CLEARLAKE — Who knew that donut shop bakers work the entire night to bring their customers their morning morsels? Lee Cheng, owner of Castle Donuts on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake says they start at 9 p.m. mixing, shaping, proofing the dough (the total process that takes many hours) and then in the early morning frying, all to fill the shelves with cake donuts, shaped donuts, iced donuts and filled donuts. Preparation time varies depending on the outside temperature for the proofing but actual frying only takes 60 to 90 seconds. It’s a science to make everything perfect for a proper donut. If the proofing time, or temperature, is too low or too high, then the batch will be spoiled. If the fry oil is too hot, or too cool, that also will turn a batch bad.
Sitting across the lake in a small unassuming building one would never guess that Castle Donuts is a hive of activity both night and day. Their glass cases sparkle and are filled row by row with donuts as customers begin to file in as early as 5 a.m. for their coffee and donut fix. Rush hour starts 7:30 a.m. onward when people grab a box of mixed donuts for coworkers or individual donuts for their children’s before-school snacks. Georgina Marie, who works at WIC nearby, held the familiar pink bakery box of donut holes for her coworkers. “The donut holes are really good,” she said as a steady stream of people came into the shop.
Cheng immigrated to the US from Cambodia as a high school student with his family, as political refugees in 1981. He became an American citizen in 1988 and after going to school and working as an auto mechanic, he changed directions and bought the existing donut shop in 1999. Cheng began baking and selling donuts from the shop and delivering them to businesses around the lake. He stopped the lakeside deliveries in 2016.
Matthew Larios with Destinee, 11, and Luis, 7, were early customers. “I come here a lot,” said Destinee, “Before school.” They left with a custom-filled box of donuts and two of the giant raspberry-filled bear claws that were almost as big as Luis.
Repeat customers Danielle Carrion and Angel Beecher greeted Mr. Cheng, who recognized them. “I come here twice a week,” said Beecher, holding her coffee and bag of donuts. “If there’s a wait it’s only a couple of minutes, otherwise everyone is in and out and the donuts are delicious. I love coming here.” Carrion, leaving the shop with a two dozen mix to take to St. Helena for a work meeting said, “My boyfriend comes in every Friday and I come in twice a month.”
With approximately 500 donuts made daily, there are sometimes leftovers, which Cheng says they turn into a crumb; a mix of day-old donuts, cinnamon, coconut and sometimes peanuts. “The ingredients are what makes our crumb so good for toppings.” Other times they donate leftover donuts to a local church and other organizations.
Castle Donuts inserts jellies, Bavarian cream, or butter cream cheese into round donuts and apple and raspberry into the Bear Claws. “I make the icings myself,” Cheng said, “Glazed, chocolate and maple.”
With so many choices, it often takes customers a few minutes to figure out the perfect morning fix, but there’s plenty of friendly staff to make the process go quickly. Others like Angel Beecher, who knew her favorite, were in and out in a flash. One man sat with his donut and coffee and read the paper. A couple sat at one of the several booths and chatted while eating their donuts and drinking coffee.
“Assorted filled bars cost $1.65” said Cheng. “Many people want to share donuts with their co-workers, so the popular dozen-box is $9 to16.50 a box. Depending on which donuts they choose.”
Less than three-dollars will buy a small coffee ($1.25) and an old-fashion donut (90 cents).
Good way to kick off the day.
