[NYC] Doughnut Plant

By Jess Saturday October 29, 2011

I’ve been to the original Doughnut Plant location in East Village three times but they also have a second location in the Chelsea district. You can also get their specialty doughnuts in several coffee shops in the city, as well as at Dean and Deluca. According to their website, they also have stores in Japan and Korea…who knew?

Creme brulee doughnut

Doughnut Plant’s menu differentiates between cake and yeast doughnuts. I generally prefer yeast doughnuts as they have a fluffier and chewier texture as opposed to the denser cake variety. All the doughnuts are made fresh daily and they have a constantly rotating menu of specialty flavours depending on the season and holidays coming up.

The store itself is tiny, so expect to find elsewhere to enjoy your doughnut. Since Mike and I came on a weekday just before lunch hour, we were able to snag the two lone stools in the store.

The first doughnut we tried was the crème brulee doughnut ($3). You’ll find the price of the doughnuts here on the high side – most range from $2.25 to $3. But they are specialty doughnuts, after all.

Peanut butter glaze and blackberry jelly doughnut

The crème brulee doughnut in particular is tiny, but oh-so-delicious! It even had a crisp sugar coating on top, similar to the dessert. The doughnut itself was soft and chewy in texture and contained a delicious creamy custard filling. I also really liked that it wasn’t overly sweet. Loved this doughnut!

The second doughnut we already knew we were going to order before arriving was the peanut butter glaze and blackberry jelly doughnut ($3). The filled yeast doughnuts, like this one, are square in shape. This doughnut had a really nice peanut butter glaze which contained pieces of nuts in it.

Blackberry jelly filling

There was a generous amount of the blackberry jelly inside the doughnut which was fantastic – not your average grocery store jam. The combination of the peanut butter glaze, blackberry jelly and the perfectly soft and chewy doughnut was perfection. Another big hit!

Since we ordered two yeast doughnuts, we thought we should also try a cake doughnut. While we were trying to decide which one to go with, the customer in front of us ordered fifteen tres leches doughnuts ($2.5). Problem solved! Tres leches translates into “three milk cake” – evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. The doughnut was mild in flavour and the texture was soft and moist with a bit of filling inside. Overall, a great cake doughnut but not quite as good as the first two. But, keep in mind I prefer yeast doughnuts.

Tres leches doughnut

After eating three doughnuts between the two of us, we were craving more as we licked our fingers. So, we decided to grab two to go. I decided to choose the carrot cake doughnut ($2.75). It was sprinkled with nuts and dried carrot and was coated in a tasty cream cheese icing. The carrot cake doughnut was moist and it was a pleasant surprise to find a cream cheese filling inside. Although I enjoyed the doughnut, I didn’t think it was anything special as it was overshadowed by the other doughnuts we tried.

Mike chose the other “to go” doughnut and went with the coconut glaze with coconut cream doughnut ($3). This was a filled yeast doughnut and is definitely only for those who love coconut as Mike described it as intense.

Carrot cake doughnut

I’m not a fan of coconut, so I opted to stay away from this. The doughnut contained a coconut glaze, sprinkled with coconut shavings and filled with a flavour-packed coconut cream. While Mike was eating it, I could really smell the coconut. And for those of you who are wondering, he really enjoyed it.

On a previous visit, I tried the vanilla bean doughnut ($2.50). It was of the yeast variety and was simply covered in a vanilla bean glaze. Sure, it sounds plain, especially in comparison to some of their other offerings, but when I had it fresh, boy was it amazing.

Doughnut Plant certainly doesn’t serve up your average doughnut. With a unique menu of high-quality, specialty doughnuts, this little place is definitely worth a visit to satisfy your sweet tooth. The only down side? Other doughnuts you’ll eat from then on just won’t be able to compare!