As a “reporter,” I’m supposed to remain unbiased and just present the facts, so here goes: At A Taste of Amish, a new downtown Zionsville bakery located on N. First St., I sampled the best donut I’ve ever eaten in my life. And that’s a fact! I could not believe how creamy and moist and delicious my first bite was—and it was not cream-filled; it was a Cinnamon Caramel donut.
To make sure my accolades were warranted, I brought a donut home for my 16-year-old son to try. According to him, “This is the greatest. I’m in heaven.” Fact verified.
I’m not a donut aficionado by any stretch of the imagination—I almost always order a jelly donut or cinnamon cruller when I indulge. My favorite sweet treat is an oatmeal raisin cookie. Fact #2: the oatmeal raisin cookies at A Taste of Amish are awesome. The texture is firm, but not crunchy, with lots of raisins and real substance. My son said, “They have the perfect amount of cinnamon.” He’s right.
A Taste of Amish, was launched in December 2015 by Rachel Gallienne, who is originally from Middlebury in Northern Indiana. Her father was Amish, so Rachel grew up with a great appreciation for the wholesome method of preparing fresh foods from scratch that is embedded in the Amish culture.
I recently spent about a half-hour interviewing Rachel, but it seems to me that it would be superfluous to write a bunch of paragraphs to tell you the facts and figures about the who, what, where, and why of how A Taste of Amish came to Zionsville, because the real story of this entrepreneurial endeavor can only be accurately told by your very own tongue. Until you actually eat a donut from A Taste of Amish. you won’t really understand how different they are from donuts that are made at a chain donut shop.
What I will tell you are a few essential bits of information you should know about A Taste of Amish:
- The store is located a half-block north of Lincoln Park at 62 N. First St.
- The store hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
- You can park your car in the lot on the north side of the building, at the corner of N. First St. and Poplar St.
- The fresh donuts are brought in daily from an Amish baking partner in North Indiana. The name of the source is a trade secret, so don’t waste your time asking Rachel, because she won’t tell you. She will reveal that her favorite donut is the Crunch Delight, which has caramel frosting and crumbles of homemade toffee.
- If you need large quantities (dozens or hundreds) of the donuts or other bakery items, for a party or business event, you should order them three to five days in advance by visiting the bakery or calling 317-800-2500 during business hours. To download the order form, click here.
- 10% discount for large orders placed three or more days in advance! Large orders with less than three days notice can usually be filled, but that could cause a sticky situation (pun intended).
- In addition to fresh-baked delectable donuts and cookies, you can buy Amish-style pies, mini-fried pies, cinnamon rolls, muffins, pecan sticky buns, toffee. as well as cups of coffee and French-vanilla cappuccino.
- Bread and sweet bread too! You’ll find a wide variety of breads at A Taste of Amish, including several styles of full loaves, dinner rolls, and hamburger buns.
- The hand-held fried pies are very popular. They come in seven flavors: apple, black raspberry, black raspberry cream, blueberry, cherry, peach, and red raspberry cream. During fresh strawberry season, they also offer strawberry rhubarb.
- All of the full-size pies can be made with gluten-free crust, but you need to special order those in advance.
- Other Amish-style foods for sale include packages of noodles, veggie chips, salsa, homemade granola, popcorn, homemade peanut butter, as well as jars of jams, jellies, and other delicacies.
- The reputation of the superior donuts at A Taste of Amish is rapidly spreading throughout Central Indiana, so don’t be surprised if you have to wait in line on Saturday mornings.
New Zionsville Bakery: Taste the Difference at A Taste of Amish
When asked the question, “Why donuts?” Rachel replied, “Zionsville needed a donut place. What better way to bring donuts than fresh Amish-made donuts?” My taste buds agree!
Nobody loves a jelly donut from Dunkin’ Donuts more than I do (and I’ve been eating them for over a half-century), but now I know what a donut should really taste like and feel like in my mouth. And nobody loves an oatmeal raisin cookie more than I do (NOBODY!!!), so from now on when I crave a donut or cookie, I’m heading to downtown Zionsville.
As you know, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some pictures (from the A Taste of Amish Facebook page) worth 48 thousand words about the deliciousness available at this new Zionsville bakery.
