Sugar & Water 29-14 23rd Ave, Astoria, NY 11105 646-704-2775
Sugar & Water, is a small charming grab and go bakery, located in the heart of the of Astoria, Queens. The shop specializes in innovative yeast donuts, donut cakes and dossants, with a variety of flavors and offers cookies, as well as cakes and pies. Sugar & Water is owned and operated by a team of seven entrepreneurs, which includes Astoria native, Athena Angel and “Scottish” Francis Legge, a former reality contestant who starred on both “MasterChef” and Chopped”. Angel’s grandfather and uncle once created “cruller” pastries and unique donuts at their bakery called Tom’s Cruller shop. Co-owner, Chef “Scottish” Francis Legge, also dubbed “Donut King” by Gordon Ramsay, makes and designs the donuts at Sugar & Water.
During my visit at the shop, I had a chance to see how Legge prepared the donuts and fried them in hot oil, until golden brown. In addition, to using a Junior Donut Robot machine to assist with the production of the yeast donuts. Legge, stated that donuts are his specialty and expressed his originality in creating mouth-watering flavors. Furthermore, he invented a fusion of a donut and a croissant, called a “Dossant”.
I had the opportunity to sample his famous Guinness Prosciutto dossant. Although, I felt like I couldn’t taste the Guinness flavor and I’m not sure if you are supposed to, the dossant had a perfect light blend of sweet and salt flavor and held its formality. I also sampled the Tiffany Dossant, it was not dry nor was it flaky and had a soft croissant-donut taste which is obvious as it is a unique blend of both. I also I had the Apple Cider donut cake which was very light and soft, with a great apple flavor but a little too sweet for my taste. Overall, it was a delicious experience and the prices are reasonable. I purchased the Guinness Prosciutto for $4. I will be returning in the future to try new flavors and I would recommend anyone to try it.
Very well written post! I agree that it was a great experience to learn more about doughnut production. I never knew there were two types doughnuts (cake and yeast). Originally, this spot was not part of our tour but it was a pleasant treat! I tried the rainbow cookie doughnut as well as the blueberry uzu doughnut. As much as I love rainbow cookies, I did not find this one to be soo interesting. The rainbow cookie itself was delicious but the doughnut frosting was boring. I couldn’t tell if it was strawberry flavored or plain but it was flavorless. The blueberry yuzu had a nice balance of sweet and sour between the berry and citrus flavor as they complimented each other very well. For both doughnuts, the texture was out of this world! It was very exciting to discover doughnuts with a pillowy texture instead of settling for a doughnut from Dunkin Donuts which unfortunately has been lacking since my recent experiences. Luckily, I am always around the neighborhood so I will pay Sugar & Water a visit very soon!
Even though this was an unplanned stop during our trip it was definitely the best stop. The blueberry yuzu and chocolate cake donut were my favorites, both were pillow soft and full of flavor. I would love to visit this place again in the future and would recommend people to visit as well. I’m sure if I lived in the neighborhood I would constantly visit for a chat with Co-owner, Chef “Scottish” Francis Legge and to check out any new donut creation.
This was a great gem within the neighborhood! The small store front may fool those who do not know that the named Doughnut King set up shop here! The store may be small but they have a large variety of doughnuts that can please even the most pickiest palates! The service provided by Doughnut King Legge and the lovely girl on the register (sadly I did not get her name) was enough for me to want to venture back into Astoria to get a great doughnut and a lovely conversation. I had the pleasure of trying the blueberry yuzu doughnut and strawberry cheesecake. The strawberry cheesecake was light, fluffy, and ‘bouncy’ as a yeast doughnut should be, and the strawberry and cheesecake topping was not overwhelming so I even suspect a non-strawberry lover to like this! The blueberry yuzu doughnut on the other hand packed a great flavor in the yuzu glaze. The light blueberry doughnut was the perfect compliment to the bright acidic yuzu glaze. In a place like NYC where doughnut shops have saturated the city, it is important to differentiate the doughnut flavors, and I believe Sugar & Water is the next big spot!
This unexpected stop was full of flavor! I was a little skeptical at first about trying the doughnuts because I thought they’d be super sugary and flavorless. Although, they were super sweet but the Lemon Poppy doughnuts was packed with an abundance of flavor. I was truly surprised! The doughnut itself was a yellow lemon cake doughnut topped with a lemon glazed and poppy seeds. I also tried the apple cider doughnut which was amazing! I like the apple cider beverage from Dunkin Donuts so I was looking forward to certain flavors. The apple cider doughnut definitely delivered and stood up to it’s name. The doughnut was a apple spiced cinnamon cake doughnut topped with a apple spiced glaze. The doughnut was really light and moist. I would definitely return back to this location for wonderful doughnuts!