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MYSTIC — Today through Sunday, Deviant Donuts will donate $1 of every donut purchase to support the Garde Arts Center in New London.
“If people want to come out, I always say the earlier the better,” said Kourtney Stoy, one of the shop’s three bakers. “Usually by 10 or 11 we start to run out of some of the options available on the menu.”
Stoy said the bakery sells about 4,000 donuts on the weekends and smaller quantities during the week.
The bakery, located in Olde Mistick Village, has created specialty donuts for the fundraiser featuring designs based on famous musicals, including:
- “Little Shop of Horrors” (Vegan) – Matcha glazed donut rimmed with Oreos and decorated like Audrey II
- “Phantom of the Opera” (Gluten-Sensitive) – Black and White glazed chocolate cake donut and garnished with a Phantom mask and red roses
- “Hairspray: – Brioche filled with chocolate mousse, dipped in white chocolate ganache and decorated to look like Tracy Turnblad’s hairdo.
Business has increased 10-fold during COVID for the nearly three-year-old bakery, which combined with Vault Coffee a few months ago to form Deviant Craft Coffee and Artisan Donuts, said Anya Briz, marketing manager.
“We started as just Friday-Saturday-Sunday as a pop-up shop at the coffee shop and now we’re open seven days a week and we have our own shop,” echoed Stoy, who arrives at the bakery at 1:30 or 2 a.m. so that the donuts are ready for the shop’s daily 7:30 a.m. opening.
Stoy said the bakery employees were looking forward to supporting the Garde this weekend.
“We like to work with the local community and especially now, during COVID, the arts are really hurting,” said Stoy. “We are fortunate enough that we’re still able to do our craft and our art, so it’s nice to be able to give back to everyone else and help them.”
Stefan Ambrosch, who owns the shop as well as Mango’s Ice Cream and Mango’s Wood-fired Pizza in Olde Mistick Village, said he was proud to support the Garde.
“The Garde Arts Center is at the heart of southeastern Connecticut’s cultural and theatrical community and and we are proud to support our friends at the Garde Arts Center this weekend,” he said in a release. He added that the shop has run similar promotions for the Mystic Aquarium, UConn’s HuskyTHON, Connecticut Alliance of Foster and Adoptive Families and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Jeanne Sigel, marketing and development director for the Garde, said the theater has been dark since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We are thankful that Deviant Donuts is not only lending support, but also raising awareness of the impact that the pandemic has had on our arts community,” she said in a release.
Donuts will be available for pre-order online at deviantdonuts.com or in-store.