Crosstown Doughnuts, 29th July

Well Crosstown Doughnuts, I expected more from you and you let me down. But then totally redeemed yourselves.

How so? Well, let me explain.

On a sunny day at Lovebox, instead of the usual summer treat of ice cream, we decided to have a doughnut from Crosstown while we sat in the shade and listened to some 90s R n B. They had several smaller doughnuts with interesting flavours (3 for £5) or a single, classic vanilla iced doughnut for £3.50. I chose that. And wished I hadn’t. The glaze was tasty enough but the doughnut itself? A bit too dry (horrible memories of Dum Dum Donutterie surfaced) and too airy – practically the whole top of mine was a hole.

My friends had also chosen the same and we all shrugged with complacency when we’d finished it. Not much to get excited about.

And yet, something made me think I should give them another chance. Pictures I’d seen of other doughnuts of theirs looked much more inviting. And fortuitously, they can be found daily at Leather Lane – just five minutes away from my office.

So, I went back. And had one hell of a heavenly doughnut. Sea salted caramel banana cream. A filled doughnut with caramel glaze, sticky toffee and cakey crumbled bits, with a wobbly, thick banana custard inside. The topping was more cinder toffee than just salted caramel, giving a deliciously burnt edge to the otherwise very sweet pastry. The dough on its own was still slightly dry, but meant it was a more than able prison for the abundant custard (that was just the right side of bananaey), not allowing it to get too boisterous and fall out all over the place, getting your fingers all sticky.

Do not go to Leather Lane without getting one of these.

But finally – a word on their paper bags. They are high quality bags, the type of bag you feel guilty throwing away. What is the point of them? I appreciate the feel of the heavy paper and the pretty branding on them, but it seems like a bit of a waste of money. It is, ultimately just going to be thrown away (don’t worry – I use the recycling bin). As long as the doughnut inside is up to scratch, fancy paper is irrelevant!