Psycho Donuts WINS Donut Showdown

Chef Ron Levi of Psycho Donuts!

Psycho Donuts' Head Chef, Ron Levi, competed on Food Network Canada's Donut Showdown – and took home the proverbial cake!  Ron and his assistant, Joe Cloutier, won the well-deserved grand prize!  The episode aired in Canada on Tuesday, April 16, at 10:30pm EST (stay tooned for details of Donut Showdown airing in the US).

Several months ago, Psycho Donuts was invited to audition for the new Food Network series.  After an extensive audition process, Psycho Donuts was selected to compete, and Architect Films (the show's producer) flew our crazy team to Toronto.  Check out this slightly shortened version of our audition video, where we were challenged to tell the producer all about Psycho Donuts in three minutes or less. 

The battle began with three donut chefs, each required to prepare cake donuts using three unusual ingredients.  With limited time and unfair amounts of chaos, Ron was tasked with improvising several Psycho-worthy creations, critiqued on taste, presentation, and creativity.  The weakest competitor was sent home, and the remaining two went head-to-head in a final battle.

The Killer Team - Chef Ron and Assistant Joe Cloutier!

In Round 1, Ron invented a batch of Vanilla cake donuts with chocolate hazelnut icing, candied walnuts, and fruit-flavored popping candy.  In Round 2, competitors were challenged to make a total of six dozen raised donuts, across three improvised varieties.  Again, Ron nailed it, spontaneously creating:

• A Mayan hot chocolate s'mores donut with caramel halo
• A salted caramel chipotle apple fritter with hot cinnamon crackle 
• A margarita bullseye donut with tequila-chantilly cream filling, margarita icing, and a salted Keylime drizzle.  

And BAM!  At the end of the episode, Chef Ron flew home with a grand prize of $10,000 (less US and Canadian taxes of $9,999.99).

Psycho Nurse Aleena in The Trippy Food Blog!

Psuper Psycho congratulations to Chef Ron for this amazing accomplishment.  Since the program has not yet aired on Food Network US, Psycho Donuts is planning a viewing event at Psycho San Jose and Camera 3 Theater.  Watch our Facebook Page for all the details.

The insanity of Psycho Donuts, coupled with Chef Ron's offbeat donutrocities, were also reviewed in the Trippy Food Blog.  Thanks to our Trippy new friends for the great review!