Lisa Clark and Mojo Monkey: The woman who transformed donuts in Minnesota.

 Potatoes, parsnips beer and sourdough. These are not the things that come to mind when thinking of the average donut... but for Lisa Clark, owner of Mojo Monkey donuts in Saint Paul Minnesota, these are a few of the key ingredients in her unmatched dough. Clark, who describes donut making as “as much science as it is art”, doesn’t believe in the cookie cutter donut whose flavor relies on sugary icing to satisfy its consumer. Combining her years of experience working in a bakery with a hefty dose of creativity, she has transformed the idea of what a donut can be.  

Nowadays, especially in the world of food inspo on social media, we have become familiar with the idea of the gourmet donut. This is not your Dunkin donuts vanilla frosted, I’m talking about the cronuts, the lemon mocha bismarcks, the lavender thyme old fashioned and so on.   But before there were places across the nation cranking out creative flavor combos, Lisa Clark was making these crazy combos for her kids. It started with her oldest daughter, who turned up her nose at birthday cakes and every year asked for donuts instead. This tradition led to fun exploration of new donut places but Clark found something was missing, especially in Minnesota. She spent years collecting ideas from donut places around the nation, but it was during her time working at Breadsmith that the idea really came to fruition. She noticed that each day the bakers made something fresh, with real ingredients, and this created a different level of value for consumers. She believed she could apply these same principles to a donut shop and thus the beginnings of Mojo Monkey were born. 

With the enthusiastic support of her family, Clark opened a small storefront shop in Saint Paul. Using techniques she learned from her time at Breadsmith, she created a brand new dough recipe that is the base for a multitude of donuts. She didn’t stop with innovating the yeasted donut though, she also added her own personal touch to the cake donut, creating one that is just a bit crispy on the outside with a moist airy exquisitely spiced center. With the science of the perfect bake down, she began to experiment with flavors.  In an interview with the Star Tribune she says “the variations can go on, and on, and on. The creative possibilities are endless, and I’m really excited about that.” Her flavors are incredible and no doubt innovative. On any given week she offers options like mango glazed with coconut, lemon ginger, smores bismarck, peanut butter oreo, blueberry pancake, cotton candy, and creme brulee as well as traditional offerings she’s perfected like your boston cream, old fashioned, and maple bacon bar. Lisa Clark never stops innovating though, and each new week promises new flavors like last week's “Oatmeal Cream filled Bismark topped with bacon and two buckwheat blueberry pancakes”... yeah. She also isn’t afraid to play around with flavors like Zucchini thyme, lemon lavender, and Passion fruit mascarpone with matcha whip topping. Needless to say, you could eat here every day and never find yourself bored of her flavors. 

Lisa’s creative process involved a lot of collecting. She’s inspired by her experience working in bakeries, traveling to many donut shops especially those in Seattle, and her upbringing in New Orleans. Every weekend she makes fresh beignets as well as an homage to this heritage. Even the name of her shop comes from collecting, though in this case it was from her two daughters. They named the store after their love for monkeys and the villain Mojo Jojo from
girls. As for flavors, she gets some ideas from customer requests and others from constantly being on the lookout for new flavor combinations anytime she tries something new but she mostly credits her children who come to her with many requests. 

It hasn’t been a smooth road to success. Clark opened her business in an era before social media would’ve made her go viral immediately. She navigated this challenge by creating a blog, and to this day the company website is a blogspot. This way she could connect with her customers on a more personal level, while updating them on what crazy flavor combos would be available week to week. From time to time she still posts longer blog posts on subjects, most recently addressing the murder of George Floyd in a post called “I will not hide” that addresses the constraints she has faced as a black woman and calling community members into action. 

Since 2011, many have followed in her footsteps. A number of gourmet donut places now exist in the Twin Cities attempting to replicate Clark’s success. Despite this new competition, Mojo Monkey still manages to sell out each weekend even in the midst of the pandemic. Lisa Clark continues to innovate both in how she responds to COVID and with a wide variety of new flavors and techniques. It’s thanks to her that a thriving gourmet donut industry exists in the food landscape of the Twin Cities. This summer my family explored each of these places each weekend and it’s amazing the creations that they make. But when it came down to it, we all ranked Mojo Monkey hands down the best. If you find yourself in the Twin Cities be sure to stop by, and get there early!