All yeast-leavened doughnuts, all the time. Photo: Frost.
So what’s what those mysterious posts were all about. As of this morning, the doughnuts that built the reputation of local chainlet Frost are completely reimagined.
Let’s wade into the semantics of fried dough for a minute, shall we? Most of Frost’s classic creations are denser cake doughnuts. The company is doing away with that style entirely and going all in on the fluffier, yeasted variety. Usually yeasted doughnuts get their flavor from glazes or fillings (see: Renee Erickson’s little masterpieces at General Porpoise). But Frost’s team has come up with various flavors of its yeasted dough, which adds a fun dimension to its flavor combos.
Right now Frost’s three locations have doughnut creations based on chocolate, traditional, and sweet potato doughs. Each of these is used in a mix of classic and Frost-ian flavor combos, just like before.
The chocolate dough, for instance, will meet up with the shop’s Aztec chocolate icing, made with cinnamon and cayenne, and chocolate shavings, just like the previous chocolate cake doughnut. The dough made with sweet potato lends itself to combos like french toast (twisted with cinnamon and sugar, topped with maple icing) or bourbon caramel pecan. To the surprise of no one, there’s also a seasonal pumpkin dough, handy for adorning with pumpkin filling, chocolate icing, and pepitas.
There is an exception to the doughnut changeover. “We’re keeping the old fashioned,” says cofounder Del Hernandez. “That’s kind of what started Frost; and they’re just really, really good.”
The company began in 2009, and was on the vanguard of the exuberantly creative doughnut trend. Now lots of places do fun icing and toppings like bacon or potato chips or crumbles of Butterfinger. Cake doughnuts tend to dry out as the day goes on, says Hernandez, and like anything else, doughnuts have trends: “People prefer the yeast based,” he says. “They’re breadier and fluffier.”
The Frost culinary team did a bunch of research, but have yet to find another place making flavored yeasted doughnuts like this. Hernandez remembers the days when Frost’s salted caramel doughnut was an exotic rarity; the company felt it was time to evolve once again. Hopefully Frost’s ardent fan base agrees; here’s a video from the company explaining the new dough situation.
Along the way, of course, Frost expanded into a full-on dessert destination adding tiny cakes and cleverly flavored macarons, not to mention lunch in some locations. A sizable fourth location in the heart of Amazonia is taking a bit longer than planned, but should open in early 2017.
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