2024-02-14 13:00:46
A donut is not like a donut. In Kobliz Brno, they can conjure up unforgettable desserts with a fried sourdough bun. In addition, a unique donut machine has been standing at the main station since December. Passengers can take away, for example, a donut that tastes like an apricot dumpling.
Fat carries taste, it says on the box with a decorated donut, which customers can buy again, even if they are just changing rooms in Brno. The pink donut machine is located in the main hall, that is, the place where a large number of people stare at the giant board and wait for information about the arrival of their flight.
Payment in the donut machine can only be made by card. | Photo: Tomáš Škoda
Marek and Michal Richtar, who have been running a donut shop in Pekařská Street for several years, are behind the idea. It is a little over a kilometer away from the station, so the donut shop is much closer to the center and to passengers in a hurry.
In this sweet business, Michal is in charge of everything that is handled in front of the counter, and Marek behind him. And it is he – unless he is being replaced by a colleague – who makes dough for donuts as early as four in the morning. They sell several hundred of them a day. On Friday afternoon, the counter is already more than half empty and the donuts seem to be scattered.
Marek comes up with a new menu every month. In January, the hit donut is the Apricot dumpling. “It really tastes like grandma’s dumplings. Inside the donut there is apricot jam, cottage cheese and butter cream on top,” says Michal, adding that he personally likes any donut with passion fruit and also highlights their staple full of plum jam, lotus cream and caramel.
“Austrian donuts” and cream from Maršálk
According to Michal, the real breakthrough in creative possibilities came when they decided to fill the donuts with the top. No one can imagine what can be done with an ordinary doughnut. Marek finds inspiration everywhere:
“You can tell when we were on vacation somewhere. On a skiing trip in the Austrian Alps, we came up with the Kaiserschmarrn donut, in February the Germknödel will be on the menu, i.e. a donut in the style of an Austrian leavened dumpling with jam,” says the main donut maker.
But he looks for ideas in the cookbooks of domestic and international colleagues. He is inspired by French pastry master Dominique Ansel or Czech baker and confectioner Josef Maršálek. His recipe for the ultimate chocolate cake is an inspired cocoa donut filled with currant caramel, drizzled with chocolate frosting and decorated with decadent chocolate cream, honey cookie and fresh currants.
Donuts that don’t wish
Thanks to the fact that the menu changes every month, Marko and Michal have not yet grown tired of the donut business. “We only offer what we ourselves like the most. This is generally our policy. A lot of confectioners, even here in Brno, don’t eat their stuff anymore. Although Marek has been doing it for about seven years, every time he bites into a donut he says how awfully good it is ,” says Michal, who later treats a bitten donut from the photo shoot as a raspberry.
That Marek likes to try new things is also confirmed by the fact that he sometimes makes donut milk from the leftovers. “I let the donut centers macerate in cow’s milk. After a few hours, I cool it down and remove the excess fat that forms on top. And the rest is normally used for cappuccinos and lattes,” he says with complete self-awareness.
Marek looks for ideas in the cookbooks of domestic and international confectioners. | Photo: Tomáš Škoda
The sweet shop has been tempting since 2016 and enjoys the favor of regular guests. “People from bars, i.e. businesses such as Bar that does not exist or Four Rooms, come here every Thursday for a donut. Then we are very popular at Masaryk University with the scientists who work there. They have donuts imported, because from those laboratories they can’t go out much,” adds Michal.
With the praise of their customers, the owners of the Kobliha Brno company also brag about the aforementioned boxes: hodobožové, yummy, heaven, luxurious, bombastic, koblasmus. And even: yummy!