Behind the scenes look of one of Edmonton’s favourite doughnut shops
There’s nothing quite like that pink box of goodness showing up at the office or a party. Doughnut Party is a staple for pastry lovers in Edmonton. So, on National Doughnut Day (June 7, 2024) we wanted to find out the (w)hole story about Doughnut Party. Here’s our Q and A with co-owner Simon Underwood.
Knowing that you started as Moonshine Doughnuts when you were selling at Farmers Markets, where did the name Doughnut Party come from when you opened your first storefront in 2017?
We came up with so many names, but nothing really landed until Doughnut Party. We wanted something cute and we wanted something fun. We almost chose Doughnut Parade but then there was another shop in the U.S. with that name; I think Doughnut Party was the next name we came up with - another P word. We love the name and it still brings me a lot of happiness that we chose it and that the name has connected with so many people. It's very bright and positive and speaks to what we like about food - that it brings people together!
Doughnut Party comes up with so many different and interesting flavours, what is the process behind deciding on your flavours?
We used to come up with all of the flavours as a duo but soon learned that the expression about ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ has some truth to it!
So, Matthew largely makes the menu and if there's anything I want to add or suggest, I send it to him in an email to mull over. Ultimately, he's the head chef and does an amazing job putting together a monthly selection that includes classic flavours and new concepts. He'll put together a rough idea of what we're going to make and then we'll meet and tweak it.
We like to think about the colours and how each of the donuts will look visually together in the display case and in the doughnut box. Presentation is super important to us - we want to spark joy every time someone sees one of our doughnuts!
Matthew takes inspiration from trends in desserts, from places we've travelled to, from cocktail menus - he's always looking around and finding something new and something that might excite our customers.
If the flavour is brand new, we'll do some testing in the kitchen, which we have to do fast, just because we're changing the flavours so often! We keep our kitchen on their toes - we're lucky to have amazing bakery staff who also enjoy getting to be creative!
What would you say has been the best flavour?
One of our best flavours is our Bernadette (rosemary, lavender, chocolate, and sea salt) which was inspired by a Christmas cookie that a friend brought to our book club. You can really taste all of the notes, and it's one of our lighter doughnuts, which I'm always drawn to. For a doughnut, it's very elegant!
Another one that we love is the Salty Witch. It started as a Halloween doughnut and is a case where the name of the doughnut came before the flavour - Matthew really liked the name. It has chocolate, peanut butter, saltines, and caramel; it is definitely more decadent, but it's so good that we have it on the menu at all times of the year!
On National Doughnut Day this year we'll also have the Big Gay Wedding doughnut which has a name that we also love - it has lemon, coconut, snickerdoodle, blueberry, and sprinkles, and is sort of like an over-the-top doughnut wedding cake inspired by the most recent Royal Wedding flavours with a rainbow twist!
Are there flavours you dreamed up, tried it and then maybe it was a flop?
In terms of a flop, haha, there's been a few. We did a GORP donut once (Good Old Raisins and Peanuts) which never seemed to have enough raisins and peanuts, and a Tom Yum soup doughnut which we liked but definitely did not sell.
Some of our favourite doughnuts are the polarizing ones like our Dill Pickle Twist. People either like it or they really don't like it.
Are new flavours on the horizon?
Sometimes I think it would be easier if we stopped inventing new flavours, haha, but it's really part of the fun and what inspires Matthew the most, and it's important to keep having fun with what you do. Matthew has a note on his phone with 400 flavour ideas!
Sometimes cost is the most prohibitive part of doing some really wild flavours; commodity prices are all over the map at the moment, mostly getting more expensive, so usually that's the limit for us! We usually find a way, though - that's also part of the fun of what we do.