Shortstop Coffee and Donuts

Donut lovers will know all about Shortstop Coffee and Donuts, a gourmet donut store that includes flavour toppings from spiced apple cider to cashew orange blossom to matcha and black sesame. No wonder their Melbourne store sells out every day.

Which is why Sydneysiders can rejoice they'll be opening here, set to open up shop at Barangaroo in April 2016.


Glazing the strawberries and cream filled donut

What can Sydneysiders expect? I visited their store on a recent trip to Melbourne (thank you, work conference) and arrived not long after they had opened at 7.30am. It's a bright and airy space, fitted out by Foolscap Studio (designers of the Noma Australia pop-up, Wulugul at Barangaroo and Sixpenny in Stanmore) in blonde timber, while tiles and gleaming glass windows.

You can see all the icing work done in the open kitchen. The donuts are baked and glazed throughout the day. The donut menu is a cute glass box filled with real donuts and printed descriptions so you know exactly what you're getting when you order.


Earl Grey and rose cake donut 

The display cabinet (made with Victoria Ash by Melbourne furniture makers H R McCarthy) is stacked neatly with rows of donuts. They do four kinds of donuts here: yeast-raised ring donuts, yeast-raised filled donuts, denser-style cake donuts and fried choux pastry crullers.


Maple walnut and brown butter raised donut

These are topped and filled with an assortment of flavours. Each day you can count on 12 different donuts. In Melbourne last week they had coconut lemon meringue; apple pie filled donuts; burnt caramel, fennel and sea salt; and hot cross donuts.


Hazelnut, chocolate and banana cake donut


New Orleans iced coffee cruller 


Breakfast to go

I went with six donuts for breakfast, because hey, seven is just plain greedy, right? It's a sturdy box marked with their logo. The circle theme is reinforced with their custom-printed greaseproof paper sheets, marked with noughts and crosses.


Cinnamon, cardamom and sugar raised donut $4

The classic cinnamon donut gets a lift with the inclusion of cardamom. The raised donuts include yeast that give it a cloud-like fluffiness. The crunch of sugar crystals as you bite through the pillowy softnesss is guaranteed to make you feel like a kid again.


Maple walnut and brown butter raised donut $5

The maple walnut and brown butter raised donut is one my favourites of the lot, smothered in a rubble of crushed walnuts. The brown butter glaze gives a nutty sweetness.


Earl Grey and rose cake donut $4.50

The cake donuts are risen by using baking powder. They're a little denser in texture - think Donut King (cake donuts) versus Krispy Kreme (yeast donuts) - with a slightly chewier consistency. Basically you're eating a cake in a donut shape, albeit deep-fried. Oh yeah.

The Early Grey and rose is bashfully pretty, its Earl Grey glaze decorated with a scattering of pink rose petals. It's like having a cup of tea and donut all at the same time.


Hazelnut, chocolate and banana cake donut $4.50

Far heartier is the hazelnut, chocolate and banana donut, another cake donut variation. The donut itself is gutsy with chocolate and banana crowned with a glorious glaze of chocolate and a thousand smithereens of crushed hazelnuts.


Australian honey and sea salt cruller $4

The crullers are rings of piped choux pastry, deep fried until golden. The ridges give an added dimension of texture and there's a more noticeable difference between the firm surface and its airy middle.

The Australian honey and sea salt cruller is proof that there's inordinate beauty in the simplicity of quality ingredients. There's a distinct floral sweetness in the honey, amplified by the gentle contrast of sea salt flakes. It's sweet and salty. Soft yet crunchy.


New Orleans iced coffee cruller $4 

My absolute favourite of the lot is the New Orleans iced coffee cruller. I really hope this will be on the launch menu when they open in Sydney. It's the least sweet donut of the ones I've chosen. Maybe that's why I find it so addictive. It's also rich in the mellow bitterness of coffee - oh hello, maybe that's why I find you so addictive.

The intensity of coffee married with sweet glaze reminds me of a Vietnamese coffee. Deeply satisfying.

April is almost upon us so we can expect Shortstop Sydney to open soon. See you in the queue.






Shortstop Coffee & Donuts
12 Sutherland Street, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 9642 0807

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 7.30am-4.30pm
Saturday and Sunday 9.30am-5.30pm

Shortstop Sydney will open at Barangaroo in April 2016.


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