As the doughnuts turn golden brown, Khristabelle expertly flips them over using a long stick and lines them up on a cooling tray.

Then, she turns her attention to a freshly fried doughnut generously coated in cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg-infused sugar, and hands it to the FMT team to share.

This doughnut, according to her, is known on her menu as ‘Cinnamon Affair’.

A little sample of the fluffy, warm and innocent-looking doughnut elicits blissful groans from the team, followed by comments about how ‘Cinnamon Affair’ literally melts in the mouth.

Happy with this response, Khristabelle joins in on the mini feast and takes a bite out of her delicious creation with an approving nod.

The 33-year-old is the pastry chef behind Halo Doughnuts, a business serving artisanal sourdough doughnuts made entirely from scratch.

But before she decided to pursue a life of making doughnuts, Khristabelle worked as a video producer in the TV and advertising industry.

“Two days before the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced, I quit my job,” explains Khristabelle with a chuckle.

She adds that she was aware of the Covid-19 virus but had brushed it aside, thinking that she would have no trouble finding a new job.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Worried and without a job, Khristabelle sought comfort in making sourdough doughnuts.

“My boyfriend’s birthday present to me in January 2020 was a bread-making class where I learned how to make sourdough doughnuts,” says Khristabelle.

The difference between your regular doughnut and a sourdough doughnut, as Khristabelle explains, is that the recipe requires the use of a sourdough starter.

The incorporation of a sourdough starter lends a much richer and tender texture compared to the usual doughnuts.

And no, there is no obvious “sourish tang” in any of the doughnuts, reminds Khristabelle, as she is aware that some people are wary of that.

“So when the pandemic hit, I thought that it was the perfect time to recreate what I learned and posted up a photo on my Instagram,” she says.

Her colourful creations caught the hungry eyes of everyone on social media, who then flooded her inbox with requests that she start selling them.

Khristabelle seized the opportunity, and unsurprisingly, her doughnuts became a hit.

Don’t expect to get your hands on conventional doughnuts and flavours at Halo Doughnuts though, as the menu changes every week.

This gives Khristabelle the freedom of creativity to experiment with exciting and unique flavours.

These include wonderful doughnut creations such as ‘Créme Brûlée’, (vanilla créme pâtissérie with crunchy brûlée), ‘Strawberry Cheesecake’ (homemade cheesecake, cream cheese glaze, honey graham streusel crumble and strawberry sauce) and ‘Cookie Monster’ (milk chocolate ganache, homemade edible cookie dough and a dark chocolate pecan cookie).

“So far, the ‘Burnt & Salty’ is our best-seller. It’s a brown butter glazed doughnut topped with black salt flakes for that added crunch,” says Khristabelle.

The doughnut connoisseur adds that whenever she comes up with a flavour profile for her doughnuts, she ensures that the texture is right and that the doughnuts hit different taste notes such as salty, sweet, sour and if possible, bitter.

She believes she has curated up to 50 flavours to date and has no plans of stopping anytime soon – she even reads recipe books in bed!

Khristabelle’s boyfriend and now business partner Raphael Mannadiar, who runs an IT company, handles Halo Doughnut’s production and costs while Khristabelle throws herself into creating new flavours.

“Halo Doughnuts has just celebrated its one-year anniversary this month. Year Two will be about growing the business in a sustainable manner so that Khris can focus on what she loves,” explains Raphael, who designed a programme to make it easier for the pastry chef to take orders via Instagram.

The couple currently runs their business in Cookhouse, a cloud kitchen in Sunway, to keep up with the increasing number of orders.

Will Halo Doughnuts ever see the day where customers queue up at a physical store to get their doughnut fix?

“People have told us that we should have a physical store but we’re still toying with the idea, especially because of the new norm. But it’s definitely something that we’re thinking of,” says Khristabelle.

A regular day at Cookhouse will have Halo Doughnut’s orders ready for delivery by 12.30pm, but Khristabelle usually stays on, mostly to test out new flavours.

She reveals that she’s hoping to launch new flavours soon, which are the coffee-flavoured doughnuts and a chocolate-miso concoction.

The former, which FMT had the pleasure of sampling as well, envelops the tastebuds with the rich aroma and taste of coffee, but without the strong bitter notes.

You certainly ‘doughnut’ want to miss out on it – or any other offerings by Halo Doughnuts for that matter!

To get your hands on these doughnuts, you can message Halo Doughnuts on Instagram. Delivery or self pick-up from Cookhouse is available on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Halo Doughnuts is closed on Sunday and Monday.