It's not officially summer yet but Dunkin' hasn't wasted any time launching its latest menu, including the new Pink Spritz Refresher and its Orange N' Vanilla Specialty Donut. Today I finally got to try the specialty donut after it had been sold out the last few times I went.
Inspired by the classic orange creamsicle (or dreamsicle, but I'm not wading into that debate), a sweet treat that traditionally combines vanilla ice cream with an orange sherbet, the Orange N' Vanilla is a glazed orange cake donut with a vanilla drizzle on top. It seems like a pretty simple combination overall. Creamsicles are one of my favorite desserts ever. Any time I see a creamsicle-inspired menu item or new recipe to try, I'm on it, so I was excited to hear about Dunkin's latest donut venture.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the Orange N' Vanilla donut. I have felt that many of Dunkin's limited-time specialty donuts are hit or miss and often they suffer from being obnoxiously sugar-y. I wasn't a fan of the Cookie Butter, Cotton Candy, or the Watermelon Burst donuts as I felt like all of them were simply way too sweet, to the point of making me feel a little nauseous after.
I appreciated that the orange cake donut was more subtle in its sweetness, while still retaining a strong citrus flavor. That said, I don't know if it tasted distinctly "orange," I probably would have believed them if they said the cake was lemon-flavored. Nonetheless, I thought it was a great cake donut even if it wasn't necessarily as orange-y as I anticipated apart from the fluffy bright orange insides. I also think the glazed coating made for a nice subtle crunch and complemented the slight tang well.
I didn't get a lot of vanilla drizzle on my donut, so to me, it didn't taste like biting into a donut version of a creamsicle. The vanilla flavoring was nearly non-existent, making it more of just a citrus-based cake donut. The glaze is the only thing that added that sugary outer shell.
In short, the Orange N' Vanilla specialty donut leans heavily into the citrus and less so on the vanilla. If you enjoy lemon cakes and orange desserts, I do think you'll like this donut as it's really quite tasty and not overwhelmingly sweet. But I also wish that they had leaned more into the vanilla notes to really create a strong and more cohesive orange-and-vanilla combination.
My overall rating is a 3.5 out of 5 for the Orange N' Vanilla Specialty Donut! These donuts are only available for a limited time.