So Donut Cooperative is out. But charming doughnuts still have a champion in the very new Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Ave. The shop opened on February 20 and it’s come out fighting. Not only have owners Teresa Fox and Arwyn Birch (Can I get a yowzer for those beautiful names?) remade former Ly Sandwich & Bakery into a blushing vintage beauty, they’re showing doughnuts with vivid style, vampy stage names, and lots of promise.
The case is filled with enough strains of cake, raised, and filled doughnuts to make you cry. Pink, orange-red, and dark chocolate colors dominate the display, and tasters will notice a penchant for spice among the best of them. Raised doughnuts start at $1.50, cake doughnuts at $1.25, and all filled are a flat $3. A half dozen is $13 and a full dozen will set you back $25. Also, the shop serves Intelligentsia Coffee that’s good for dunking.
Some of our favorites are the fat-bellied raised doughnuts. The Bombshell acts like a Bismarck filled with gorgeous chocolate custard jacked with cinnamon and heat. It’s silky and loose and recalls that real, cooked-milk flavor of homemade pudding. Unfortunately, a vanilla bean custard-filled doughnut called the Dark Angel just can’t compete. Its innards ran straight down our forearms after the first bite.
Luckily, the raised Calendar Girl brings it with dark chocolate frosting and a healthy daub of smooth, salted caramel. Our only complaint is about texture. Among the raised doughnuts, we noticed an irritating chewiness here and there that defeats the purpose of the genre. The signature Glam Doll long john is the biggest culprit. It may be slathered in eye-popping pink icing, but we suggest you skip it.
Cake doughnuts get it right, though. Each one we tasted was moist with a slight crust and tight crumb. The rumored Sriracha-squiggled Chart Topper (top photo) has a good thing going, gathering a nice heat that tangos with subtle peanut butter frosting in likeable Thai food fashion. We really wanted more peanut butter, though. This is breakfast dessert, after all. It’s meant to be decadent. That’s where the Showgirl long john enters, screaming with familiar maple sweetness countered by thick, salty bacon. Purists will love this one.
Possibly the cutest of all is the Peek-a-boo (above, right), a tres leches cake in doughnut form. The doughnut’s cake base is soaked judiciously with sweet milk, just the way it should be, topped with unsweetened (good call!) whipped cream and a cheeky little cherry. The nutmeg in this one really shines. Seriously, why hasn’t this been done before?
Glam Doll seems set to make grabbing doughnuts an experience. They’re open until 1am on weekends and hope to secure a permit to stay open even later, to serve those prowling Eat Street near dawn. The shop is a sprawling thing too, with Mad Men-style nooks to sit in and a photo booth near the back. Whether or not the late-night crowd will catch on is a wonder, but for now, the doughnuts are good.
Doughnuts on Eat Street in Minneapolis
2605 Nicollet Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612.345.7064
OWNERS: Teresa Fox and Arwyn Birch
HOURS: Mon-Wed 7am-9pm
Thurs-Sat 7am-1am
Sun 7am-3pm
BAR: Coffee and espresso
RESERVATIONS / RECOMMENDED?: No
VEGTARIAN / VEGAN: Yes / No
ENTREE RANGE: $1.25-3
It’s a shame getting a donut is now a Hipster event.