The Donut and The Eclair

As you know, this blog is dedicated to Donuts, but we have decided not only to include reviews about just donuts itself but also other small little pastries that provide us with its sugary goodness.

Our first review marks the beginning of our quest for the perfect donut. So far, our search has brought us to perhaps the most obvious place: A Starbucks ( Located at Mont Kiara Sunrise Plaza)

The Sugar Donut by DA Mars

Starbucks has three types of donuts to offer, the sugar donut, the blueberry filled donut as well as the strawberry filled donut. The Sugar donut was our try for the day.

At first sight it looked like it would be bready with a hard texture and not a tad bit pleasing. However, after being heated up you will find that it has a very light substance with just the right ammount of sugar on top. To taste the ultimate flavour of the Starbucks Sugar Donut, ask them to top it with Caramel Drizzle and for the Chocolate lovers top it up with the Chocolate Drizzle. Topped with either one, every bit you take will be one of bliss.

The size is slightly larger then an average normal donut so it is worth the RM 3.80 spent on it. If you ask for it, make sure it is heated up otherwise it is not worth the bite.

I had the donut with a Chai Tea Latte, which is not the perfect pair for the Caramel Topped Sugar donut. However, being an ex-Barrista at Starbucks from my knowledge ,the Sugar Donut will go well with any Expresso Based Drinks such as a latte or a cappucino. Overall I give it a rating of 7/10 on the scale of sugary goodness.


The Chocolate Eclair by DA Bri

"It is dull, Sir, to drink without eating"
- The Ice Queen, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Over the years the ubiquitous, voyeuristic mermaid of starbucks has invaded virtually every mall on the planet peddling very good but still very overpriced joe. It seems natural that they offer overpriced pastries to go with their overpriced coffee, catering as they do to the urbanite yuppy with reasonably disposable income.

The chocolate covered eclair looked scrumptious in the display but was ultimately disappointing. Not totally inedible disapponting. More like, meh, nothing to shout about, disappointing.

It's quite a generous size I have to say. It nearly took up the length of the plate. But like a good eclair, the choux pastry should have been light and yummy, and deep filled with either cream or custard. Instead, the Starbucks eclair was just, well, kinda stale. The chocolate topping kind of flaked away when you bite, giving me the overall impression that it was a week old.

The filling, on the other hand, was delicious - chocolatey, creamy and slightly nutty - not too sweet so as to overpower the chocolate and the choux pastry. If the pastry casing was fresher, then it would have been a truly outstanding eclair, but all things cosidered, quite worth the RM 4. At least I didn't have to bring my checkbook to starbucks this time.

With the eclair, I had the coffee of the day, which was their Anniversary Blend of Indonesian arabica beans, which complemented the sweetness of the pastries nicely.
My over all rating for the Chocolate Eclair on the scale of sugary goodness would be a 6/10.

Homer's Odyssey: In search of the Perfect Donut
Practically all of us have watched The Simpsons, and practically every episode has a scene where Homer, our hero, casts his eyes skyward, half closed, drooling...
"Mmmm...donuts....arrghghrrrghgrghhhh...."
There's some deep philosophy here, ladies and gentlemen. Homer's word, arrghghrrrghghgrghhhh, is untranslatable and beyond the understanding of anyone who doesn't completely love that ring of dough to which this blog is dedicated. "Arrghghrrrghghghhh" is used because no better word can be used to describe a perfect, light, heavenly soft DONUT.
Mmmmm.... .

Here are some examples:
"Donuts with a double glaze....arrghghrrrghgrghhh........"
"Do I like donuts? Yes I do. Arrghghrrrghgrghhh......."
Donuts may be the perfect snack. Several keywords are an indication of this fact, i.e.,

SUGAR COATED.
DEEP FRIED.
GLAZED.
SPRINKLES.
DEEP FRIED.
JELLY FILLED.
DEEP FRIED.

Donuts are loved the world over. Examples, with ratings. The more M's the closer the variety becomes the perfect donut

In Australia they are filled with custard (Mmm)
In Belgium the smoutbollen are filled with fruit (M)
In China they are long and eaten with porridge (erm, mm?)
In Serbia, they are filled with dulche de leche (I don't know what this is, so Mm)
In Berlin, they are filled with jam (Mmmmm)I
n India, they are spicy and eaten with sambar (I'll get back to you once I've tried it)
In Poland, they are filled with cream (Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!)
In South Africa, they are deep fried and filled with honey (Arrghghgrrghhh....!)
Getting warmer~!

In Malaysia, they are sold by roadside vendors. Deep fried to fluffy perfection, and rolled in sugar. (MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Arghghghgharghghghghg!!!)

Canadians are my new favourite people because according to Wikipedia, they consume the most donuts per capita in the world. They also have the most donut stores of any country in the world. I wonder why the whole world isn't migrating to Canada.

I hope I've managed to introduce the subject of this deep fried delight. Donuts have a long and honourable tradition, so please don't just laugh when you see Homer Simpson salivating like a starved hyena when he thinks of a donut. He's really in communion with something more than just a pastry. Donuts are a gift from above. I wish it rained donuts but I'm not crazy. So until it does rain donuts, I'll stick to reality and pluck donuts from the donut trees that grow in donut land, and fly in the air and eat them on clouds soft as fresh donuts.

Written By Bri L , Donut Ambassador