From old-fashioned rings to maple bars to apple fritters, we've blind taste-tested a litany (and a gluttony) of Bend's best doughnuts, leaping around from flavored icing to fanciful toppings. But like the kids on my son's basketball teams that I've coached, we spent so much time heaving trick shots that we've neglected the fundamentals. So this roundup is where we get back to basics, doughnut-style, with glazed raised doughnuts. No bacon crumbles. No jelly filling. No breakfast cereal toppings. Just fried dough sweetened with a rudimentary glaze. Just like brewers know quotidian pilsners are one of the toughest styles to brew because they reveal any flaws, bakers rightly revere glazed doughnuts as the canvas on which to make their art shine the brightest.
With the nearest Krispy Kreme a three-hour drive away, we visited six Central Oregon doughnut makers. Four had the desired delicacy and two claimed the customer beforehand bought the last ones — though one offered up glazed doughnut holes in the ring's stead, which, let it be acknowledged, is not apples to apples. All were judged blind by an all-new cohort ranging in age and doughnut preferences, including one judge who previously thought glazed doughnuts were a waste.
As the leader in leading these quarterly roundups, Sisters Bakery excels at perfecting the fundamentals and this, the puffiest and most tubular of all the rings in this lineup, illustrates why. All seven judges had it among their top two, commending its flavor ("good sweetness," "balanced," "buttery") and texture ("nicely chewy," "balanced," "perfect crackiness (sic) of the glaze"). $2.75.
From the reigning people's choice winner of Best Doughnuts and with a one-point distinction between this silver medalist and the following bronze, judges were all about how "fluffy," "light" and "airy" this glazed workhorse is. Everyone also appreciated how it strikes the right level of sweetness, though one judge remarked it "lacked umph." The constant lines indicate that people's choice award validates local election integrity. $1.50
Visually, none of the competitors have the sugary sheen this one boasts. But that glaze didn't translate to the palate, as "not too (or super) sweet" was a common refrain. Underneath that glint, opinions varied on the texture as ranging from "flaky" to "doughy," sometimes within the same bite and ultimately feeling more like baked bread than fried dough. $2.
This example didn't have any detractors, nor did it impress anyone, thus earning middling scores. The sweetness level was deemed more than appropriate, while the mouthfeel was dinged as "too dense" or "too doughy" (sometimes both). $2
Admittedly, it's not fair play bringing donut holes to a raised ring fight, but this is both "for science" and an "inexact science." It garnered two very high scores but that means five were low. One judge opined it proffers the "perfect density" while others deemed it to be "too chewy," "too firm," and "too crunchy." $3.50/dozen donut holes.
