here’s fried food and then there’s bomboloni. Far beyond the realm of choosing something fried to comfort a hangover, the bombolone (singular) is a morning tea, a dessert and a treat any time of day. The soft round pillow of yeasty dough is deep-fried, filled with silky custard or sweet jam and dusted in sugar. Sticky fingers are obligatory as the toffee-brown outside is bitten into revealing cakey dough and a gooey filling.

The Italian version originated in Tuscany, but there are many variations of the round doughnut-like morsel with various names: a ‘beignet’ made with yeast dough, ‘boules de Berlin’, the ‘Berliner’ or simply jam or custard doughnuts.

We love them and have put together a list of our favourite places to get your bombolone on!

American Doughnut Kitchen
Jam only: bag of six for $6
Queen Victoria Markets

Baker D Chirico
Vanilla Custard: $3.20 each
149 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
(03) 9534 3777
178 Faraday Street, Carlton
(03) 9349 3445
bakerdchirico.com.au

Sugardough
Jam, Custard, Chocolate Ganache: $2.80 each
163 Lygon Street, Brunswick
(03) 9380 4060
sugardough.com.au

Dench Bakers
Vanilla Custard only: $3.80 each
109 Scotchmer Street, Fitzroy North
(03) 9403 5333
denchbakers.com.au

Noisette
Vanilla Custard, Strawberry Jam, Nutella: $3 each
84 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
(03) 9646 9555
noisette.com.au

O’Hea’s Bakery
Jam (Strawberry or Apricot), Custard (Vanilla or Chocolate): $2.50 each
203–205 O’Hea Street, Coburg
(03) 9354 8070