Campus News
By William Coffman and Clare McKinley, Opinions & Editorials Editor and Campus News Editor
Cinna-Blob takes the cake – or more like doughnut – in the first ever Doughnut Madness bracket challenge, winning a featured spot in Starlight Doughnut Lab’s starting line-up for the month of April.
The Cinna-Blob doughnut won first place in the first ever Doughnut Madness bracket challenge, securing its place on the April menu at Starlight Doughnut Lab.
To get in the spirit of March Madness, in early March, students could submit their unique doughnut flavor ideas to Student Affairs. After all the flavors were locked in, each week they were sent to the Xavier community via email for a vote. Winners moved on and losing doughnuts were eliminated.
The final two doughnuts were then pitted against one another in a Taste-Off. Senior exercise science major Anija Sharp’s creation, the Cinna-Blob, defeated sophomore sports marketing major Jer Woods’ Garlic-Herb Butter in a battle of the taste buds.
Live taste testing and voting for the savory vs. sweet showdown was held in the Gallagher Student Center on Friday. Participants were able to meet the creators of doughnut flavors and taste for themselves which one they wanted to prevail.
“For me it really came down to the filling. I thought that the doughnut part of both were pretty similar and solid work, just with cinnamon sugar on one and garlic on the other. But I thought the filling for the cinnamon sugar one was really good. It was a nice frosting filling, while the garlic one was more so just a stick of butter with some green onions in it,” sophomore Philosophy, Politics and the Public and public relations double major Eric Polousky said. “You know, they’re both really good, but at the end of the day it’s what on the inside that counts, so I would say Cinna-Blob is up,”
Even though the Garlic-Herb-Butter flavor lost, it showcased the Hoff Dining Commons’ signature recipe.
After receiving the most votes, Cinna-Blob will now be featured on Starlight Doughnut Lab’s rotating menu.
Starlight Doughnut Lab is a doughnut shop located in Norwood just five minutes down the road from Xaiver’s campus. They specialize in creating doughnuts with adventurous flavors and have embraced the challenge of making Sharp’s and Woods’ ideas a reality.
“My fiancée got me into Xavier basketball a couple years ago. Now we are season ticket holders, and have been coming to the games for the past three years now. I started following everything with Xavier and then you guys reached out to us about this fun event and we said yes, we’d love to do it,” owner and head chef of Starlight Donut Lab Ben Greiwe said.
The Cinna-Blob was made from a brioche dough filled with cream cheese frosting, dulce de leche and salt, and finally rolled in cinnamon sugar. The Garlic-Herb Butter was made from the Hoff Dining Commons’ recipe. The dough was stuffed with the creamy butter, dunked in it and then sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese and salt on top.
“I chose the garlic herb butter because it is one of the tastiest things on campus,” Woods said. “Even though my donut lost, it was still worthwhile because it was a delicious contest, and it showed the impact the Xavier community can have on a local business.”
From now until the end of April, the Cinna-Blob is available at Starlight Doughnut Lab along with their other April seasonal flavors and their staple donuts.
Anija Sharp (left), ideator of the Cinna-Blob, Jer Woods, ideator of the Garlic-Herb Butter flavor (right) and creator of both, Ben Greiwe, were in the Gallagher Student Center for the live taste testing of the final two doughnuts of the Doughnut Madness Bracket Challenge.
