There’s a new way to satisfy your sweet tooth in the Port City. Wicked Doughnuts has officially opened on 106 Prince William Street and is offering up a selection of sugary treats.
“My favourite has definitely been the strawberry shortcake,“ says owner Alicia Barry of her doughnuts. Wicked Doughnuts features a wide variety of cake, filled, and regular doughnuts.
The store’s social media is a mouthwatering collection of decadent doughnuts, piled high with icing, whipped cream, candy, and fruit. Barry says the intention is to mix up the offerings but to keep a few tried-and-true staples always on hand, like the traditional “Homer Simpson” pink frosted doughnut with sprinkles.
Barry says Wicked Doughnuts is the natural expansion of her existing business, Sugar Spider, which she opened during the doldrums of COVID-19, when her original business, Graffiti Hair Studio, was not taking up much of her time.
Barry dipped her toes into the candy business with stints at the Night Market and the Quispamsis Farmer’s Market, and events like Moonlight Bazaar. Then she took the plunge and opened at the Container Village, which led to a storefront at 101 Prince William across the street.
Sugar Spider, which gets its name from the Dutch word for cotton candy, was born. Before long the candy store was expanding into desserts.
“We were mostly popcorn, fresh-squeezed lemonade, milkshakes, and cotton candy,” she says. “And then we had just started experimenting with the cheesecake [and whoopie pies] and it took off.”
Mirroring some of the flavours offered in the gourmet cotton candy and fudge lines, Sugar Spider’s cheesecakes feature unique flavours like Moon Mist and Easter Egg.
Realizing she was going to need more space, Barry began her search for a new, bigger location and found it right across the street from her first storefront.
“We bake everything,” she says. “We make all the popcorn, the fudge, the cheesecake, the doughnuts.”
Making all these delicacies from scratch is a big job, and Barry is moving full steam ahead to make sure the stars are aligned to continue to make high-quality desserts.
“We were actually set to open the first of June and because we have so much equipment we actually needed a second meter head installed from Saint John Energy.”
The technical upgrade ended up delaying the opening until mid-July, but Barry says the wait was worth it to get everything set to her specifications to continue to make the decadent treats right there in the store.
Sugar Spider also sells products like cotton candy, gourmet popcorn and kettle chips, as well as fudge to other candy stores across New Brunswick.
Operating two successful businesses can be a bit of a juggling act, but the hours seem to be working themselves out as the businesses are quite different, Barry says, with the baking more focused in the morning and the hair studio hours later in the day.
Between the hours and the very close locations of the new store, the Container Village location and the Germain St. hair salon, Barry is keeping on her toes.
The one thing they have in common is what drew Barry to each in the first place.
“I’m definitely creative. When I started off doing hair, I mean that’s why it’s called Graffiti Hair Studio because I do a lot of crazy bright colours and elaborate things. And then same here when we started with the cotton candy and the popcorn.”
She says one of her top-selling popcorn flavours is cheesy pickle “which sounds weird to some people” and loaded potato which Barry thinks might strike some people as “bizarre”. She says she’s adding that flair for trying something different to her approach to making doughnuts.
Alex Graham is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
