Spotlight: The Little Blue Donut Truck

Alyse and Mike Pefetto had donut dreams just about a year ago. She’d been a stay-at-home mom, taking care of their now 7 and 10 year-olds while he had a boring corporate gig with a schedule incompatible to his kids’.
The family was on vacation when they cooked up the hole-y vision for a mobile donut shop with awesome custom flavors, because “Who doesn't love donuts?” Mike quipped during an interview early this week.
“I was sort of obsessed with the idea once it took hold,” he confessed as we chatted. “We wanted everything hot and fresh,” he explained, so the duo drew up plans and had a trailer built with top-of-the-line donut-making equipment installed to facilitate confectionary distribution.
“My wife is the creative mind— she came up with all of the designs and the recipes,” said Mike. Creative flavors like Key Lime, PB&J, Cinnamon Roll and Peanut Butter Cup make it clear that Alyse has been hard at work.
Their best sellers often vary by age group, Mike was able to relay. His youngest clientele tend to enjoy the “design your own” variety of donut with over a dozen choices from icing types, drizzles and crunchy/chunky toppings.
“You can pick as many toppings as we can get to stick to it,” laughed the baker.
While grown-ups do take advantage of the build-your-own bonbons, their Maple/Bacon, Samosas and S’mores flavors are consistent best sellers among adults.
The couple works together like a well-oiled machine. His territory is in the back: Mike rolls around in the dough, making batter and operating their super-duper “Donut Robot,” a machine specially designed to make perfect cake donuts every time.
Alyse heads up the decoration department, so whenever an order comes in, she expertly tops each sweet treat to the customer’s specifications ensuring fresh, hot delivery of the nosh.
The Little Blue Donut Truck taste-tested extensively before coming up with their products and they prefer a cake-based recipe for these pastries over the yeasty variety. Mike commented that he feels it is the best quality and flavor for the dainties and their myriad of toppings.
Coffee and cocoa are natural pairings for donuts, but in the withering seasonal heat lately, coffee orders have fallen off, so Mike and Alyse plan to restore them to their menu after the temperature comes down off it’s summer perch.
Right now the duo is focusing on food truck events and private parties, but plans to park on well-situated street corners as folks head into work to catch the breakfast crowd before long. Check them out on Facebook or Twitter to get updates and location information. Those of us who can’t wait the couple of months that project may take, can catch the Perfettos at the Food Truck Bazaar this Saturday. Meet them at the corners of Palmetto and 2nd St in Sanford’s Historic District from 5 to 9 p.m. and bring home a few for Sunday morning’s breakfast, too.

Jessica Pirani can be reached at JessieBerger@yahoo.com.