The Easter Show is a big deal every year for families, businesses and farm animals, and for another year, I take a look at the all important doughnuts on offer. I was pleased to find a couple of new outlets that I have either missed in previous years or that are new to the Show.

I want to point out that food such as doughnuts should be consumed as treats. And I was disappointed to once again see a distinct lack of healthy food options at the Show.

Berliner

Berliner was the first I saw is also the best by a country mile. They are in a worse position this year, so make sure you look for them in the Woolworths Dome. Don’t be late or you’ll miss out. They are featuring some new flavours which look great.

Gelato Factory

They are back every year selling their gelato and are always popular. They sell some pastries, including doughnuts, that they somehow mix with their gelato. I believe they get the pastries from a supplier such as Pete & Bob’s.

Hot Cinnamon Donut Puffs

A long time regular at the show, they make the doughnuts right there. If you time it right, you’ll get freshly made hot doughnut balls. Not bad.

I Love Churros

Australia’s love affair with churros is well and truly over, except at carnivals and markets. So, sure enough, there are churros at the Easter Show. I Love Churros had a good queue. I haven’t tried them, but I might give them a go before the end of the Show.

Donut Stop

I have never bothered venturing into the area known as The Stables because I thought it was just a bar. But I got a bit of a shock to find some food stalls in there, including Donut Stop. They make small doughnuts there. I have to say, rather disappointing and over-priced (but hey, so is everything at the Show).

Waffle Popz

Another place selling churros, but it’s not their main seller. I think I’ve had their churros a few years ago during Sydney’s Vivid festival.

Hot Donuts & Coffee

This caravan stands out along the road, all by itself and usually has a short queue of people getting their coffee and freshly made doughnuts. Not badly priced at $2 each.

The Candy Castle

There is no shortage of food trucks selling junk food like hot dogs, dagwood dogs, cheese dogs and other varieties of consumable dogs. They all used to sell doughnuts, but this year I only found two still doing that. The Candy Castle was one of them. They do a decent hot jam doughnut that I have had in the past. I was a little confused by their sign: 4 for $10 or $10 each. And the picture shows 5 doughnuts.

G-Free Donuts

If you’re gluten intolerant, these guys are a good option. They are at the Show every year. The more you buy, the better the value.

The Vegan Cookie

Here is something new – Doughnut Cookies. The Vegan Cookie stand has a few cookie options and this year, one of them is called The Krispy Jei Doughnut Cookie. I feel there is some sort of reference to Krispy Kreme and a video game, but it’s really a cookie covered in cinnamon sugar. It’s vegan and gluten free. Not bad, considering. The staff there are hard sales people and I wish they’d pull back a bit.

San Valentino

They sell Italian-style doughnuts, which usually have canoli custard in them. I’m sure I’ve had one in previous years. Great if you like Italian doughnuts.

Hot Take-Away Food – Carnival area

One of the food trucks in the busy Carnival area had doughnuts. Their sign said they had jam doughnuts and cinnamon doughnuts, but I didn’t see any jam ones. The cinnamon ones looked plastic, and turns out they are. They keep the real ones pre-bagged.

Clown game

You can win a plush doughnut at the clown game in the carnival area. Those clowns will give you nightmares.

Carousel Cafe

They sell cinnamon doughnuts. They also have some Oreo Churros. Have a look at the ones pictured in their sign, then look at the ones in the window (on the left side of the picture on the right) – bit of a difference.

Markwolf Coffee Truck

They have some Italian-style filled doughnuts. Looked good, but I’m sure they are commercially made.

A notable absentee this year is Donut Papi. They were there last year, but have obviously chosen not to do the Show this year. Last year the number of Show tickets sold were restricted to enforce social distancing, but not this year. So I wonder if the lower numbers last year made them feel like it wasn’t worth the trouble.

Every year, I check the cake-making competition section to see if doughnuts have made the grade. Still no luck. There are scones, lamingtons, cup cakes and slices, but no doughnuts. Seriously – anyone can make a scone. Where’s the challenge?

Did I miss any doughnuts? If I did, let me know. And if you’re off to the Show, I hope you enjoy it. Expect queues.