What happens when you take homemade soft-serve ice cream, a pillowy doughnut, and a dash of family love? You get Augusta Dough & Cone, a brand-new sweet stop that’s already capturing hearts, and taste buds, across the CSRA.
Owners Allison and Garrett Spence, along with their three children, Grafton, Nelly, and Archer, dreamed up this playful mashup of doughnuts and ice cream after years of tossing ideas around and perfecting recipes. “My favorite doughnut is jelly-filled, Garrett’s favorite is Boston creme,” Allison says. “One day we thought, how great would this doughnut be with ice cream inside instead? Within a week, we bought our soft serve machine, and the dream came alive!”
Family has always been at the center of this venture. The Spences met in college, quickly married, and started building a life together. Between school drop-offs, sports, and wrangling three kids, their days are nonstop, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. “We joke that we’re very codependent,” Allison laughs. “But it works for us because we love being around each other.”
That closeness shines through in Augusta Dough & Cone. Their kids have been invested since day one, cheering on the project and reminding their parents how much they loved helping with a small baking business back when the family lived in Atlanta. Their excitement, plus plenty of taste-testing, helped bring the vision to life.
The process was as sweet as the final product. The family spent evenings experimenting with flavor combinations, testing textures, and laughing over which batches flopped and which ones made everyone reach for seconds. What started as a fun “what if?” quickly turned into something special. Neighbors began stopping by, friends shared photos, and word spread fast. “It’s been humbling to see how quickly the community has embraced us,” Allison says. “People light up when they see the cart. It’s been a dream.”
And the menu? It’s as imaginative as it is indulgent. Think homemade soft serve, crafted from Allison and Garrett’s own recipes, stuffed into a glazed bismark (a doughnut without a hole), with optional chocolate or caramel drizzles. Flavors rotate often, keeping things fresh and seasonal. Fall alone brings apple pie, pecan pie, and salted caramel swirls, with peppermint and gingerbread on the horizon for the holidays. As for favorites? Allison loves the black raspberry and coffee swirl, Garrett swears by strawberry-vanilla, and the kids go crazy for Cinnamon Toast Crunch and their playful take on Dole Whip.
But Augusta Dough & Cone is about more than a sugar rush. “We want it to bring a sense of happiness,” Allison explains. “We want people saying, ‘Hey, do you want to meet over at Dough & Cone for a quick treat?’ We want to see people after football games and parades. We want to be the treat that’s there for people at their happiest… or at their worst.”
That spirit of gratitude carries into their family life, too. “We love spending the holidays surrounded by family and friends,” Allison says. “Every Thanksgiving night, we go look at Christmas trees. We don’t always buy one, but the kids remember it every year. We know what we have, and we don’t take that for granted.”
Launching a new business is no small feat, but the Spences say their circle of support made all the difference. “Our friends were troopers. We made them walk over to our garage to try flavors for months,” Allison laughs. “They’ve always been so encouraging of our small venture.”
For the Spence family, Dough & Cone isn’t just a business, it’s a legacy in the making. They hope their kids see what it means to work hard, dream big, and do something you love alongside the people who matter most. “We want them to remember this time,” Allison says. “Even if it’s messy and crazy, it’s ours, and that’s what makes it special.”
So what’s next for Dough & Cone? For now, the family is keeping things intentionally small, with big plans to bring their ice cream and doughnut creations to weddings, birthdays, graduations, and other special events. “Who knows?” Allison teases. “Maybe one day we’ll go big!”
Until then, Dough & Cone is here to serve up joy in its simplest and sweetest form, one doughnut-stuffed cone at a time.
Follow their journey and see where they’ll pop up next at www.doughandcone.com or on Facebook and Instagram at Augusta Dough and Cone.