While new to the community, Camille Milke and her family have already made their footprint in the East Mountains with a new homemade donut delivery service, Route 66 Hole Foods.
Milke, her husband, Brian Milke, and her son, also Brian Milke, moved to the East Mountains from Albuquerque in January. They missed having food delivery options and saw social media posts from East Mountains residents who felt the same way.
“I saw a post on the East Mountains group saying ‘There’s no donuts up here, we’ve got to go all the way to town to get a good donut,’” Camille Milke said. “I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I thought, ‘OK I need to fix that,’ and that is how Route 66 Hole Foods was born.”
The Milke family started the business on March 8 and is open Wednesday through Sunday. They bake fresh donuts daily and deliver to homes and businesses and can also cater. Milke said their order cut-off is 7 p.m. the night before so they have enough time to bake the donuts for morning delivery.
“We’ve come far and are still 100% homemade, handcrafted, fresh, raw, local ingredients,” Milke said. “I’m an Italian mom and grandmother, so I love to cook, I love to bake, but to be honest, I never made a donut. So we just kind of progressed and learned as we went. It definitely tastes different because it’s homemade. People are used to eating preservatives and having that palate. The first week was just the challenge to make sure that it was as fluffy and soft as possible, and we’ve perfected it.”
They started with 12 flavors and they now have 30. The original flavors include glazed, maple, maple pecan, vanilla frosted, chocolate frosted, strawberry frosted, sugar, cinnamon sugar and powdered. New flavors include gourmet and special options like Boston cream-filled, lemon, coconut cream-filled, Oreo, Chips Ahoy and Butterfinger.
They also offer gluten-free options requiring them to restart the baking process with new dough and ensure everything is cleaned thoroughly to avoid cross-contamination. Milke said for gluten-free orders, they need a two-day notice.
“At some point, we’re going to start having different bases, because right now we have the same base,” she said. “It is a yeast-glazed donut and it has different toppings and fillings, but the donut is all the same. At some point, we want to have a different flavor donut like chocolate or red velvet, and possibly cake donuts.”
While her favorite part about the business is working with her family, Milke said she has enjoyed the welcoming community.
“It’s just fun and it’s a way for us to spend some time together as a family and support our family,” Milke said. “The people in the East Mountains are very nice. I really appreciate our community and the way they have embraced us. I would say 99.9% of the time I’m delivering to the recipient, they’re smiling. They are anticipating something delicious and they’re happy and excited. That’s a great way to have a business.”
All orders for Route 66 Hole Foods are done through text at 505-221-1370.