PrintDoughnut Plant's Creme Brulee Doughnuts
The newest addition to the line up of sweet fried dough at Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side is none other than a crème brûlée-inspired creation. The doughnut was first brought to note in mid-November in the New York Times' Diner's Journal. A friend and I eagerly went in last week only to be sadly informed that the doughnuts weren't ready at that early morning hour. Undeterred, we returned the following week, and reaped our rewards with a trio of crème brûlée doughnuts.
For those of you familiar with Doughnut Plant's doughnuts, the crème brûlée versions are about half the size of their yeast doughnuts, though just as heavy due to the vanilla custard filling. The entire top surface is caramelized a crisp golden brown and crunches into their signature soft, yeasty dough. We were slightly disappointed by the custard filling, which felt a touch gritty on the tongue. Upon closer inspection, we found that the custard had curdled, thus explaining the lack of completely smooth custard. Hopefully, this was a fluke. With that note, the crème brûlée is worth trying once, though my two favorites remain unchanged—you can do no wrong with the tres leches and chocolate blackout cake doughnuts.
Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002 (at Clinton Street; map)
212-505-3700
doughnutplant.com
Related: A Guide to the Best Doughnuts in New York
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7 Comments:
I know it's petty of me but after what a jerk the owner was on Throwdown, I won't be giving any cash to this business.
ratbuddy at 4:34PM on 12/05/08
I have not seen the Throwdown episode, although I have heard that it wasn't the owner's (Mark Israel) best moment. I will say that I had the opportunity recently to meet Mark at Doughnut Plant and try some doughnuts and I left with a great impression of Mark. This man is truly passionate about his doughnuts! Plus, his story of how he started out is pretty neat - check out the history section on doughnutplan.com
Of course, my impression of him is helped by the fact that he's making what I consider to be the best doughnuts around.
Emmi24g at 5:56PM on 12/05/08
WOW WOW WOW
simon at 6:45PM on 12/05/08
YEAST FOREVER: CAKE NEVER!
avantsweater at 9:18PM on 12/05/08
Ok I had it and I wasn't crazy about it. It's really tiny. I think I just don't like creme brulee though.
avantsweater at 4:10PM on 12/15/08
I agree with ratbuddy, about the owner being a real douche on the Throwdown, however, my curiosity about the tres leches donut got the better of me, so when I was near, after crossing and paying bridges and tolls, I decided to give it a try.
It wasn't bad, not as good as I thought it was going to be, the tres leches is the only one I've had, it was very heavy, but not oozing with filling like I was led to believe.
and definitely not worth the $65 parking ticket we got while waiting TOO LONG for their coffee to brew.
I love creme brulee though, and if I find myself near again, I'll run in (while my husband cirlces the block) and snag one to try.
Southern_bella at 9:43PM on 12/15/08
i hope they're still making the beautiful square jelly donuts! i've never had a donut like that.... forget the fancy schmansy flavors.... give me jelly or give me death!
i saw the throwdown too, and thought the owner had a "hostility" problem. but sometimes big ego's produce big results. (and then again, sometimes they don't)
pooch at 8:35AM on 12/17/08