Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Voodoo Revisited #4

Continued from part 3 (to get the most out of your Blognut experience, and to familiarize yourself with any necessary back-story, make sure to read Voodoo Revisited in chronological order)

It was now Monday morning. Having nearly kicked our sugar hangover, Mrs. Blognut and I were more than ready for our next batch of Doughnuts. We rolled up to Voodoo around 10:00 that morning agreeing to avoid anything even remotely involving cereal. Now Blognut loves Doughnuts. And Blognut loves eating lots of Doughnuts in a short amount of time. But the 5+ Nuts we had the day before may have been slightly over-ambitious. When embarking on a 4-day Doughnut binge, one must pace oneself. So this time we only ordered three: a Blazer Blunt, a Grape Ape, and an Arnold Palmer.

We then took our Bag of Nuts down the street to another Portland staple – Stumptown Coffee. With a DJ table in the back, and ambient electronica pulsing through the room, the ultra-modern Stumptown space definitely lacks the warm and friendly atmosphere most indie coffee shops try so hard to achieve. But they're well aware of their disaffected coolness, happy to serve the slews of tattooed hipsters who pour into the place throughout the day. We each ordered a house blend, took a seat at a very Jetsons-looking V-shaped glass table in the back and prepared to take a long hard drag from the Blazer Blunt.

Most likely based on the assumption that NBA players like to smoke up, the BB was created in honor of the Portland Trailblazers. A cinnamon yeast donut, tapered just like the real thing, with maple frosting and blazing red sprinkles on the tip, this blunt could most definitely hold its own against Cheech and Chong's fat zeppelin. On game days, if the Blazers score 85 points the Blunt sells for $.85, if they don't it goes for $1. The dough is Voodoo's standard issue yeast-raised – light, a little chewy and filled with negative space – coated with a perfectly balanced cinnamon-sugar mixture. The frosting harks back to our Sunday afternoon Maple Bar while the sprinkles provide a final bit of texture to this wonderful and innovative Nut. Plus the convenient elongated shape makes it easy to eat.

Once finished with both coffee and Blunt, we headed back to the hotel to pack up for our day trip to the rocky Oregon coast. It was here that we enjoyed our second Nut of the day, the Grape Ape. Again, the Ape is a yeast-raised Doughnut, but this time smeared with vanilla frosting and sprinkled with bright purple "grape powder" (whatever that is). This Nut is pure genius, really some of Voodoo's finest work. There's really not much to say about it other than that it tastes like a big swig of Grape Crush, and is so far our favorite Voodoo Doughnut.

Our final Nut of the day is another feat of flavor ingenuity, named for the famed summertime enjoyment, the Arnold Palmer (half iced tea and half lemonade). Just like the drink, this small, plain-cake Doughnut, topped with vanilla frosting and sprinkled with lemon and tea powder tastes light, sugary and refreshing. It soon has us sitting poolside with a lobster-red sun burn and a big bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, a common Blognut childhood occurrence often accompanied by mom's self-mixed Palmer. The best part of the AP is a single green Fruit Loop frozen mid-fall into the Doughnut hole.

We finished the Nut, hopped in the car and began our windy, mountainous drive to the coast.

Doughnut Scores:

Blazer Blunt -


Grape Ape (Blognut loves faux grape) -


Arnold Palmer -

To be continued...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just curious, is J Dilla's Doughnuts your favorite album of the year?

-ajd

k said...

Your Yankee is showing a little bit: Here in your Sometimes-Home-Town, that wonderful drink is more properly called a Blue Moon Iced Tea. Word on the street has it that we'll be quaffing those in their home on Main St. again come November.
Yours again with the Cville food history corrections,
K

bstetka said...

Gotta go with my northern side on this one. A Blue Moon Iced Tea Doughnut just doesn't roll of the tongue like Mr. Palmer.

Anonymous said...

I'll roll with Blognut on this one. It's an Arnold Palmer. And they are delicious.

-ajd

Anonymous said...

Try Daylight Donuts 22 Genesee St New Hartford,N.Y Voted # 1 Best of Best Donuts

bstetka said...

#1 Best of Best Donuts is an impressive honor.