Two years ago, I started training a lot. As in working out for a good two hours every single day and tracking every calorie that went into my body kind of a lot. I knew every food item's nutrition facts like the back of my hand, and planned what I was having for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for days ahead. I would have these epiphanies once a month where I'd try to prove to myself that I could still indulge every now and then but the moment I'd have a cookie, I'd feel an insane amount of guilt. I'd work out double my usual time for the next few days and question how much control I really had over my lifestyle. Over a silly cookie.
All that to say, these "healthy habits" made me develop some "unhealthy habits" which I can proudly say I've dealt with this past summer. I cut back on my training and stopped tracking my food intake and can now indulge without guilt. Which brings me to my latest local food-obsession and favourite indulgence in a while, Trou de Beigne.
I haven't had a donut in forever. I was never a fan of Tim Hortons' or Dunkin Donuts' donuts cause well... they tasted like they were frozen. Which I'm fairly certain they are. So fast forward to last week, when I came across Trou de Beigne's Instagram feed which showcases homemade, freshly-made, delivered-to-your-door donuts.
Is this real life? Oh, is it ever.
I placed my order on the Tuesday for a Friday delivery - don't want to give myself too many opportunities to stress eat (Work, amiright?!?!) Anyhow, I ordered a dozen donuts: you can choose maximum 3 flavours per dozen so I went with Maple Bacon, Salted Caramel, and Green Tea Matcha. Are you drooling yet?
So on Friday, this box of happiness arrived.
I'm such a sucker for pretty packaging. And this is some pretty packaging.
The first donut I tried was the Maple Bacon one. When I was browsing different flavours to order, this was a no-brainer: I've always been a fan of maple-glazed donuts and well... a maple-glazed donut topped with bacon is not exactly the kind of donut you say "no" to. But I digress - this was a hella tasty treat. The maple glaze isn't hard and cakey like the ones from big-box donut shops. It's a tad sweeter and actually tastes like real maple syrup, whereas big-box shop donuts have a simili-maple glaze. The pieces of bacon on top give each bite a salted aftertaste which balances the sweetness - it's absolutely heavenly. I think my only wish is that the bacon flavour was a teensy-weensy bit more prominent.
Donut score: 9/10
A few hours later, I heard my name being called... And there was that Salted Caramel donut staring back at me. Oh, hello. Disclaimer here, so maybe take anything in the following few lines with a grain of salt: I actually hate caramel. Most people find this disgraceful, sinful, downright sacrilegious, and well, I don't really care. I don't enjoy it, I'm not sure why, I just never have. So why did I order Salted Caramel donuts? I like sweet and salty flavour combos, and what's more sweet and salty than a Salted Caramel donut?
The glaze was very gooey - I believe that this is one of those qualities of caramel that makes it caramel so that was interesting. I definitely prefer this kind of "glaze" over the usual hard glazes as the flavour is more defined. The first note that hits your palate is the caramel with a subtle hint of cinnamon, followed up with a hint of salt. It was definitely a good flavour overall, though I don't think I'd order it again because well... caramel. I don't need that much of it in my life. That being said, if you like caramel, you'll probably really really really love this donut.
Donut score: 6/10
And last but not least - the Green Tea Matcha donut. Going into this donut-eating-bonanza, this was the one I was most excited about: I'm gaga for anything green tea-flavoured... and this donut did not disappoint! Firstly, let's talk about how unique a flavour this is for a donut... OK good, we've let that sink in.
The glaze reminded me a lot of the green-tea cream coating on Green Tea Matcha Pocky sticks: it was very creamy and the flavour was spot on. It's topped with Rice Krispies, which also gives it a nice overall texture as the glaze is "fluffy" and the Rice Krispies has a good crunch to them. This was definitely my favourite donut of the bunch. It had me literally sighing with pleasure after each bite. This flavour was also the BF's favourite, which is super weird since the BF tends to not like unconventional flavours. Definitely give this one a shot!
Donut score: 10/10
And here we are - Sunday night - and the box is empty. I swear, I had people over and didn't eat ALL of them to myself... though I with all honesty lost count how many I did have to myself.
If you're in Montreal, what are you waiting for? Order yourself a box (or two) at www.troudebeigne.com. I know I'll be getting another box for next weekend.