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  • a box of Rio's donuts, freshly rolled than fried and filled with flavors inspired by cherished family recipes at core here in Queens.

  • They're doing just that, working tirelessly in a tiny New York City apartment to produce hundreds of donuts.

  • And they are so good that every single week they sell out in less than a minute stick.

  • Look, it took about three tries.

  • Did you literally, just, like, sit on your computer until the order time like you're trying to buy Like Beyonce ticket?

  • They're worth all the work and strategy.

  • Or maybe like the seventh try, I finally got It took you seven weeks plush brioche doughnuts filled with cream topped with Teflon and gently sprinkled with powdered sugar.

  • And while some food in New York is designed with pseudo exclusivity to build up hype, these particular doughnuts are exclusive purely out of necessity.

  • They're made in this small woodside kitchen outfitted with a kitchen aid, a single oven and two small friars that work together to produce over 500 doughnuts every single week for a growing customer base.

  • Are you tired?

  • Cause I'm, like, tired listening to you talk?

  • Oh, it's We're so tired.

  • All the time Kim, along with her boyfriend and co.

  • Or co owner Kevin begin prepping for the weak sales on Monday.

  • And while cores donut flavors change week to week, the leche flan Donut is the star of the show.

  • It begins with a whole lot of egg yolks, evaporated and condensed milk, a pinch of salt and some vanilla, all combined with an immersion blender until it's silky smooth.

  • Kim boils hot caramel just shy of burning for a slightly bittersweet tang, and poured it onto a tray, laying on the flan mixture before popping the whole thing into the oven.

  • Where the funnest torch to remove any air bubbles before it's baked for about an hour and a half until set each tray on.

  • Lee makes about 35 doughnuts and oven.

  • Onley fits one tray, so Kim needs to repeat this process at least four more times to make enough doughnuts to fill orders.

  • The flan has left to cool and sat in the fridge until the next day, when they kick it into high gear.

  • Kim's mom TT babes, places donuts in one corner while some co workers meticulously pipe and decorating the other all while kim fries dough, and Kevin fills it to finish.

  • The signature doughnut brings air cut into the freshly fried dough.

  • Then it's filled to the brim with period flange cream.

  • Let's see.

  • Flynn is cut into rounds, then gently layered into the doughnut before the whole thing is lightly.

  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar so I'm Filipino and, like the flavors air just so true toe.

  • Like what you would imagine Filipino dessert tastes like, but it's just brought toe like a more modern contemporary format through the doughnut.

  • The flan recipe felt Kim's hands in some tragic gets serendipitous timing.

  • When Kim's grandmother, Cora, passed in January 2020 and in sorting through some of her belongings, she stumbled across something pretty special.

  • We found her little fun recipe and her old like notebook e wish that she was still here to see this and see, like what an impact she's left on me and how everything about this business has been built because what she did for me in my life, I'm gonna start tearing my E.

  • When the pandemic and subsequent state home orders hit in March, Kim, like so many of us, took to baking to pass the time during quarantine, when I was doing a lot of baking had left over Brioche.

  • So yeah, that's why I just like, let me just get some oil on the stove and I'll fry them off like donuts.

  • She took to Social Media to sell some donuts to family and friends and, to her surprise, sold over 175 in the very first day.

  • Working simply through word of mouth, the couple dropped in order for him every Monday at 3 p.m. Each week, selling more and more until became almost impossible for customers to snack a box.

  • Grandmother's recipe book in hand, Kim and Kevin began building a business that pays homage to her grandmother in every way down to the logo, which uses her hand written letters lifted from the book.

  • When we go downstairs and we hand a box of people, especially people that are having for the first time, these donuts that have been so elusive and so hard to get, and just like the pure joy on their faces is enough, you know, I haven't had doughnuts and months, and I'm so excited.

  • I've been watching them make these for two days straight, and it's just been straight torture not being able to try them.

  • Oh yeah, The brio stand up by itself is light and airy.

  • It's perfectly fried.

  • It's not greasy.

  • The cream on the bottom hits your mouth the second you bite into it, so you immediately get that light chiffon flavor on.

  • Then you bite into the flood itself, and it's not dense.

  • It's not too jiggly.

  • It's just creamy of melt in your mouth the second that you bite into it.

  • The burnt camera on top gives it this bitterness that really brings the whole thing together.

  • It really levels out the sweetness as faras desserts go.

  • This is one of those ones that you feel like you could bite into it and doesn't feel heavy.

  • It doesn't feel dense.

  • It tastes like it came out of your grandmother's kitchen.

a box of Rio's donuts, freshly rolled than fried and filled with flavors inspired by cherished family recipes at core here in Queens.

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