Rodeo Donut was created by a handful of genius bakers at Cupcake Royale who were craving a really unique and fresh from the fryer donut. Cupcake Royale has decided to support the bakers’ vision of small-batch creative, local, and delicious donuts in a big way. Nicki Kerbs, pastry chef at Rodeo Donut, heads the team. “We want to change the way Seattle looks at donuts by starting with the way WE enjoy a donut. Brioche dough that’s so light and not too sweet, glazes made daily from fresh ingredients, resulting in mouth-watering flavor concoctions that go far beyond a Maple Bar or Apple Fritter.” Kerbs added: “Of course, the donuts will be hot from the fryer and sold within a few hours!” Rodeo Donut will apply the same values that resonate so deeply with Cupcake Royale. Sourcing local ingredients from farms in the Pacific Northwest, hand making donuts from scratch-made brioche dough and delivering joy through wholesome baked goods.

After many months of playing around with recipes, Rodeo Donut is ready to share with Seattleites! Starting Saturday, March 28, the Rodeo Donut “pop-up” will be popping up in the Ballard Cupcake Royale. The pop-up will be slinging fresh fried gourmet donuts daily from 7am until they run out - likely by noon. The spirit of the Rodeo Donut pop-up is get ‘em while they’re hot. “We plan to make enough for everyone to enjoy, but our focus is fresh and quality over quantity,” added Kerbs. The Ballard cafe will start opening at 7 a.m. to accommodate early morning donut desires. Naturally, fresh donuts pair perfectly with expertly crafted Stumptown espresso, available at the pop-up shop.

The Rodeo Donut recipe box is made up from years of baking, eating, reading, and learning from the best.

Rodeo Donut uses rich brioche dough for the base of all of the donuts. Brioche is rich, fluffy, eggy, buttery bread that is slightly sweetened with honey serves as the perfect donut vehicle. Fillings are not from a jar, but created with fresh juices, purees, teas and spices. Glazes are powerfully flavored, cleverly balanced and locally sourced. Toppings compliment the glazes and are integral to every tasty bite they create. Donuts are priced from $2.50 to $3 each with a baker’s dozen (13 donuts) when you buy 12.

Six options will rotate daily from the flavors listed below, in addition to fresh combinations the donut geniuses will create each day!

The Rodeo Queen - Red Raspberry Limoncello
Orange Blossom Honeysuckle - local honey pastry cream glazed with orange blossom glaze.
Whiskey Maple Bacon - real maple glaze topped with candied bacon and Sea Salt.
Strawberry Buttermilk - Strawberry glaze with buttermilk crumb topping
Bananza - Filled with real banana pastry cream, dipped in dark chocolate glaze and sprinkled with banana chip streusel
Coconut Crème - coconut glaze dunked in toasted coconut.
Huckleberry Glazed - (kill bourbon) made with locally foraged huckleberry
Salted Caramel Crème Brûlée- Salted caramel pastry cream topped with burnt sugar
Preserved Lemon – Luscious lemon curd spiked with pink peppercorns, cardamom seeds and sea salt. It’s tangy, sweet and a little salty
Cinnamon ‘n’ Sug - (cinnamon and cardamom) right out of the fryer dredged in the sug mix!
Salted Pistachio - Sea Salted Pistachio Glaze
Hot Chocolate - Spicy Chocolate glaze
Tiramisu - Espresso/Marsala filling dusted with espresso cocoa dust.
Peanut Butter and Berry - fresh seasonal berry jam with peanut butter glaze topped with salted Spanish peanut crunch topping

Rodeo kicks off with a sweet promotion – Get ‘em while they are HOT! On Saturday, March 28 at 7 a.m., at 2052 NW Market Street, enjoy a FREE 12 ounce Stumptown Drip Coffee with any donut purchase.

Spread the word. There’s a new donut in town. Follow RODEO DONUT on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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About Rodeo Donut
The brainchild of genius bakers at Cupcake Royale, Rodeo Donut was born in March 2015 and will pop-up at the Ballard bakery later this month. Rodeo is based on quality (as in house-made fillings, uniquely flavored glazes and oh-so-right toppings) not quantity, fried up fresh in rice oil daily with a ‘get ‘em while they’re good and hot’ eating mentality, brioche dough donuts that will make your donut loving mind come back for more. Right here and now.