Perk’d Up’s – Whoopi-DoughBurg DIY

Perk’d Up and DumDum Doughnuts have pulled a special and a half to the DIY market! Croissant Doughnut bun with a Buffalo Salted Caramel Sauce two of the components that boggled the mind when deciding on ordering this DIY. Part of me would say no, just do not do it, this is a freak show; the other half of me relished the opportunity to try this burger. This is how it went!

The Bun: 16/20

Beautifully packaged in an individual box this dumdum croissant doughnut looked the part that is for sure. The texture was a little tougher than I expected it to be and the toasting process, therefore, was probably a 3-4 minute toast on the crown and heel after slicing in half. I have to admit that the thought of having a doughnut as a bun, contrary to Instagram foodie porn, did not excite me. I have seen many creations of burgers with doughnuts and bagels on Instagram and they look pretty spectacular. This dumdum doughnut was pretty great, I have to admit. The texture, although tougher than I expected, was perfectly adept at harassing the crazy sauce and the juicy patty. Being a doughnut, the sweetness was definitely a noticeable element that probably just swayed on the rough side of my taste buds being a true carnivore and not much of a sweetie person! Irrespective of my personal preferences, the combination of doughnut to burger was brilliant and it has scored pretty highly.

The Toppings: 8/10

The toppings, smoked bacon rashers and crispy shallot onions, complimented the burger really well. The crispy shallot onions were a textural positive for me, adding a great crunch to each bite. I know the Perk’d Up bacon is good, so I expected the same as usual from them. The bacon is smoked just enough to make a difference to the overall taste but not so smoked that it steals from the other components in the stack.

The Condiments: 6/10

The Buffalo Salted Caramel Sauce was more like salted caramel sauce. The sweetness of the sauce was probably just a little too much for me, but I can certainly see that with the right audience this sauce is a winner. For me, it needed just a little more heat or twang to it to be in this stack but, by the same token, I was not complaining. I would be interested to see on social media what the feedback is on this because I am certain some people will give this an 11/10 and others a no score. It is a brave move to put something like salted caramel in a burger stack so I definitely commend the originality but for me, it was just too sweet and not something that resonates too well in my pallet.

The Cheese: 18/20

2 slices of quality American Cheese per patty. The cheese is a winner, no doubt about it. Great flavour, great melt and just held things together in the stack and gave that look that I elude to in a lot of my reviews – Burgerporn! The 3 minute cook after the flip is probably about right for the patty but having the cheese on there for the same time over-melted which means we lost some of the cheese in translation. Fortunately I made the kids burgers first, learnt from the mistake and treated myself to a 1 minute cheese stack covered with a lid which worked perfectly!

The Patty: 18/20

Having had the Festive Burger from Perk’d Up, again I was expecting the same quality of meat and they did not disappoint. The is great and delivers a nice punchy flavour, even in amongst a sauce that probably didn’t compliment it as best it deserved. The texture is great, chargrilled with a rough exterior but rare to medium inside with great flavour. 125g patty is the right size too! Perk’d Up have also ranked with another burger on our review schedule you can check that out here

The Taste: 17/20

The moment of truth arrives and I have to forewarn here that I have been thinking about this a little while. Although I was not a huge fan of the salted caramel the taste overall was brilliant. Somehow this burger delivered a fun, adventurous, experience that confused but delighted the taste buds. I am not a fan of sweet things but the balance was struck really well with a fantastic cheese and a great patty. I would, 100%, order this again if Perk’d Up and DumDum Doughnuts release another collaboration!

The Verdict: 83/100

The Whoopi Doughburger climbs into the Top 10 with an offering that is a must for adventurous burger fans. Being critical about burgers can be done in a number of ways and breaking this burger down element by element identifies a flaw in the sauce. I do, however, understand that the sauce being so sweet will definitely be a heart warmer for some people. If you like a burger and you like doughnuts this is a definite for you! Being as I only like burgers, doughnuts being something I may indulge in maybe once a year it was not a slam dunk for me personally. Irrespective, the Whoopi Doughburg tantalises the tastebuds and excites the cook-off at home so, in my opinion, is something everyone should try! You can check out Perk’d Up Instagram page here