A doughnut should be light, soft and slightly buttery just as the ones from Bombolini Doughnuts were when I recently road tested some for Geoff.
He’s the owner and the baker of Canberra’s very own delightful artisan custard-filled doughnuts.I recently caught up with Geoff to find out more about Bombolini Doughnuts and to see when Canberrans can get their mouths around these delicious treats.
All the way from Edinburgh in the UK, Geoff undertook a maths degree before realising his passion for the hospitality industry. So he made the switch and has been in the industry for five years working in Michelin-starred restaurants to cafes. He met his Canberran girlfriend in the UK and moved back with her a year ago.
He’s always had the desire to venture out on his own so he started to make doughnuts with the aim of producing refined boutique products.
“I want them to be the best doughnuts in Canberra but I don’t want to follow the glutton food craze,” he said.
“There will be 8-10 custard and jam flavours from vanilla and chocolate as well as specialised flavours.”
I tried the butterscotch custard with toasted macadamia nut, white chocolate and pink grapefruit custard, chocolate custard with raspberry jam puree, and rhubarb and star anise ripple with a pecan crumble topping.
My favourite was the butterscotch because I’m a sucker for butterscotch and macadamia nuts! It was filled with sweet, smooth, creamy butterscotch custard and topped with a few macadamia nuts. The doughnuts themselves were soft and slightly buttery with a little crispness on the outside, covered in sugar and filled to the brim with creamy, smooth custard.
They were really delicious and I enjoyed them all!
I asked Geoff how he gets the doughnuts so perfect and he explained the process to me.
“The yeasted dough is enriched and zesty. It is left to proof for a day, to develop sourdough like flavours and enhance the zest flavour.
“After portioned it is left to rise until it has tripled in size and then it’s fried at a high temperature.
“This creates a cloud like doughnut full of flavour and not at all greasy.
“It is tossed in vanilla sugar and piped full of handmade filling ranging from flavoured crème patisserie to homemade jams.
“The final touch is topping them with a garnish for textural, flavour or colour contrast,” he said.
So that’s why they’re like cloudy balls of heaven!
Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, where can you get them?
Geoff and his doughnuts will be making his debut this Saturday at the Capital Region Farmers Market from 7:30am and he will also be at the Southside Farmers Market on Sundays.
He will be making a regular appearance at the markets on weekends. If you love them enough he’s hoping to one day open his own store where you’ll be able to get doughnuts and other yummy treats.
He has also teamed up with The Floral Society and every delivery of flowers made on Wednesday gets a free doughnut! Doughnuts and flowers? What a combo!
I received the doughnuts free of charge but I wrote this post because I loved the product and I’m passionate about supporting local businesses and sharing food news with you.
Amelia Bidgood
Amelia is the Founder and Editor of Eat Canberra and the Founder and Managing Director of Eat Canberra Food Tours. She's a qualified journalist, presenter, freelance writer and also runs a boutique communications agency working with small business owners on all things social media, content creation and marketing. She's taught cheesemaking classes, judged hospitality and tourism awards, completed the WSET Level 1 Award In Wines, loves to cook and has travelled to 23 countries. She's also passionate about mental health and has recently started studying to become a Counsellor.