Rhubarb & Custard Doughnut (Greggs)

I can't tell you how happy I am that rhubarb and custard seems to be going through a bit of a trend phase at the moment. ASDA's Rhubarb Jumble pots and Iceland's Rhubarb & Custard Cone Sensations are wonderful 2016 edition desserts which have both slightly altered my perception of the clasically British combination. How so? Well, I once thought of rhubarb and custard as a wintery pud (especially if the rhubarb comes baked into a crumble-yum!) but I've realised that the sharp-sweetness can offer a refreshing zing on a hot summers day. It's this new thinking that caused me to pop into Greggs on the way home from work and pick up this unusually flavoured doughnut. Well, actually, I tried yesterday too but they were completely sold out -boo. 

On the shelf in the bakery, the doughnuts looked rather pretty with their yellow and pink feathered icing. Unfortunately, by the time I'd walked the 2miles home in the blazing sunshine, the icing had melted and smeared itself all over the paper bag. Waste not, want not. I scraped as much of it out as I could. 

Refusing to wait any longer, I licked the yellow and pink icing straight off the spoon. Wow, it tasted like melted rhubarb and custard sweets -and was utterly delicious! Of course it was far more sweet than tart, but the tang was not lost and lingered lovingly in the background. Would it work against the sugary doughnut too?

Yes, I'm pleased to say it did. Although the doughnut didn't taste as fresh or as fluffy as I'd have liked, the combination worked surprisingly well. What did disappoint me however, was the lack of rhubarb jam and/or custard running through the dough itself. I've come to expect all doughnuts -even the ring kind- to be filled with some kind of naughtiness, and I felt that the additional rhubarb and custard element would have elevated this treat onto a whole new level of genius! 

7/10