Bomboloni alla Nutella - Tony's Off Third - Naples, Florida

Bomboloni alla Nutella

I have never taste tested for the blog while attending a business seminar, but there's always a first time for everything.  And today was the day for a first!  You might be surprised (or not) to learn that I actually have a day job, and that I don't eat my way through food for a living.  While it might be a dream of mine to procure such delicious employment, this girl still makes a buck the old fashioned way.  I've got to keep my legal mind as sharp as a pencil, so every year I attend the Florida Bar's Attorney/Trust Officer Liaison Conference.  One of the nice things about this conference is that I get to network with a lot of non-lawyer colleagues who work in related fields.  Kristin Vaughn of the estate auction and appraisal firm, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, is not only one of these fellow colleagues but also a fellow foodie.  Kristin is a fan of this blog's Facebook fan page and she must have seen the pic of that maple bacon doughnut I posted for National Doughnut Day.  Because as soon as I saw her we launched into an excited conversation about doughnuts.  And not just any doughnut, but the Bomboloni alla Nutella, the latest limited offering from Tony's Off Third, a popular wine and pastry shop in Naples' exclusive Third Street Shopping District.

Kristin's office happens to be just above Tony's Off Third so she had the skinny on this new sweet treat that trended on Naples Facebook feeds last weekend.  Created by shop co-proprietor and Naples' restauranteur/chef, Tony Ridgeway, the Bomboloni alla Nutella is an Italian doughnut filled with white chocolate mousse and Nutella cream.  Kristin didn't have spend a lot of time convincing me that I needed to try this.  She had me right at Nutella.  Hazelnut and chocolate.  Mmmmm.  Love that stuff.  I have ever since my cousin brought it back from a trip to the Netherlands while I was in my teens.  And now Nutella is as ubiquitous as ever.  So, it was only a matter of time before it made its way into a doughnut.

But Tony's doughnut, available only on Fridays, is no run-of-the-mill doughnut.  This brioche style doughnut, with its light bread-like texture, is generously filled with delicious mousse.  The bread itself is not sweet so that this treat is sweetened exclusively by the cream.  I like my desserts sweet but not overly sweet, so this doughnut fits the bill for me.   With that being said, there is a generous amount of cream in these pastries.  So it's best to eat one over a plate or at least a napkin lest some of that sweet cream become a new adornment on your lap.  Not a good way to waste such deliciousness!

Many thanks to Kristin for commandeering someone to pick up a box of these Bomboloni and ferrying them down to us at the conference.  I will definitely be paying her back with lunch sometime very soon, maybe at Ridgeway Bar & Grill.  :-)