Bao Down For These Santa Rosa Donuts: Zephyr Chocolates

Bao dough is used for these soft, puffy little donuts filled with ricotta and fruit, plus cupcakes and chocolates at Zephyr Chocolates

Bao donuts and cupcakes at the Zephyr Chocolates pop up at the East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
Bao donuts and cupcakes at the Zephyr Chocolates pop up at the East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD

Hold onto your sweet tooth, because we’ve found a CandyLand of yumminess way under the radar.

 

Bao donuts made with bao dough and filled with ricotta cheese and fruit at Zephyr Chocolates pop-up at East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
Bao donuts made with bao dough and filled with ricotta cheese and fruit at Zephyr Chocolates pop-up at East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD

Zephyr Chocolates, a passion project by baker/chocolatier Robin Carey, has quietly been testing out a pop-up sweet shop on Monday and Tuesdays at East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa.

Donut bread pudding with fresh berries and caramel at Zephyr Chocolates pop up at the East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
Donut bread pudding with fresh berries and caramel at Zephyr Chocolates pop up at the East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD

First off, the donuts. She bowled us over with her croissant donuts a few years ago, but now, she’s doing an Asian-inspired bao donut. If you’re not familiar with bao, it’s the soft, fluffy dough used in Chinese pork buns — a chewy, light, sweet/savory bread often steamed. Inspired by the extraordinary bao buns at East Wind, she’s fried up the dough and filled it with ricotta and fresh fruit including key lime, strawberry, and Meyer lemon.

Calling them “bao-nuts” she’s also doing Boston cream pie and a creme brulee version with a crunchy sugar top.

Chai tea and lavendar cupcakes at Zephyr Chocolates pop-up at East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD
Chai tea and lavendar cupcakes at Zephyr Chocolates pop-up at East Wind Bakery in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/PD

That’s just the start, though, Carey also does exotic cupcakes: Cardamom rose, lavender bergamot and double chocolate; donut bread pudding and chocolates with rose, cinnamon, Chinese five spice, are ginger (among many others).

Sipping chocolates with a cinnamon marshmallow from Zephyr Chocolates at the East WInd Bakery on Monday and Tuesdays only in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/Biteclubeats.com
Sipping chocolates with a cinnamon marshmallow from Zephyr Chocolates at the East WInd Bakery on Monday and Tuesdays only in Santa Rosa. Heather Irwin/Biteclubeats.com

We gilded the little by ordering a sipping chocolate (think liquid truffle) with a giant cinnamon marshmallow also made by Carey.

We’re not sure where she finds time to sleep, but you’ll want to get up early to get some of her treats because the bakery case tends to get pretty empty by noon.

Zephyr Chocolates pop-up at East Wind Bakery: Monday and Tuesdays only from 9a.m. to 3p.m., 3851 Sebastopol Rd., #109, Santa Rosa, zephyrchocolateandcocoa.com.

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