Tried and Tested: Prague’s New Donut Makers

“I also wanted to do something that would make people smile. We are actually selling happiness, which is just so good for us.”

Of the almost two dozen Donuter donuts we sampled, most bites ended in a smile (but mainly a gluttonous moan). The playfully named donuts—Vanilla Brownie Star (a vanilla glazed with chocolate brownie sprinkles), Mocca Von Choco (a coffee cream with a mocha glaze), Bloody Donny (a red-velvet cake donut)—were visually appealing but the classics stood out.

Clear winners: A Boston Creme oozing with golden custard and perfectly glazed milk-chocolate icing, the Pistachio Jack featuring pistachio icing garnished with big pistachio pieces, and Choco Boy, a chocolate walnut-studded doughnut.

The Snowman Rafael, an addictive coconut-and-white chocolate doughnut also had its fans.

Some of the more colorfully-iced and sprinkled donuts suffered a crumbling complex when bitten into and the first batch we tried included a couple stale, overly-sweet misses. But the second batch was near perfection and with its super-hero-emblazoned box, the company gets points for presentation.

Honza tells us that Donuter will be opening a series of shops soon—the Prague office party will never be the same again. 

Silvie Mahrová, Monika Mahr, and Jiří Mahr, the team behind these handcrafted donuts with flavor pairings worthy of Heston Blumenthal, tell us: “We fell in love with donuts years ago on our travels. As we couldn’t get them anywhere here the logical step for us was start baking them.”

The donut-loving family will open their own coffee and donut shop near Jiřího z Poděbrad within the coming months but until then their creations, which on any given day might include Maple-Bacon or Matcha and Brown Butter, can currently be found at Coffee Room.

These beautifully made donuts tended toward the cakier side, moist and dense, and heavy to hold. Neutral shades of icing with Pollockesque slashes of color and sprinkles of nuts and spices made them a pleasure to look at as well as eat.

The Butterscotch with Bourbon Cream went down as smooth as you might imagine with the same kind of warming, buttery finish that makes a hot-toddy so appealing.

Does fennel belong on a donut? The fennel-dotted caramel glazed donut we tried answered this question with a resounding yes, a hint of licorice noted in its aromatic finish.

Probably the most decadent donut we sampled was the to-die-for Cream Cheese and Coconut but, again, simplicity ruled the day with a chocolate-glazed and blueberry-iced donut winning grunts of approval from our donut-overdosed group.

While Donuter brought the party, Donut Shop makes the kind of donut you want to slowly savor with a good cup of coffee.

But there is plenty of room for everyone on the Prague donut scene—and after sampling nearly three dozen donuts, we’ll be adjusting our belts in anticpation.