Doughnut business expands to central Christchurch
Sinking your teeth into a pillowy doughnut in central Christchurch has become easier since a bakery has spread out from his original base.
Go Nuts on Donuts opened in St Asaph St earlier this month following the success of its first store in Witham St, Hornby.
Its pastries come in a variety of sizes, shapes, styles and dietary requirements, including traditional hole-in-the-middle doughnuts with pink icing and colourful sprinkles, with vegan and non-vegan options.
Go Nuts on Donuts owner and baker Narender Singh said he is up at 2am every day to make about 200 doughnuts by hand, “sometimes more”, to stock both shops and cater to online deliveries.
Originally from India, Singh moved to Australia, where he honed his pastry skills at Donut King in Sydney for several years. He then returned to his wife and children in India, before moving to New Zealand in 2012.
He used his skills working at Pak’nSave and Countdown making breads and cakes before he got residency and set up Go Nuts on Donuts.
The recipe for his doughnuts is simple, he said - yeast, flour and water. But the baking process is anything but easy.
Every step of the way, from proving the dough - allowing it to rest and rise a final time before baking - is time-sensitive.
“One second” over and it ruins the entire batch, he said.
His attention to detail ensures the pastries are not oily, and the icing does not leak.
The cream is made from a “secret recipe”, he said, but one of the key ingredients is saffron.
The large variety of vegan doughnuts, including cream ones, are made with plant-based ingredients.
Among the 17 flavours of doughnuts are a few that won’t be found anywhere else in the country, he said, including the cookie and cream eclair, and caramel with lime. And Singh said he owes it to his “long experience” in the industry.
His favourite flavour? Cinnamon and sugar.
He doesn’t eat doughnuts, but when he does, he enjoys variety without the icing.
His daughter, Neeru Hakla, who sometimes fronts one of the stores, said her father planned to pass on his pastry talents to his 25-year-old son “to keep his legacy alive”.