Glazed & Confused is starting off the new year with a host of new flavors for their menu. The new menu launched earlier this month and includes a peanut butter, fluff treat and a chocolate Reese’s doughnut. 

The doughnut shop’s owner, Paul Valenti, said the new year would be a perfect time to launch new flavors. In true Glazed fashion, the new menu items feature clever names such as “Lemon Drop W/Blueberry Drop,” “What the Fluff?!,” “The Notorious B.I.G.” and “Pardon My Strawberry French Toast.” 

“It just made sense. It’s a great way to keep things fresh and we have a lot more to come this year,” Valenti said. 

Glazed & Confused doughnuts are traditionally vanilla cake doughnuts with various toppings. With the launch of the new menu, the biggest change is the addition of blueberry and chocolate cake flavors. These new base flavors give customers more options than ever before. 

But the new menu isn’t abandoning their fan favorites. “The Jimmy,” “Cereal Killer” and the bacon-loaded “The Dizzy Pig” are still on the menu.  

Susie Teuscher | Digital Design Editor

Most of the new menu items came from a combination of customer polls and popular daily flavors. Glazed & Confused features a new flavor every day that isn’t on the main menu. Valenti said he wanted to get the daily flavors with the best customer feedback on the board immediately. 

Plans started for the new menu back in October. There were some “rough drafts” of flavors early on but everything was set in stone only three weeks prior to launch.  

Valenti also wanted to switch up the customer service in his store too. The shop was closed the first week of January for preparations, including an employee trip to New York City to see how doughnut shops on a larger scale are run. 

“Our pastry chefs and employees are behind the counter and don’t usually just stroll into a doughnut shop, so I wanted to give them a customer experience to see what it was like,” said Valenti.  

For Bridgette Mulvey, one of the pastry chefs at Glazed & Confused, it was helpful to see how other shops ran their businesses. She said the trip gave the Glazed team some ideas for flavors and shop design. 

“NYC is a tougher market and it’s a lot faster paced,” Mulvey said. “Some places weren’t as friendly as others and when we came back to Syracuse we wanted to make our customers have the best experiences possible.”

New doughnut flavors include “Lemon Drop W/Blueberry Drop,” “Up All Night,” “What the Fluff?!” and “The Notorious B.I.G.” Haley Robertson | Feature Editor

Upon returning to Syracuse the team got right into action. After the trip, the staff got together and talked about what they can improve their customer service, Valenti said. While the shop was closed, Valenti said, the team reorganized and cleaned out the kitchen. They spent time moving out old product and becoming familiar with the new recipes. 

Delaney Benton, a junior at Syracuse University double majoring in neuroscience and psychology, went to Glazed & Confused with her family days after the new menu was released earlier this month. 

“My favorite flavor has always been the ‘Carnival’ doughnut but I was really excited about the new menu,” Benton said. “Everything was super creative and I can’t wait to try more new flavors.” 

Glazed & Confused will also tackle on new healthy doughnut alternatives while also experimenting in a “cheat night,” Valenti said. The team is working on a ketogenic doughnut and will continue vegan and gluten-free doughnuts on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

“We’re really excited about the upcoming spring because we’ll be opening up on Friday nights and feature all of our doughnuts as milkshake flavors,” Valenti said. 

Customers can visit the shop on North Clinton Street, Tuesday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on the weekends from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Published on January 14, 2019 at 11:52 pm