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Vincent Van Donut's first round "anise mascarpone orange-topped doughnut with melted jelly bean topping."
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Competitor Kim Macy's first-round "potato doughnut with jelly bean and strawberry filling, cotton candy buttercream, and praline and sugar garnish."
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Competitor Dr. Alan Jaff's "traditional cake doughnut with chocolate ganache and jelly bean garnish."
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The first installment of Donut Showdown's new season will be screened on July 11 at a viewing party at the Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall.
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The folks behind the Cooking Channel's Donut Showdown have a motto: “Donuts are the new cupcakes.”
We can't argue. In this burg, Strange Donuts has reached a level of popularity that is positively vertiginous, and Vincent Van Doughnut, the adorable vintage 1960 delivery van-turned-food truck, is cranking out some seriously gourmet donuts from scratch. (And the “cronuts” fried up a few times during the past year by La Patisserie Chouquette sold faster than ice water in Hades, too.)
The producers of the aforementioned TV show tracked down Vincent Brian Marsden, proprietor and driver of the beloved donut truck, and flew him and colleague Jamie Hardesty to Toronto in February to take on two other teams of bakers. The resulting episode of Donut Showdown – the first installment of the show's new season – will be screened on July 11 at a viewing party at the Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall.
The program, explained Marsden, works very much like Cupcake Wars on the sister channel, the Food Network. In the first round, three teams each have 45 minutes to make two dozen donuts in response to a challenge. They must utilize an ingredient revealed at the last minute, a la Iron Chef.
“You can't really go into that with any sort of plan,” said Marsden. “The secret ingredient can throw a huge spike in your game.”
One team is then eliminated by a panel of judges, and the remaining two teams must then make three different types of donuts that conform to a theme, within the next two-and-a-half hours. The winning team earns a $10,000 prize.
A little sleuthing has yielded some info.
Marsden and Hardesty's first-round donut was an “anise mascarpone orange-topped doughnut with melted jelly bean topping.” Competitor Kim Macy, a pastry chef at Tucson, Az. spa Miraval, rocked a “potato doughnut with jelly bean and strawberry filling, cotton candy buttercream, and praline and sugar garnish.” The final competitor was Dr. Alan Jaff of Toronto's Amazing Donuts which specializes in donuts that are both nut- and seed-free for allergic types, as well as Kosher for observant Jewish types. His first-round entry was a “traditional cake doughnut with chocolate ganache and jelly bean garnish.” (Can you guess the challenge ingredient?)
What happened after the first round is a big question mark, and we can't wait to watch the half-hour program on the 11th and find out.
In other news from the VVD camp, their donuts will be sold at White Box Eatery, a restaurant coming to Clayton's tony stretch of businesses located near the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis, as reported by Sauce Magazine. Brian's brother Brendan Marsden, co-owner of Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant, will helm the canteen, and Hardesty will serve as the pastry chef. Additionally, a small kiosk will vend Vincent Van Doughnuts from the lobby of the office building just to the west of White Box, said Brian.
Finally, Brian added, he is slowly advancing a plan to go brick-and-mortar and find a permanent home for the roving donut business.
Vincent Van Doughnut Throwdown on the Showdown Viewing Party
Fri., July 11, 8:30 p.m.
Free admission
Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall
4465 Manchester
