D.C.’s First Annual Donut Fest

The first annual "D.C. Donut Fest" was hosted by Brightest Young Things and held at Penn Social. The event featured doughnut vendors and shops from all over the city. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

A photo booth was set up so attendees of Donut Fest could take pictures with a large inflatable donut. The line for the photo booth stretched across the room. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

The event took over all two floors of Penn Social, which had three bars, patio seating and two stages.(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

The second lower floor featured a dance floor with a DJ and burlesque drag performer on the raised stage at the front of the room. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Attendees of the Donut Fest on the dance floor. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Drag dancer Jaxknife performed in front of the dance floor on the bottom floor. Jaxknife is a regular performer at Town Danceboutique.

"I go for the spooky side of burlesque," Jaxknife says. "I like to scare people into thinking I'm beautiful."

(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

District Doughnut and Coffee is a fairly new doughnut catering company that was founded by Pablo Sigura and chef Christine Schafer six months ago. Greg Menna was brought on later as the third owner. They are currently trying to find a location to open their own store.

"We're the only doughnut company that has a different dough for all of our flavors," Sigura says. "We're really trying to change conception of what a doughnut is--that's a gourmet reward."

(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

District Doughnuts served a caramel apple streusel doughnut with sliced apple in the dough, a cannoli doughnut with creamy ricotta filling and semi-sweet chocolate chips, a coconut lime dougnhut with a lime glaze and toasted coconut and lime glaze and toasted coconut on top, a brown butter doughnut in the style of French bread, a peanut butter and jelly doughnut with fresh strawberry jam in the middle and a mocha crunch doughnut that they debuted at the festival. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Mac's Donuts came in third place in the donut competition that took place earlier that day. They specialized in an apple cider doughnut on a stick. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Eventide Restaurant was the runner-up in the doughnut tasting competition and won best presentation. Eventide Restaurant served chocolate doughnuts, lemon currant doughnuts, banana doughnuts, Nutella doughnuts and carrot cake doughnuts. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Jackie's Restaurant was one of the venues serving free doughnut samples at the event. (WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Zeke's DC Doughnuts was in the top three for its Ferrero Rocher doughnut, a filled doughnut with a white chocolate hazelnut cream inside and a milk chocolate praline with gold flecks on top.

Zeke's served a vanilla bean glaze doughnut with Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, a Mexican chocolate doughnut with a chili glaze, with some cayenne and cinnamon inside, a chocolate glaze doughnut that has Carmelita pearls and the peanut butter bacon doughnut which turned out to be a big hit at the festival. There is mocha doughnut that uses local coffee in Virginia, a passion fruit doughnut with coco nubs and a red velvet doughnut.

(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

Stephanie Mclaughlin is the executive pastry chef and manager at Zeke's D.C. Doughnuts.

"I hope to see something like this every year," Mclaughlin says. "I think doughnuts are just hitting the market down here, but it brings a lot of good potential."

(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui

"Officer Nolte" was one of the judges for the doughnut tasting competition. He is BYT's resident doughnut critic, often critiquing different doughnuts on their website.

"We did a review of one of the doughnut places opening up, and we were really impressed by the doughnuts," he says. "So the geniuses behind BYT decided to hold a doughnut fest."

(WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui)

WTOP/Hoai-Tran Bui