Mumbai bakers and chefs decode the city's bomboloni craze

S’mores doughnuts by chef Chirag Makwana

Round, pillow-y soft, sugar-dusted and bursting with gooey fillings in pleasant pastel hues. If that's not Instagram-friendly, then what is? No wonder then that these sweet Italian doughnuts, called bombolone (plural, bomboloni), are selling like hot cakes in the city, taking over the Gram and our hearts. Five bakers and chefs, who are among the handful of makers whipping up this hipster cousin of the ring-shaped doughnut, tell us why it's here to stay.

Chirag Makwana and Rajat Mendhi

Flavour bomb

Ananth Nayak and Abhilasha Rajan, who run the fermentary Barmbay, share that brioche doughnuts and bomboloni are similar - comprising eggs, flour, butter and sugar. "Bombolone is an Italian doughnut that's traditionally made with olive oil, but people also use butter. It has some kind of stuffing. Unlike regular doughnuts, bomboloni have more eggs," elaborates Rajan. Emma, the Italian-origin co-founder of Bandra-based Method Café, reveals that bombolone refers to bomb in Italian: "They're usually bomb-sized, but when we introduced them at the café, we felt that they might be more accessible in a smaller size with a cuppa, so we called
them babyloni."

Shiitake mushrooms and chocolate bombolone by Barmbay

Trending treat

Rajan and Nayak attribute the popularity of brioche doughnuts or bomboloni to Indians' palate for sweet, fried food like gulab jamun or jalebi. That desis also love their custard, plays a huge role, points out Emma. Chef Chirag Makwana, who has been doling out brioche doughnuts as part of his weekend delivery menu Comfort Food Co, tells us that these are also a by-product of the lockdown. "Like the Dalgona coffee and banana bread, I've been seeing these doughnuts gaining popularity among people stuck at home in the past couple of months."

Ananth Nayak and Abhilasha Rajan

Filling good

Both Makwana and Rajat Mendhi, chef and founder of Bombay Picnics, note that the cotton-soft, decadent nature of brioche doughnuts make them the perfect carrier for a whole range of fillings. Mendhi himself has added a desi touch to these doughnuts with his atte ka halwa cream-filled cardamom brioche doughnuts that are fried in ghee. "The flavour combination of a ghee-roasted halwa with a poori was a big hit for me while growing up. I had been trying to introduce that combination in some way; I tried a cupcake, bread and a pie. The doughnut just clicked; it's a play on the poori, as it's deep-fried, round and fluffy."

While custard is a classic filling for bomboloni, says Emma, she also offers a chocolate and a lemon tart option. From s'mores and lotus biscoff to tiramisu and salted caramel, Makwana, too, has experimented with flavours every weekend for his eggless doughnuts. Barmbay, which specialises in sourdough bomboloni, meanwhile, offers innovative fillings including piña colada, chai gulkand, shiitake mushrooms-chocolate, The Elvis (a medley of peanut butter, bacon jam and caramelised banana) and the Goan dudol, among others. "It's one of our highest selling bakes. Experiments with more flavours are in the works," Nayak says, echoing the others. We'll
be waiting.

Halwa poori-sh doughnuts by Bombay Picnics

Get, set, dough

. Bombay Picnics' halwa poori-ish doughnuts
LOG ON TO @bombaypicnics on Instagram COST Rs 500 for a box of three (plus delivery)

. Three kinds of babyloni at Bandra's Method Café
AT Method Bandra. LOG ON TO shopthemethod.com COST Rs 120 onwards

. Barmbay's sourdough bomboloni
LOG ON TO @barmbay on Instagram COST Rs 180 onwards