A region rich in circular treats
Three local shrines to the art of making creative doughnuts
Doughnuts — those perfectly designed, pristine sugary pastries — are essentially works of art in the hands of the right baker. People will travel far and wide for a ring of dough coated in a glossy glaze. Lucky for us the Capital Region has a variety of options.
Cider Belly
25 N. Pearl St., Albany 518-253-4640
The now-chain Cider Belly is currently doing curbside pickups at their Pearl Street location. As you can tell by the name, the base of all their creations is the classic cider doughnut. If you’re more of a plain Jane and appreciate the flavor of the actual doughnut itself the most, you can opt for something like the Sugar Daddy rolled in cinnamon sugar, or the cider glazed cider doughnut they named the Ol’albany. In addition to the classics, they make a variety of flavors like vanilla, German chocolate, pear, maple drizzle, cappuccino, fresh Maine blueberry (my favorite), lemon, classic sprinkles. To order, all you do is just text or call 518-2534640 the day before you want to pick them up. And you can grab a freshly brewed coffee or a hot cider to dunk your doughnut in.
King Donut Cart in Cambridge
108 W. Main St., Cambridge 518-677-3530
The aesthetic alone of this adorable doughnut cart located in Cambridge is reason enough to visit. They make sizable soft chewy pillowy doughnuts like the classic glazed — their most popular — with flakes of sugary glaze cracking off with each bite. They make apple fritters, cream-filled doughnuts,
doughnuts filled with a variety of jams and jellies from rhubarb to raspberry. For the non-doughnut crowd, they have creamy cheese Danishes, buttery flakey croissants, and fresh pies for special occasions.
Darling Doughnuts
441-B Broadway, Saratoga Springs 518-430-2018
For a while, Darling Doughnuts was operating solely out of a commercial kitchen to supply pop-up shops. The kitchen was shut down during the pandemic, but they are planning for a July opening of their own brick and mortar store in Saratoga Springs, which will feature a rotating menu of 50 flavors (10 at a time). Natascha
Pearl-mansman, co-owner with business partner Glenn Severance, said their flavors are naturally derived, coming from ingredients like real fruit and coffee.
“I actually come from an art background,” explained Natasha. “I went to school for fine arts, so before starting a food business I was making art and having gallery shows.” Natasha decided that she wanted to be creative and think of a way to stay home once her daughter was born that would still pay the bills. She always baked for fun and started making doughnuts using flavors like cranberry orange, a variety of cereals, tropical fruits, or based on churros and cookies. They even have doughrogis, stuffed doughnuts in the halfmoon shapes of pierogi.