Homestead Donuts

Bakery: Homestead Donuts 
Address: 50 Lakeport Rd, St. Catharines, ON
Website: n/a 
Style: Doughnuts 
Price: $ 

Operating out of what looks like a former Tim Hortons or Country Style, this small-town doughnut shop isn't anything fancy; it's far from being a gourmet doughnut shop - though they do have more old-school flavours than you might expect. Essentially, it's probably what used to be more prevalent before the big chain took over and ruined independent doughnut stops forever: simple doughnuts and coffee.

Homestead serves about two dozen different types of doughnuts, both cake and yeast; some are labelled, some are not. Expect all the classic flavours, like chocolate dipped, sprinkle, fritters along with some more unique - or least more rare - kinds like their cherry sticks, Black Forest, and coconut.

 I grabbed a fritter, blueberry to be exact, the simple sugar twist and a jelly doughnut. The glaze on the jelly was a bit thick to tell, but just by looking at the cracked and brittle glaze on the fritter, I could tell these weren't at peak freshness. Taking a bite, my fears and suspicions were confirmed: both the fritter and the sugar twist weren't necessarily stale, but were sorely lacking that amazing "fresh doughnut" feel you get when biting into a great doughnut. Maybe it was simply the doughnuts were too doughy and didn't have that fluffy texture on the inside that I love? Without a doubt, the jelly was by far the best, but I felt a bit let down. Maybe it's too hard to keep up with all the flavours and you lose track of what was baked when? Not sure, but I would have loved to give this place a higher rating.

Rating: **