by Kristen Wile

Doughnuts from a Beyond Amazing Donuts pop-up at Camp North End. Kristen Wile/UP

Pastry chef and doughnut creator Jasmine Macon will open a brick-and-mortar location of her pop-up doughnut brand, Beyond Amazing Donuts (also known as B.A.D.), this summer. The shop will be in the same building as Luisa’s Brick-Oven Pizza, taking over what was formerly La Caseta, off Park Road. Macon says to expect design quirks inspired by her friends and family, including anime touches and the possibility of comic books later on along with her signature doughnuts.

B.A.D. was first slated to open at Camp North End. When that plan fell through, Macon began looking for another home for her business.

“As soon as things begin to change originally with Camp North, I immediately pivoted and with the help of pretty much everyone — I can’t even standpoint just one person, it’s just been a collective effort — I kind of came into this opportunity,” Macon says.

Macon will serve six standard flavors, mostly as homages to meaningful people in her life. Her brown butter glazed with sorghum caramel offering, for example, brings to life a memory of Macon’s grandmother. “When I was younger, I remember her eating white bread with molasses and butter, and that was like one of her favorite snacks,” Macon says. “I used to think it was so weird and I remember trying it as a child and I thought it was absolutely disgusting. But as I got older, I was like, ‘Oh, you know, this is actually really good.'”

There will also be options inspired by local flavors and ingredients, such as a twist on a Boston cream doughnut that uses a sweet potato diplomat filling, as well as cinnamon rolls and a rotating selection of bread puddings and fritters. Sorghum will be a frequent ingredient on the menu at B.A.D. — an ingredient Macon says she grew fond of while working at Leah & Louise with chef/owner Greg Collier.

“That’s kind of what I want to do with my menu — definitely pull inspiration from people close to me, like family and friends or other chefs, creatives, even songs.” Macon is also working on a drink that will be a tribute to her late fiancé, A.J., who lost his life in 2021 following a collision caused by a drunk driver. Since his passing, Macon says she’s been blessed with continued support from his family and friends.

B.A.D. grew from a doughnut pop-up that launched out of Leah & Louise during the pandemic, when Macon sold doughnut boxes as a way to bring in extra revenue during the shut down.

“When things kind of gradually came back to some type of normalcy, I asked, ‘Could I start doing more pop-ups inside of Leah & Louise?'” Macon says. “From there, I kind of decided to step out on faith and was like, I think that I could turn my pop-ups into something a bit more expansive and larger and work my way into a shop of some sort.”

Macon’s first doughnut-focused job was with Sugar Donuts as the then-food-truck’s first employee. She later joined the team at Joe’s Doughs, a popular doughnut pop-up turned brick-and-mortar before closing in 2019. More recently, she was the opening pastry chef at Leah & Louise.

Fans of her doughnuts can continue enjoying them at her weekly Saturday pop-ups at Hex Coffee and The Market at 7th Street Market following a break this week.