By MARY POLETTI
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
LEWISTOWN, Mo. -- The sweet, fried aroma is hard to miss. As soon as you walk into Mike DeAngelis' and Robin Lee's sprawling house near Lewistown, the smells of hot cooking oil and sugary batter mingle in the air, signaling that a sweet treat isn't far behind.
The couple hopes to fill a lot more spaces with that smell as they launch Mad Mike's Dinky Doughnuts, making mini-doughnuts for the masses at fairs, fundraisers and more.
The centerpiece of the business is an automatic donut machine that cranks out up to 1200 mini-doughnuts an hour, using a special vegan and kosher batter that produces sweet, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth doughnuts less than two inches in diameter.
"I have trouble not doing this every day," DeAngelis said as he tended to a demonstration batch of about 100 donuts in his kitchen on a recent afternoon. "I'd eat 'em."
Inspired by a similar vendor Lee saw at the Soulard Farmers Market in St. Louis, the couple purchased a Lil' Donuts machine online earlier this year and launched their business venture with a doughnut stand at the Mini-Sturgis motorcycle rally in Quincy this month.
Lee admits, with tongue in cheek, that the couple quickly learned doughnuts aren't for every occasion.
"Unfortunately, beer and doughnuts don't mix," Lee said.
They've since booked more events in Missouri in the late summer and into the fall, including LaBelle Harvest Days, Lewistown Appreciation Days, the Ewing Festival and a homecoming celebration in Gower, Mo., near St. Joseph.
For these fall celebrations, they're hoping to roll out apple and pumpkin doughnuts in addition to their current cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar varieties.
And although the couple hasn't booked any county fairs, Lee said they've also toyed with the fair tradition of deep-frying Oreos and miniature candy bars later in the day, "when people don't want donuts and kids want junk."
But first, they have to refine the science of making their signature miniature doughnuts.
DeAngelis begins by mixing the batter from a powdered mix, also purchased online from Lil' Donuts, that is both vegan and kosher. It demands precise timing -- exactly one minute on low and two on high in an electric stand mixer.
Then the machine comes into play, as DeAngelis pours the mix into a pourer that dispenses doughnut-shaped rings of batter into a 4-inch-wide trough of hot cooking oil stirred with a small paddle wheel. A pair of metal grates flip the doughnuts to cook the other side, then catapults them onto a tray to dry.
The process is mesmerizing to those who watch it, especially children, Lee says.
A batch of eight doughnuts takes less than a minute but requires a lot of fine-tuning and careful attention.
"They say it's a one-person job, but you know what I say to that? Bull puckey," DeAngelis said as Lee scraped some stubborn batter out of a bowl he held over the pourer.
Cooking time can also be a challenge.
"Sometimes the first few batches can be a little obstinate," Lee said. "Sometimes (dough) gets ahead and they don't get cooked all the way through."
To remedy that, DeAngelis uses a long, narrow stick to make sure doughnuts don't float along too fast and get undercooked. Each side requires about 20 seconds of cooking time.
After that, the doughnuts must sit under a heat lamp to keep their warm, tender texture. The couple hopes to sell six for $2 or a dozen for $3.50 at a typical event.
The machine can produce doughnuts in three different sizes, but the miniatures are their signature because, they say, no one else in Northeast Missouri makes them.
In addition to the fruit-flavored varieties and the venture into fried candy, Lee said they've considered dipping doughnuts in chocolate.
Because they are available for a wide variety of events -- not only fairs and fundraisers, but parties and weddings as well -- they have mulled over the possibility of a wedding cake of miniature doughnuts and sponge sugar.
They even hope to package and sell the mini-doughnuts in gas stations and convenience stores under a program they call "doughnuts on loan."
"We've both got some good ideas for getting out there and getting people to enjoy the doughnuts," Lee said.
For DeAngelis, 60, the venture grew out of a desire to find a fun way to supplement the disability payments he collects as an emphysema patient. When the couple stumbled upon the doughnuts, his background as a chef seemed like a perfect fit.
And the fun the couple has making doughnuts is its own reward.
"We have a blast," Lee said. "It's a fun little venture."
For more information, contact DeAngelis at (573) 497-2235.
-- mpoletti@whig.com/221-3385
