Country
Picnic Myponga

Oct 2017
$3.90
Donut from Country Picnic Bakery, Myponga

We head down to Deep Creek Conservation park several times a year, to a lovely family shack on the national park’s border. The trip, although not long in duration or particularly far, takes us through several small country towns – all proudly announcing their bakeries. These bakeries from Myponga to Yankalilla to Normanville have been cleverly placed at a point where a driver from Adelaide would just about be wanting to stretch their legs and children would be bouncing to use a toilet.

The normal for our little family unit of two is to stop at Yankalilla, often both on the way down and on the way back. However, aware that my donut blog needs to be inclusive we’ve started expanding beyond our comfort zones and that brought us to Myponga.

Country Picnic Bakery
Country Picnic ,
Myponga
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A small village it boasts of a market, a small shop (that always seems to be closed when we drive past), a brewery and of course a bakery. From the outside the bakery doesn’t look particularly fancy, with a long facade and a faded shade of turquoise boldly stating its name. There are always a couple of trucks parked outside of it, no doubt locals searching for a pie, but never the crowds you see outside of Yankalilla. Admittedly, my expectations weren’t particularly high as we pulled up and hopped out.

I was pleasantly surprised. The women who greeted us inside were lovely, up for a chat and knew the locals well. They proudly announced that their donuts were made fresh in store. The display cabinet wasn’t large, but all the same was nearly empty and we were lucky to nab the last donut remaining. As we sat outside with the donut, watching the cars drive past, I savoured that donut and really, truly enjoyed it. It tasted just how a small town bakery donut should taste and somehow the experience encapsulated what I’ve come to love about Australia; a little bit rough around the edges, slightly old-fashioned, but friendly, approachable and deliciously sweet.

Aesthetics 6

It was a rather odd shaped donut, a bit more elongated than round. We decided it looked like an American football/rugby ball. It was covered in thin chocolate icing and could have benefited from more purposeful sprinkles.

Topping 6.5

The icing was good, a chocolate flavour. It lost points for being thinly spread and would have enjoyed just a touch more. The sprinkles were good but again would have benefited from a handful more. Not a bad or a great icing, but satisfying and played it’s part well.

Dough 6.5

The thought that came to mind when I ate this dough was it was the kinda dough I would expect to find at a country fair. It was definitely fresh, but not too doughy or dense. It was yeasty, slightly salty but just a bit too bland with an overriding taste of the oil it had been fried in.

Texture 7

Hallelujah! There was a crunch to the outside of the dough! I’ve searched for this dough-moment for a long time when a crispy outer halo gives way to a soft centre. The dough texture was a little light and airy, a bit on the dry side - and could have more chew to it but there was still some spring.

Overall

6.5

Almost Wonderful

This isn’t the highest rated donut going but I really loved it. It was fresh, it didn’t try and be anything it didn’t want to. The taste and texture were thoroughly homemade, as a donut should be, and perfect for this small town.

  • Aesthetics: 6
  • Topping: 6.5
  • Dough: 6.5
  • Texture: 7

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