweet.  Sometimes jelly donuts/sticks can be far too sweet, with too much filling, or overly sweet filling, and this was just balanced in ratios and taste.

That said, I actually did want something a touch sweeter and I think the sugared version would be fantastic.  I'm glad we tried this first though, because if it was too fried, that wouldn't have worked well with the sugar coating (it gets all greasy and gross), or if it had too much or too sweet filling, the sugar would be overkill.

I don't think I want another, as I realize I've outgrown this fried crispy style of donut since I moved away, but I think this is likely the best of this style that I've ever had, and my Dad was major fan.

Glazed Raised Donut.

A few weeks later, mom showed up with goodies, this time later afternoon, although she had picked up in the morning.  She went for more traditional ring donuts.

The glazed raised donut was a pretty standard, good, glazed raised donut.  Nicely risen.  Lofty.  Kinda huge.  Well glazed.

The base is just a basic yeasted base, nothing really to it, and I do prefer something with a bit of ... oooph?  A little sweet potato like Johnny Doughnuts (love them!) or even just some tang like Stan's (literally, the best glazed raised donuts ever!) would be nice.

So overall, fine, good, and if I was craving a glazed donut I'd get another, but, it wasn't something I'd go out of my way for.

Sprinkle Coated Donut.

The sprinkle coated one was the same lofty, very large, base, but this time, it was coated in icing and sprinkles.  REALLY coated in icing and sprinkles.  

I'm all for well coated, and I love sprinkles, but with that much icing, and that much sprinkles, it was just way, way too sweet.  Even warmed up a la mode, it was just too much.

I wouldn't get this again, but my little niece was quite pleased, heh.

Sugar Coated Cake Donut / Glazed Cake Donut.

For completeness, even though I have concluded I don't like the fried style of cake donut around town, I did try the cake donuts, both sugared and glazed, during one final treat run by my mom.

They were the same base as the jelly sticks, dense, decent, but no old fashioned or buttermilk flavor that I wanted.  And, just like jelly sticks, *crazy* crispy and fried.  Which, if you want that sort of donut, makes them a very very good donut.  It is the style people here love. But for me, a bit too fried.  

The sugar coating went well with the style, as I suspected it would when I tried the jelly stick.  The crispy exterior and sugar were basically churro-like, minus the cinnamon.  The glaze I liked more, because it was sweet and soft and soaked up some of the grease, but, the sugar coating really was a better match.

I'm glad I tried these, but I certainly am over cake style donuts from New England.  At least for now ...