Friday, June 4, 2010

Off Beat: Happy National Doughnut Day!




I am reposting my doughnut plant breakdown in honor of National Doughnut Day! Enjoy! :)

* 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

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