A couple gazes at the doughnuts behind the plexiglass counter of Jelly Modern Doughnuts. Obviously, they are repeat customers, as they discuss what they should order and the fact they've sampled the Callebaut chocolate and the popular maple bacon on prior visits. Behind the front counter, the shop's mission statement is proudly displayed on the wall. It is a commitment to making doughnuts, cinnamon buns and sandwiches with fresh, locally produced, organic ingredients.
While it features modern café decor and the word “modern” is part of its name, Jelly Modern Doughnuts has found its success in an old fashioned concept. The dessert spot's staff make gourmet, hand-crafted doughnuts daily, using mostly organic ingredients. Really, it’s more like a neighbourhood bakery and that's what sisters/owners Rosanne and Rita Tripathy intended when they opened it in 2011.
“We buy from our own sources,” says head baker Richard Ferolin. “Making our doughnuts is an intricate process, and it requires passion first and foremost.” Displayed under plexiglass, it's his fresh-baked confectionary art that the customers gawk at.
Everything is made from scratch, from doughnut batter to the jam on the seasonal fruit doughnut, the custard in the crème brûlée Bismarck and the creamy swirls atop the peanut butter cup doughnut. Even the marshmallow crowning the s’more and the whoopie pie doughnuts is made in the kitchen.
“My fellow baker and I have this inside joke between us,” says Richard as he chuckles about the kitchen’s quality control and the care they take with these handcrafted treats. “If the doughnut is not looking good, we ask each other, ‘Is there something wrong in your heart?’”
There are a dozen mainstay flavours, but Jelly Modern also features a flavour of the month as well as the chef’s weekly creation served only on weekends. They also make gluten-free and vegan doughnuts, though the latter is by special order only.
