It’s tough to decide whether Toronto is more obsessed with doughnuts or cupcakes these days, but the doughnut side is about to get a boost: a new made-to-order doughnut shop is opening at the El Gordo food court in Kensington Market next month. Named Lightweight Mini-Donuts, it will serve doughnuts in three flavours: cinnamon sugar, icing sugar and a combination of the two.

Owner Joe Winkfein worked in the food industry years ago, but after seeing the popularity of mini-doughnut stands at fairgrounds, he saw an open market for a standalone mini-doughnut shop.

“Mini-doughnuts aren’t a new thing. It’s a nostalgic piece of everyone’s childhood, and that’s because they are so hard to find,” Winkfein says. “I’ve always had a lifelong fascination with doughnuts since I was a kid.”

Hoping to appease his inner-child — and ours — Winkfein will open Lightweight Mini-Donuts to Kensington Market-goers on May 1.

The doughnuts will be made fresh-to-order on a “doughnut robot,” a machine that cooks the dough through a conveyor process.

The shop will also use a water filtration system when creating its batter, which makes for a cleaner, purer tasting dough.

“My goal here is to create a space everyone is aware of in the city,” he says, “where you can not only come to enjoy our doughnuts, but walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds of a busy market,” Winkfein says.

Winkfein hopes to open more mini-doughnut shops in the future.

Lightweight Mini-Donuts, 214 Augusta Ave., 416-727-4150