Y’all know I love all kinds of desserts, ranging from Crumbl Cookies’s cookies to Bright Ice’s ice cream. Of course, I do have my favorite: donuts. Whether they’re vegan or Voodoo, I never pass up the chance to sample a possible new favorite.
Which is why when Sara asked if I wanted to go to Orlando this past weekend to try out The Salty Donut, I jumped all over it. They were running their “City Swap” week, which meant that we could taste some of their donuts typically only available in other cities, all at the Orlando location. The flavors included in the City Swap are Orlando’s Butterbeer, Dallas’ Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake, Miami’s Guava and Cheese, and Austin’s Churro and Dulce De Leche Star.
We placed our orders in advance to avoid them running out of our desired flavors. While doing this, I actually found out that by making a rewards account with The Salty Donut, they had credited me $5 – extra sweet! We got there around 2pm, and it was quiet. I had been warned they often have a long line in the mornings, so we hit it at a great time. You can usually grab pickup orders from their outside window, but since they were fairly empty – and we’d just driven approximately two hours to get there – we opted to eat inside.
Sara and I shared a cheesy brioche pretzel (yum) and a strawberry cinnamon pull apart loaf (okay – we didn’t finish it there) before diving into our donuts. Now friends, there are few foods out there worth driving two hours for, but let me assure you – these donuts were worth the trip.
I started with the toasted coquito, which is made of a 24-hour brioche soaked in homemade coquito. The bottom is crusted with carmelia chocolate, then the donut is finished with cinnamon-infused meringue. It was light and delicious, exactly what I expected when Sara told me it was her go-to. I then dove into the guava and cheese, another 24-hour brioche, but filled with swirled guava and cream cheese, glazed with cream cheese, then topped with pastelito puff pastry. This was hearty and decadent, but oh-so-good.
I could not possibly eat another bite, but I did eat my last donut this morning for breakfast, a classic brown butter and salt. This was a vanilla bean cake donut with a brown butter glaze and topped with sea salt – exactly what I needed to kick off a Monday.
Would I make this trip every weekend? No, but that’s mostly because gas is crazy expensive. For a special occasion, this was absolutely worth the drive to Orlando (or Miami, or Austin, or Dallas), and I expect that I’ll be making it again soon. Anyone want to join in on my next donut trek? 😉