Behind the scenes to see firsthand what grand-scale donut making is all about

With Chanukah almost behind us, you’ve probably had a donut or two. Or three. Or four? Okay, no one’s counting… With all those yummy fillings and flavors, and with nights and nights of Chanukah parties, who can resist all those donuts? The bakeries are filled with dozens of options — chocolate, custard, jelly, crumb toppings and nuts, pink donuts and blue ones. Who even comes up with all these ideas?

In all the craziness of the Erev Chanukah rush, we followed lucky Mishpacha jr readers: Rochel’la (11), Bluma (8), Sarah’la (7), Naomi (6), and Ruchoma (4). And Meir (4) R. behind the scenes to see firsthand what grand-scale donut making is all about.

The Bakeries

Sesame:

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Opened: 2016

Specialty: Donuts

Breadberry’s Bakery:

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Opened: 2014

Specialty: Unique dairy products

Let’s get to know these two phenomenal bakeries before we go behind the scenes for an inside look:

The Best from the Chef

Sesame Chef: Chaim Zorger

Hi Chef, thanks for hosting us today.

Q: What’s it like at your bakery this time of year?

A: Chanukah is definitely a crazy time of year at the bakery. There are real challenges in setting up a production system for so many donuts.

Q: What goes into making a batch of donuts?

A: There are around 200 donuts made in each batch. And the process, from start to finish, takes around three hours. That’s with a staff of twenty people working to make the dough, then shape, fill, fry, and decorate the donuts.

Q: I’ve heard donut fillings and toppings are all the craze these days. Tell us about some of the more interesting flavors you use at your bakery.

A:  Our most interesting filling flavors are Nutella, caramel, rosemary chocolate, Oreo cream, strawberry jelly, blueberry jelly, pistachio, peanut butter

Q: And your least popular filling?

A: That would be lemon meringue.

Q: What do you do with the leftover donuts at the end of the day?

A: We give them away.

Hmmm… does that mean that I just have to be in the right place at the right time? Because I’ll take those leftovers...