Sweet Tooth: Doughnut Plant

One of the reasons I love New York, specialty doughnut shops! I live 1 train stop away from Doughnut Plant ( which is a blessing and a sin all at once). So on weekends I like to treat myself to these sugary fried goodies. I heard of this place when I first moved to New York from Bobby Flay's Throwdown Challenge show. It was named the best doughnuts in NYC. The place is pretty small with only a little ledge to sit on, but I usually can't wait that long and  always end up inhaling them as soon as I pay.

* photo's by Yelp

The Outside

Rack of freshly made doughnuts, mmmm

The Yeast Raised Doughnuts

The Creme Brulee

Taste: Oh...My...GOD, if anything, this doughnut should be the reason you get up in the morning. The custard is AMAZING, wonderfully flavored with real vanilla( you can see the specks!). Rich, milky and just oozing out. It wasn't too sweet either, despite the thin layer of caramelized sugar on top. These were small, a little bigger than the size of a golf ball and I could easily down 3 of them and still want more

Texture: The dough of the doughnut is more hardy and chewier than most conventional ones (in a good way). The sugar coated top gives it the nice "creme brulee" crunch it needed and complimented the silky creamy custard perfectly

Price: $3.00 per doughnut

The Coconut Creme Filled Square

Taste: This doughnut was bigger than the size of my hand (but my hand is pretty small) with sugar glaze and shaved coconut pieces on top. It's fragrance smelled so yummy and very coconuty. The filling wasn't that gross overly sugary taste that most "creme" filled conventional doughnuts have. The shaved coconuts on top were a nice touch, though I wished they were toasted, yum!

Texture: The creme had the silkyness of custard rather than the icing like creme most people are associated with (ahem Dunkin Donuts.. cough cough) And the ratio of creme to doughnut was perfect.

Price: $2.25

The Peanut Butter and Jam Filled Square

Taste: Talk about taking a peanut butter sandwich to the next level! The outside is coated with crunchy peanuts and a peanut sugar glaze. The inside is filled with in house made blackberry jam. The glaze was just sweet and peanuty enough. The jam was tart and had little bits of blackberry seeds in it. I hate when jam is too sweet, it just ruins the flavor of the fruit, but this still had a distinct blackberry flavor

Texture: The chunks of peanuts in the glaze is was my favorite part! The chewy dough is the prefect "bread" to this peanut butter and jam sandwich

Price: $2.50

The Valrhona Chocolate

Taste: I was lucky enough to get this on RIGHT out of the fryer, they had glazed it moments before it was handed to me :)  The chocolate glaze was delicious and very satisfying. However, the ratio of icing to doughnut was not balanced. The doughnut overpowered and left me wanting more flavor or even a filling.

Texture: Soft, fluffy and hardy. Even without a filling, it will fill you up

Price: $2.25

The Raised Rose Petal Doughnut

Taste: I had to pick this out as soon as I saw it. The glaze smelled like rose water ( the kind you can find in Chinatown super markets).  The fragrance was more of the star than the actual taste. It tasted like a regular glazed but with a strong rose scent. Again it would have been great if it were filled with something, there was too much dough and not enough glaze. The rose petals didn't really taste like anything, just seemed like a decoration

Texture: soft, chewy and fluffy

Price: $2.50

The Cake Doughnuts

The Rose Petal Doughnut

Taste: I decided to get this one as well to compare cake rose and yeast raised. This one was also very fragrant in nature, but the fragrance seemed to penetrate into the cake giving it a tad more flavor. 

Texture: Oily, and the cake like a deep fried pound cake

Price: $2.50

The Blackout

Taste: Holy chocolate! This is Buddy's favorite one, very rich and decadent. It is basically eating chocolate cake for breakfast. This doughnut could easily sub as a dessert 

Texture: Moist, rich and crumbly

Price: $2.50

The Tres Leches

Taste: The icing had a heavy sweet milk flavor. Again, the actual cake part tasted like pound cake

Texture: Oily and dense

Price: $2.25

Verdict:  I really love coming here, they offer many different seasonal flavors as well. I feel the raised filled doughnuts were the most successful. These doughnuts stand out from the rest because of the texture and quality of ingredients. My absolute favorites were the creme brulee, the coconut creme, the peanut butter and jam and blackout. Next time your hankering for a dougnut, stop here!

Doughnut Plant

379 Grand Street

New York, NY 10002

www.doughnutplant.com