Voodoo Doughnut

Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Voodoo. The only doughnut shop with a “Cruller Chandelier of Life.”

Our bodies still on central time, we went early on a Friday morning, soon after my last easy 4-mile run around town. No problem – the place is open 24 hours. As early as the hour was, we still had to wait in line for about 15 minutes for our fix.

As we waited , we watched a glassed-in rotating case, as for jewelry, display the doughnuts on offer. There, the famous maple bacon bar. The voodoo doughnut, complete with pretzel “needle.” A large assortment of vegan doughnuts. A willowy woman behind the counter took our order. Many before us had asked for the Voodoo Dozen, where the doughnut mistress picks out a dozen for you and packs them into a hot pink box. We opted for three, paid with cash (no credit cards accepted), and stepped outside into the balmy, misty morning.

DH got the Triple Chocolate Penetration, a chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate glaze dipped in cocoa puffs. For dessert, he opted for the Old Dirty Bastard, a plain yeast-risen doughnut with crushed Oreo and peanut butter.

I was seduced by the looks of the peach fritter, the largest item in the rotating case. Studded with chunks of fresh peaches and covered with a thick layer of cream cheese, it was calling my name. The longer I waited in line, the more I knew I had to have it. I was rewarded with a 10-12 ounce mound of fried goodness. Perhaps a little too good – of course, the frosting was way out of proportion to the rest of the pastry. The fritter itself was fried to perfection and had plenty of peachy goodness. Good thing trash cans are everywhere on the streets of Portland.

After many sugary bites, I scraped much of the frosting into the trash and ate about ¾ of the fritter itself. Mmmm… All Voodoo needs is some excellent coffee. For our post-doughnut fix, we headed up the road to Stumptown. We felt so spoiled.