Tahini in a Donut?

Sofra says F*** YEA WHY NOT?! Just visited this really cozy cafe on the edge of Cambridge, perfect setting for a morning coffee and some homemade breakfasts.

But I came here for the DONUTS, particularly the legendary trio that Sofra only makes on the weekend:

First off, the main reason I walked all the way over here, the tahini brown-butter donut with a salted caramel ganache. To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure what ingredients went into which part of the donut; I say that because I dunno if I really tasted a salted caramel nuance, it was mostly a semisweet chocolate mix with the touches of sesame seeds. Alternatively there could have been some tahini in the ganache? Idk what magical donut sorcery was involved. That doesn't mean it wasn't good! The lovely chocolate ganache bathed the fried dough so beautifully, and the tahini filling surprised me; it wasn't grainy like I had expected - it was a pretty smooth, sweet custard that showcased the distinct sesame tahini flavor.

So....this is a pretty lousy picture for showcasing the actual tahini because I kinda just nommmmed after taking the picture. There was actually WAAY more filling - I have included a figure for reference:

Next up, the Persian spice donut. I have no idea what authentic Persian spice is supposed to taste like; essentially this delicious fluffy bundle of joy tasted like a churro, so................................................persian spice = cinnamon??? O__o ? At any rate, think of certain variations of bunuelos, or shakoy.

And one of the BEST donuts I've ever had, Sofra's pistachio, meyer lemon and rose donut:

Mixing some pretty prominent lemon tartness (not overpowering) in the dough, the unique pistachio aroma and crunch adds a dynamic that's a step above your average glazed. I had a similar donut at Dynamo in SF, but Dynamo's raised pistachio lemon didn't have as rich of a flavor as Sofra's cake version. I didn't pick up a strong rose flavor, but I'm assuming it was mixed in the icing? Either way, Sofra shows that lemon and pistachio are a potent combo. The actual dough was also quite oily, which made it FREAKING DELICIOUS :D This donut may prove to be an invaluable hangover cure.

Back with Orangesicle and Lucky Charm Donuts :D

1.5 years since I started this with slightly pointless posts, but I'm now trying to revitalize the Donut Bounty Hunter with a catchier name and more food-centric chronicling (catchier name in progress)! Badjillions of pictures from 2013 sit in my drive and I don't even remember where some of them were taken :( but I'm going to dig those up and hopefully recall some tantalizing details about them, as well  as documenting new food adventures:

Pop up restaurants have been kind of a thing for a while, I guess, and one of Boston's gems is Stephanie Cmar's Stacked Donuts. 

Like other food stops that have specific items hosted by an ever-changing list of venues, Stacked Donuts has appeared in a few places in the Boston area. Cmar makes 2 or 3 flavors to sell each week beginning mid-morning until sold out. This week was Commonwealth in Cambridge:

I couldn't not check it out, so I ended up in line for about 25 minutes. I hate lines. But the things I'll do for donuts.... At $3 a piece I went for all 3 creations:

 Dark Chocolate Toffee

 Orange Creamsicle

Lucky Charms

All 3 are raised donuts: the toffee was the doughiest one, the best bites were with the large toffee chunks that complimented the dark chocolate icing. An appropriate alternative name would be the Heath bar donut. Very delicious but probably my least favorite of the three:

Orange creamsicle had an orange zest glaze that burst with citrus-y goodness, but the magic was this (vanilla-ish?) filling that had mooooore orangesicle flavor, not as viscous as most custards you'll find, and it turned out to be a great interpretation of an ice cream truck classic. MMMmmmm...childhood.

The donut of the hour, however, had to be the Lucky Charms; granted, it's a weird experience at the first bite because cereal on top of sugary fried dough makes you go "wait whuuuhhhh???" but it turned out to be a welcome crunchy compliment to the fluffy fried dough. Sitting atop the Seuss-like multicolored interior were the classic marshmallows, though I only managed to identify bits of the blue moons, pots of gold, and me red balloons. Despite being the largest of the 3 the Lucky Charms donut wasn't filled, HOWEVER the best part was the center where oily dough converged with this gob of icing, entrapping some charms to make for the best bite of the day (magical center unfortunately not pictured :[ ). 

Mmmm...more childhood.