Pastry Road Trip: Deliciously Dense Donuts at Wall Drug, South Dakota
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 
CakeSpy Note: This month I drove to and from Chicago on a Pastry Road Trip: here's the beginning of several installments detailing the deliciousness I discovered!
Wall Drug is a tourist trap of epic proportions: you've barely entered South Dakota when you start to see billboards proclaiming "Wall Drug--Only 500 Miles!". From that point on, every few miles you'll see another Wall Drug sign or billboard, some advertising products or services, some simply updating you on how much closer you are.
By the time you've actually reached Wall, South Dakota, you'll be so curious that you've basically got to stop.
Of course, I had a reason beyond mere curiosity: I had heard the donuts were fantastic.
I pulled into Wall at about 5 p.m. and unfortunately the "Donut Factory" section of Wall Drug had already closed for the day, but there were still fresh donuts (and ice cream and cookies too) available in their cafe. I picked up two cake donuts: maple frosted and vanilla frosted.
I offered to share with some of the little critters nearby, but it seemed they had no stomach for donuts.
How to describe these donuts? They were extremely dense--none of that light-as-air business here. The cake was very moist and pleasingly greasy, but tastefully so--it didn't leave an oily slick in your mouth. The frosting was rich and flavorful--the maple had a deep, earthy-sweet flavor and the vanilla was surprisingly thick and rich--and it was soft and held together beautifully (nothing is worse, to me, than donut frostings that are hard and flake off!). To put it in a nutshell, these donuts tasted very old school. In a good way.
Wall Drug, 510 Main Street, Wall, SD; 605-279-2175. Online at walldrug.com.
Bonus! Though I couldn't find their donut recipe, the Food Network does have a pie recipe donated by Wall Drug; check it out here!
bakeries, donuts, pastry road trip, south dakota
Reader Comments (6)
I love cake doughnuts! It's pretty tricky to find a decent one, some are dense and dry, others are just nasty, and if you find a moist, light, spongy one it's often overly greased. The maple frosting is always a winner.
Wall Drug, an American classic. What a fun post.(:
I like cake donuts when they are dipped in a glaze. Especially a chocoalte cake donut!! Wall Drug looks a bit like it was decorated by David Lynch - is it just me?
These donuts look delicious! That frosting is calling me name:)
I live in South Dakota. I have my whole life and I have only been to Wall Drug one time. And when we were there I didn't try the donuts. I think it is time to take another trip to Wall Drug.
I had the good fortune of being one of the Wall Drug donut makers for a year and a half, and let me tell you I never got tired of them. Even if you aren't usually a cake donut fan, a Wall Drug cake donut is a must on everybody's bucket list