Does National Doughnut Day on Friday, June 7, have you hankering for a sweet treat? Why not add a scoop of ice cream for a taste worth celebrating?
Two local businesswomen have joined forces to create a summer special reminiscent of childhood birthday parties — but better.
Duck Donuts has offered doughnut sundaes before, says franchise owner Kelly Trimyer, but not like this. Not with small batch, lovingly crafted, hometown favorite Mama Bird’s ice cream topping a warm, rich doughnut.
“Have you had their ice cream?” Trimyer asked. “It’s fantastic.”
Mama Bird’s Cookies + Cream makes its ice cream with a custard base (adding egg yolks), so it’s a denser and thicker product, says founder Leslie Richmond.
The majority of the candies and toppings included in each flavor are scratch-made in their kitchens.
“For our birthday cake ice cream, we bake a cake from scratch, then use that in the ice cream. You’ll get pieces of homemade cake plus the cake flavor,” Richmond said.
The two entrepreneurs met in 2016, and started talking about a collaboration almost immediately. First came Mama Bird’s coffee & donuts flavor with donuts mixed right into the custard.
Kelly Trimyer, Duck Donuts co-owner, and Leslie Richmond, founder of Mama Bird’s Cookies + Cream, joined forces to create the doughnut sundae.
Now there are the specialty sundaes, which Richmond and Trimyer created after sampling many flavor combinations.
“We picked flavors that are popular, and we think people will love,” said Richmond.
The limited-time menu includes Chilly Churro, cinnamon-sugar doughnut with dulce de leche ice cream; Celebration Sundae, a blueberry-iced doughnut with birthday cake ice cream; and Milk & Cookies, vanilla Oreo iced doughnut with chocolate cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream.
The flavors rotate monthly and are based on ice cream availability. Get prepared for a knockout salty sweet combination later in the summer: Bacon Bliss, with the signature maple-bacon doughnut and brown sugar ice cream.
“The warm doughnut with the ice cream — you cannot beat that. It is truly exponentially better to put the warm doughnut together with that delicious cold ice cream,” said Trimyer.
She and her husband Brandon own Duck Donuts stores in Cary, Raleigh and Durham. Doughnut sundaes will be served all summer at the three locations, while supplies last.
Trimyer adds that, just like each doughnut that comes out of Duck Donuts’ kitchens, the sundaes are completely customizable with any combination of toppings, coatings and available ice cream flavors.
“This is over the top,” she said. “But every once in a while, you’ve earned it.”
Duck Donuts
100 Wrenn Drive, Cary
8323 Creedmoor Road, Raleigh
5320 McFarland Road, Suite 140, Durham
(919) 468-8722
duckdonuts.com
Mama Bird’s Cookies + Cream
304 North Main St., Holly Springs
(919) 762-7808
mamabirdsicecream.com
