Week 4 – Tastee Toppings

After a week with no doughnuts, I was excited to return to Gibson’s to continue my trek though its menu. The first doughnut that caught my eye was the Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting. The Gibson’s person asked if I wanted a box for it, but I did not listen to the subtext of his question and instead, asked for a bag. I should have accepted the offer of a box, as you’ll see. The other two doughnuts I chose were White (or Vanilla?) Glazed with Sprinkles and Watermelon.

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Confession: I’m not a huge red velvet fan, but I am dedicated to trekking through the Gibson’s whole menu, so I got it. I am a hug fan of cream cheese frosting however, so there was a silver lining to the doughnut of my less than favorite flavor.

I’m not sure how red velvet is supposed to taste. Is it cherry? A general berry flavor? Why is it red? (Other than due to the red food coloring.) Has there ever been a blue velvet baked good? What about purple? I mean, purple is a royal color. Royal robes are made of velvet, right? Why then is it red velvet?

Tastee carb-loaded philosophical questions aside, I can say that this doughnut was velvety. It was almost like eating cake. The cream cheese frosting was just sweet enough. And there was just enough frosting to have some with each bite of doughnut, but not so much to overpower each bite.

See the bits of red velvet in the delicious cream cheese frosting? One reason I needed a box. (I did not count my mis-fire against the doughnut score.)

This one is hard to score, as I’m not sure what kind of flavor I was supposed to experience. Also, I’ve read all kinds of bad stories about red dye from my mommy friends, so it’s possible that factored into the experience as well. To counteract this fear, I told myself that perhaps Gibson’s uses all natural ingredients to achieve the red color.

On a positive note, it gets good marks for texture, appearance, the cream cheese frosting, and the ratio of frosting to doughnut. But the focus of the score is the doughnut, so sadly:

Tastee score: 7

White (or Vanilla?) Glazed with Sprinkles

Could this doughnut BE any prettier??

Seriously, y’all, the colors of the sprinkles are beautiful. It seems Gibson’s thought carefully about which colors would complement each other and the doughnut, rather than just jamming any ole colors together. I thought my white plate would somehow take away from the beauty that is this doughnut, but I think it just made the colors brighter. (This doughnut somehow survived The Great No Box Kerfuffle, as all the sprinkles – except one, as you’ll see in a minute – were intact.)

The taste? I was expecting vanilla, because Gibson’s displays it near the Chocolate with Sprinkles. To truly determine the flavor, I cut it in half so I could try one part at room temperature, and the other part slightly warm, based on my past experience with diminished taste after microwaving.

It tasted like … white glaze. I will say that heating it for 7 seconds (instead of 10) was a good call. It made the flavors meld together for a very nice taste.

Or maybe my enjoyment resulted from eating it while watching the Olympic swimming trials. I can report that eating doughnuts while watching other people exercise enhances the experience.

The beauty of this doughnut bumped up its score:

Tastee score: 7

Watermelon

A perfect choice for the Fourth of July weekend, right? Who doesn’t want watermelon to cool off during the heat and humidity while watching fireworks? Also, there were only two of these doughnuts left, so I thought perhaps they were popular due to their taste. Or maybe due to their fun watermelony color:

(You’ll notice the rogue blue sprinkle embedded in the frosting. I tried to get it out, but I just made it worse. Again, I should’ve listened to the Gibson’s person and gotten the box. Sigh.)

The watermelon taste was faint at best. Maybe I should’ve eaten the doughnut BEFORE I ate eggs scrambled with Pancho’s cheese dip and a nice serving of raspberries? Did I cloud my palate?

In addition, Gibson’s has set a really high standard for the tasteeness of doughnuts. It truly does set a new bar in Doughnut Tasteeness Excellence. So it is with great sadness that I have to type the following:

Tastee score: 5

Gibson’s, I love you. I want to love everything you make with my whole heart. I want to give this one a higher score, so I will try it again. But next time, with a pure palate. And, as always, an open heart.