百年檜木甜甜圈 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 百年檜木甜甜圈 (100 year-old cypress doughnuts) 

Address: No. 4 Fenqihu, Zhuqi Township, Chiayi County

Website: facebook 

Style: Doughnuts

Price: $ 

 

Ha ha am I going on a doughnut review spree? It started out unintentionally, but now I'm curious how far I can go by digging through my list of bakeries I still need to write posts for.  The small village of Fenqihu is currently the final stop of the Alishan forest railway, but it's known for something else besides trains, forests and tea. Baked doughnuts. Without a doubt, there's some sort of baked doughnut culture going on in town and I was there to check it out. 

With one stall located directly across the street from the small park dedicated to the 100 year old cypress and another around the corner on a side street (I actually thought they were two different stalls at first, but they not only have the same name, but the same family can be found running both), the specialty here is baked doughnuts. It may not sound exciting, but they're not what you think. 

 

Layered croissant-like dough is kneaded and arranged in doughnut-shaped moulds and baked in a machine that's similar to a waffle iron. The result is incredibly flaky, golden brown doughnuts that are lightly tossed in syrup right when taken out from the mould. Chances are you'll get a hot one, because they're constantly churning them out and because you're going to be waiting for it. A long time.

That's why I had to get two ($20 each; get one free if you buy a box worth) - waiting 20+ minutes for one is just not worth it. And once you start, you can't stop. They're hot, they're crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside with that almost invisible glaze... they're amazing! So why not a perfect 4-star rating? Because they were too variable. Some were sweeter than others, some were a little too toasted. I guess it's hard to control when this is a non-stop production. 

Rating: ***1/2