Located on the picturesque main street of Tanunda, Browns Barossa Donuts offers house made brioche style donuts with a range of delicious fillings. Born out of pure passion, owners Rachel and David Brown started experimenting with baking after they rented out a small place in Melbourne which happened to have an unusually large deep fryer. After gaining popularity with friends and family, they started selling at the Barossa Farmer’s Markets, and now have their own bricks and stones store dedicated to gourmet donuts.

Rather than using a donut premix like many other bakeries do, Browns Barossa Donuts are made from scratch using ingredients from the local area, including local free range eggs and butter for a true gourmet experience. The dough is hand rolled and rests for 30 hours to allow the gluten to develop that delicious brioche style texture. All fillings and toppings are also house made from scratch, with the exception of the Oreo that tops their Cookie Monster Donut – but David said they’re even trying to make their own Brown’s style Oreo for this one!

We tried a selection of their amazing donuts, including True Blue – a Blueberry Cheesecake filled donut. It’s easy to imagine that this would be overwhelmingly sweet, but one thing Brown’s is proud of is their flavour balance. The tartness of the real blueberries against the sweetness of the cheese filling is absolutely delightful. The donut dough itself is an amazing, with a more bread-like texture than mass produced batches which sometimes seem to be filled with more air than dough.

We also tried the Get In My Belly custard donut – one of Brown’s most popular donuts. When I think of custard donuts I think of a generic powdered custard flavour, but this donut has set my expectations for the future! Made with real butter and eggs, this custard is thick and full of indulgent flavour. It’s impossible not to smile when you eat this donut, it’s like a rush of good feelings and child-like glee.

Other popular flavours include Nutella Job, Iced Iced Glazey, and my personal favourite donut name, Not Happy Jam. Browns Barossa Donuts is proof that you don’t need a lifetime of experience to make an eatery successful, you just need passion, determination, and the willingness to give everything that comes your way a go.

Browns Barossa Donuts is open Wednesday to Friday from 8:30am-2pm and Saturday 9am-1pm.

Words by Heidi Ioannou from The Hungry Heidi

WHERE: 46 Murray St, Tanunda