Local Spotlight- Gadabout Doughnuts!

When Karina Rice was thinking about small business ideas, she decided to give doughnuts a try. Karina and her husband Chaz saw an opportunity to put her creativity and love of food to work and tap a new market in Oakley and surrounding neighborhoods.

“Chaz and I were talking about what we could do small business wise, and we landed on doughnuts,” she said. “Doughnuts hold their own well. You don’t have to do everything you can just do one thing. I had actually not made doughnuts before we started doing that. But because of a familiarity in the kitchen and with flavors and ingredients, it was not difficult to figure out. So we decided to do that and have done it.”

Thus, Gadabout Doughnuts was born.

Though she’s experimented with cake and yeast doughnuts, the majority of doughnuts Karina sells at Gadabout are sour cream doughnuts. Sour cream provides the doughnut batter a dense, rich crumb. The dough is fried, then coated with a glaze upon cooling.

“Don't come looking for a Krispy Kreme type of donut. That's not what these are,” writes a Yelp reviewer. “The texture of these is heavier than that, much closer to cake. One doughnut makes for a delicious breakfast.”

A hallmark of Gadabout Doughnuts is the innovative flavors of their doughnuts.  Whether coconut or espresso, lavender or vanilla, Karina likes to experiment with different dough and glaze combinations. When deciding what flavors to offer, Karina looks to the seasons and asks herself what’s missing in the market. In the winter, Paradise Grapefruit is a favorite. In the spring and summer, Blueberry Lemon is a crowd-pleaser.

Behind the delicious flavor combinations is Karina’s love for the process of creating these beloved pastries,

“I love making the doughnuts... I love feeling the dough on my hands as I roll them,” she explains. “Different doughs hold up differently, and when we have that perfect texture, it’s like, ‘Oh, we’ve got it! This is so great.’”

Karina said glazing the doughnuts after frying them is one of her favorite parts of the process.

“Watching them set is so pretty and the natural colors that come from the fruits and other ingredients we use is really fun to see them come together.”

Gadabout Doughnuts doesn’t have a brick and mortar storefront. Karina specializes in pop-up shops and catering orders. Karina and Chaz make the doughnuts at Findlay Kitchen, then takes her product to area businesses that sell products that pair well with her doughnuts. Karina has sold her doughnuts at breweries, coffee shops and local markets throughout Cincinnati.

Keep up with the whereabouts of Gadabout Doughnuts by following them on Instagram and Facebook at @GadaboutDoughnuts.

Abigail Murrish