as a precursor to the flour market coming up on the fifth of july at the collingwood town wall (get there early as last year sold out in a couple hours), organisers held a pop-up event in brunswick a couple of saturdays ago. a selection of melbourne’s most popular doughnut artisans turned up to display their morsels of deliciousness in an empty warehouse, which you’d think…. “cool, fun idea, i might pop along and grab a doughnut or two if i live in the area”.

think again! not only did pretty much half of melbourne turn up (slight exaggeration), but they were leaving armed with boxes FULL of doughnuts. i guess i should’ve learnt by now… but when it comes to food and melbourne… if you bake it, they will come! the line snaked down the block even at 9.30am when i arrived, and by the time i got into the warehouse quite a bit was sold out. however, here are a few of the drool-worthy doughnuts i did manage to try and where to find them on an ordinary day.

aunty pegs by proud mary coffee
find: http://www.proudmarycoffee.com.au/
usual location: 200 wellington st, collingwood

owned by proud mary coffee, stop into this space in collingwood during the week for a sweet treat and black coffee (only). this caramel popcorn donut was my favourite of the day. the filling is gooey and drool-worthy.

all day donuts
find: http://alldaydonuts.com/
usual location: 12 edward st, brunswick

i had my husband try the plain cinnamon and a glazed donut (after all, a girl can only eat so many donuts in one day!) – both were fluffy, sweet and… gone within two seconds. however, on a normal trading day (sans the frantic rush of doughnut-crazed euphoria) they also have amazing looking filled crème donuts and an enticing-looking jock’s ice-cream filled donut.

ascot food store
find: http://www.facebook.com/ascotfoodstore.com.au
usual location: 320 ascot value rd, moonee ponds

it you’ve seen these syringe-topped donuts on instagram and didn’t know where to get on your hands on one them – now you do! not only is the novelty of squirting the filling into the donut yourself super fun – it also makes for an explosive delicious taste… and if you’re blonde like me, a bit of a mess… but still super fun!

cobb lane bakery
find: http://www.cobblane.com.au/
usual location: 13 anderson st, yarraville

cobb lane donuts are a regular of mine, thanks to the fact that clement coffee at the south melbourne markets sell them. their salted caramel filled donut is simply amazing – covered in a generous amount of cinnamon suger, but you can also get ‘pistachio & violet’, ‘lychee, rose & raspberries’ and a few other just-as enticing flavours. irresistible.

so, next time you’re craving a dougy ball of sugary goodness, i recommend hitting up one of these amazing artisans. and like i said… get to the flour market early! otherwise i might have already beaten you to all the baked goods!