A Great Doughnut Made of Masa at Seis Vecinos

[Photograph: Chris Crowley]

Up until last week, if you asked me where to find a quality doughnut in the Bronx I'd scratch my head. Now I can tell you: one of the borough's finest desserts is the Honduran-style Rosquillas el Dulce ($1.50) from Mott Haven's Seis Vecinos.

Rosquillas, a kind of doughnut, are made with masa harina instead of flour. The kitchen also adds cheese—back home, that'd be a Spanish curdled milk product called cuajada—and butter. In Honduras, you'll often find them served with coffee. Here, they make them fresh to order (it takes about 15 minutes) and then drench them in warm molasses. The presentation, as it with all of the dishes at the restaurant, is aspirational with matchsticks of canella and dollops of whipped cream.

The doughnut is beautifully crisp and the inside is soft and buttery. While you won't taste much masa flavor, you'll appreciate the way the donut's insides melt in your mouth. The molasses adds a note of rich caramel to the shell, a welcome, sweet turn from the fried dough.

I know we've all in recovery mood after our national holiday eating bonzanza, but really: what better way is there to start the new year then with fried dough drenched in molasses? I, for one, couldn't ask for more. We can start our juice cleanses a couple weeks late this year.

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