St. Andrews, Scotland - Fisher & Donaldson Bakery

My friend Chris Dielmann was recently in St. Andrews, so I asked him to do a guest blog on one of my favorite bakeries in the world. Here it is:

The town of St. Andrews might conjure images of golf courses, royals, and royals on golf courses. But neatly tucked into a side street of the walkable downtown lies perhaps St. Andrews greatest attraction (especially if you have a sweet tooth like me), namely a fifth generation bakery by the name of Fisher & Donaldson that specialize in high end pastries and cream cakes.

Beyond producing breads, rolls, and a wondrous array of truffles, the true star of F & D (and dare I suggest, perhaps the true reason that William chose to attend St. Andrews) are the fudge donuts (below); a light and delicate pastry, filled with cream and topped in a sticky, gooey toffee flavored fudge for which Scotland has become known. 



The joys of this “donut” are the combination of textures that contrast yet compliment each other so effortlessly; from the puff pastry that acts like the body, nay I say cradle for the light cream, and finally the toffee that crackles and chips with each bite while still maintaining a devotion to adhesion. 

For my American readers, try imagining a lighter, more refined version of a Boston cream donut, which sadly is oft filled with a pudding like substance rather than cream.

Other highlights include coffee and chocolate stacks (below) - delicate puff pastries filled with either coffee or chocolate cream and finally topped with a dark chocolate medallion, as well as the seasonal Strawberry Danish – a miniature pie of fresh strawberries nestled upon a layered flaky puff pastry and held in place with a gelatin based strawberry sauce and a sugared icing.

The famous fudge donut

Coffee stack