Much excitement accompanied the opening of Melbourne’s Shortstop Coffee & Donuts in Barangaroo. The Sydney outpost offered a relatively focused menu spanning raised, cake and filled doughnuts alongside French-style crullers, with seasonal flavours providing regular variation.
2016
The Earl Grey and Rose ($4.50) featured their classic cake batter mixed with Earl Grey tea, injected with lemon myrtle and finished with rose water and rose petal icing.
The doughnut opened with a pronounced floral aroma from the rose, while visible Earl Grey tea leaves were distributed through the light, fluffy and moist cake. Lemon myrtle jam added moisture and a citrus lift, complementing the bergamot character of the tea, though its lingering spicy quality was noticeable. The rose remained restrained enough to avoid overwhelming the tea.
The Cookies & Cream Cake ($4.00) featured a chocolate cake doughnut dipped in a cookie crumb-studded sour cream glaze and finished with salted chocolate cookie pieces.
The cake was exceptionally light and fluffy, with restrained sweetness that allowed the sweeter glaze to carry the main flavour. Salted chocolate cookie pieces introduced both crunch and a savoury edge, providing useful contrast to the soft cake and g
The Maple Walnut and Burnt Butter Raised ($5.00) featured a raised doughnut topped with brown butter glaze and maple-roasted walnuts.
The glaze carried a rich, creamy brown butter profile with a slight bitterness that complemented the roasted walnuts. Maple added sweetness without obscuring the nuttiness, while the doughnut itself remained pillowy soft. The walnuts provided intermittent crunch against the soft structure.
The Tiramisu Filled ($5.50) featured a milk chocolate and espresso glaze, mascarpone cream, Kahlua crème pâtissière and caramelised white chocolate.
The doughnut was denser than the cake and raised varieties, providing sufficient structure for the filling. Coffee was immediately apparent in the chocolate glaze, giving it a mocha-like profile. The Kahlua crème pâtissière was comparatively restrained, while the mascarpone introduced freshness against the sweetness. The caramelised white chocolate was present only faintly and in relatively small quantity.
The Cookies & Cream Filled ($5.50) featured a doughnut filled with cookie-laced vanilla bean pastry cream, topped with sour cream and cookie glaze and finished with salted chocolate cookie pieces.
The base was denser and somewhat dry, while the pastry cream remained lightly sweetened, allowing the cookie pieces within to provide much of its flavour. The sour cream glaze supplied additional sweetness, while the larger cookie pieces on top provided more substantial crunch.
The New Orleans Iced Coffee Crueller ($4.00) featured a cocoa-based French cruller dipped in cold-brew coffee and vanilla bean glaze.
Aroma was distinctly coffee-forward, with the combination of coffee, sweetness and acidity resembling a well-balanced iced coffee. The glaze formed a crisp shell around the exceptionally light and airy chocolate interior, creating clear textural contrast.
2017
The Lychee & Oolong Filled Donut ($6.00) featured a raised doughnut filled with crème pâtissière flavoured with lychee-infused oolong and topped with oolong biscuits.
The filling carried a bright, floral lychee-oolong profile, closer to the character of lychee-flavoured oolong tea than fresh lychee. It was lightly sweetened, relying on the sugar glaze for additional sweetness. The raised doughnut was tender without becoming doughy, while the oolong biscuits added a toasted note. Although softer than expected, the biscuits provided useful flavour contrast.
The Hōjicha Latte Cake Donut ($5.00) featured a hōjicha cake doughnut topped with white chocolate and hōjicha glaze and finished with milk crumbs.
The hōjicha was mellow, appearing in both the cake and glaze but becoming faint when combined with the milky milk crumbs. Without the crumbs, the roasted green tea character was clearer. The cake was slightly denser than the Earl Grey and Rose, providing a more substantial bite.
The Triple Matcha Cake Donut ($5.00) featured a matcha cake doughnut topped with white chocolate and matcha glaze and finished with matcha icing.
The glaze carried most of the matcha flavour, with a sweet profile resembling a matcha latte. The cake itself had only a faint bitter and vegetal matcha edge, which became more apparent towards the finish. The overall matcha character was restrained rather than particularly intense.
2019
The Coconut & Lemon Meringue Filled ($6.00), available exclusively on Sunday, featured lemon curd, coconut meringue and a torched finish.
The doughnut itself was light, while the meringue introduced a prominent sweetness and soft texture. This was countered by intensely tart lemon curd, which provided the acidity necessary to prevent the sweetness from becoming flat. Coconut added another layer of flavour, though it was less effective than the sharper lemon and meringue combination.
The Plum Raised ($5.00) was topped with a slightly tart plum glaze made from fresh seasonal plums.
The raised doughnut was substantially larger than the filled varieties and remained soft beneath the glaze. Plum delivered a pleasant sweet-tart profile resembling cooked plum or plum jam, with enough acidity to retain definition against the doughnut.
The Pear, Lemon & Thyme Filled ($6.00) featured yeast dough dipped in lemon glaze, filled with vanilla crème pâtissière and topped with pear compote, polenta crumble and fresh thyme.
The lemon glaze was the strongest component, providing pronounced zest and acidity that cut through the richness of the doughnut. Pear contributed sweetness while retaining some bite, and the vanilla filling added moisture and softness. The thyme was less successful, introducing a savoury herbal note that recalled roasted potato seasoning rather than complementing the fruit.
The Strawberry & Lime Raised ($5.00) offered a restrained citrus profile rather than the sharper acidity expected from fresh lime. Sweetness dominated the glaze, while the strawberry lacked the acidity and aromatic clarity needed for immediate identification. The result was recognisably fruity but less precise than the Plum Raised.
2021
The Mango Black Sesame ($5.50) featured a black sesame cake doughnut filled with mango jam, dipped in fresh mango glaze and finished with toasted black sesame seeds.
The black sesame delivered a deep, roasted nuttiness that was reinforced by the toasted seeds and remained the dominant flavour. Mango contributed sweetness and acidity through the glaze, while the jam provided a softer, cooked-fruit character. The mango nevertheless remained secondary to the sesame, contributing more through sweetness and texture than a distinct fruit profile. The combination would have been more focused with the black sesame allowed to stand alone.
2022
The Salted Coconut, Yuzu & Kaya ($6.50) was filled with house-made kaya, topped with a coconut cream and yuzu glaze and finished with salted coconut flakes.
Coconut dominated the flavour, with the kaya providing a rich, fragrant coconut profile alongside an earthy pandan note. The filling was moderately sweet, while the glaze supplied additional sweetness and a pronounced yuzu acidity. The yuzu cut through the richness effectively, adding a floral citrus character, while the salted coconut flakes provided crunch and helped restrain the sweetness. The structure was well executed, though the combination remained quite rich.
2026
Mandarin & Basil ($7.00)
This featured a raised doughnut with a mandarin and basil glaze. The doughnut was tender with a light chew, providing a soft base for the glaze. The mandarin was immediately identifiable, with the glaze delivering a rich sweet-tart citrus profile that retained the character of fresh mandarin juice rather than becoming simply confectionery. Basil introduced an unexpected but effective counterpoint, adding a fresh, mildly peppery note that extended the citrus profile with additional aromatic depth. The combination remained well defined, with the basil complementing rather than obscuring the mandarin.
Overall, Shortstop Coffee & Donuts is defined by technically controlled doughnuts paired with strongly flavoured glazes, fillings and toppings, with the better creations relying on clear acidity, bitterness or savoury elements to balance sweetness. It remains worth visiting for its more focused seasonal combinations, particularly the fruit- and tea-driven doughnuts.
Shortstop Coffee & Donuts is located at 3/23 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000 and 15 Little Hay St, Harymarket NSW 2000.