TORONTO DOUGHNUT FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY DUFFERIN MALL

Five hundred sweet-toothed Torontonians descended on Dufferin Mall in June for the second annual Toronto Doughnut Festival. This sugar-fuelled scavenger hunt dispatched attendees to sampling stations scattered throughout the mall. There were more than a dozen different doughnuts to try, ranging from classic to seriously out there.

Cheese Boutique’s Italian-style bombe were superpopular, as one would expect given that they were filled with Nutella, dulce de leche, vanilla custard, or raspberry or blueberry jelly. Chef Jagger Gordon got savoury with his, creating a grilled cheese doughnut stuffed with American and Swiss, and topped with a tomato-basil icing. 10tation Catering’s vanilla cake doughnut was dipped in rich chocolate and finished with a sprinkling of sponge toffee. Apiecalypse Now’s classic cinnamon twists were somehow simultaneously light and chewy. Daddy O’s cloud-like yeast doughnuts were covered in a dense chocolate ganache and Reese’s Pieces. Janchenko’s served up traditional Polish ponchiki filled with tart plum purée. Loukoumania served Greek deep-fried loukoumades coated in raspberry jelly. Sorelle and Co.’s creations were vegan, gluten-free and soy-free. Sunshine Doughnuts brought an early taste of the CNE with a cotton candy and bubble gum doughnut. Tre Mari Bakery whipped up maple-coated vanilla doughnuts. Tori’s kept it classic (and vegan) with a vanilla cake doughnut. And Von Doughnuts took a yeast base, dipped it in caramel and drizzled it with dark chocolate.

In addition, Tim Hortons provided hot coffee and cold drinks, No Frills supplied water, Davids Tea provided iced raspberry tea, and Starbucks served up peach-citrus white tea.

After all that, attendees got to bring home a mix-and-match six-pack of doughnuts.

For more pictures from the event, visit torontolife.com/events/doughnutfest