The V-Day Doughnut Chronicles

My husband is a very good gift giver. He listens to me and magically stores random things I mention into that mind of his. Then he’ll pull it out on a later date to use and surprise me. This Valentine’s Day, for my one of presents, he did something that I will never forget.

This wonderful Southerner got up at 4 A.M. while I was still asleep and took the subway in the cold, even braving the infamous ‘G’ train, to five different doughnut shops around that boroughs to give me a stupendous, Valentine’s Day breakfast complete with milk and Nesquik. Two of the doughnut shops are my favorite, and the other three were ones that I had never tried before. I wanted to share the doughnuts that he brought back because it’s a very impressive list (In order of the picture above, each column is a different bakery.)

Stop 1: Peter Pan Bakery, 5 A.M. opening time, 5:45 A.M. arrival

727 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn.

Old Fashioned – This was amazing, from the taste the texture. You have to try it.

Honey Dipped- Delicious. A very nice yeast doughnut.

Apple Crumble- Didn’t like this one. I took 4 bites throughout the day to make sure, but not a fan. [2/27 UPDATE: I HAD FROZEN THE LEFTOVERS FROM THIS DONUT, JUST DEFROSTED IT, TASTED IT AGAIN AND LIKE IT MUCH BETTER. APPARENTLY I LIKE THIS DOUGHNUT COLD. IT TASTES REALLY GOOD TO ME NOW.]

He was hoping to get me their famous red velvet doughnut, buttermilk blueberry doughtnut and sour cream and jelly doughnut, but none were available for sale at the time of his arrival.

Stop 2: Moe’s Doughs, 5 A.M. opening time, 6 A.M. arrival

126 Nassau Ave, Brooklyn.

French Cruller – Not a fan. I took three bites throughout the day to make sure and it just wasn’t meshing with me.

Sadly, there were no doughnuts available at all when Patrick arrived. They were very nice he said, but all they could offer him was this French cruller to take home.

Stop 3: Doughnut Plant, 7 A.M. opening, 7:20 A.M. arrival

220 W 23^rd str, Manhattan.

Crème Brulee: One of their most famous creations, that never disappoints.

Glazed: They get theirs so nice, fluffy, yet, it has structure.

Blackout Cake: Chocolately goodness.

Doughnut Plant is one of my favorites, so it was a given I would love all of these. Surprisingly, they were so well stocked even though they were only open to the public for 20 minutes, versus the Brooklyn shops that were open for around an hour and didn’t have many items available for purchase. Someone really has their shite together there. I recently also talked about Doughnut Plant in a taping I did with IntoConnection.com.

Stop 4: Dough, 6 A.M. opening, 6:55 A.M. arrival

14 W. 19^th str, Manhattan.

Lemon Poppy: First time have this, as soon as your tongue hits it, you get a jolt of tartness.

Mocha Almond Crunch: P fell in love with the different textures of this one.

Glazed: My favorite at Dough.

Nutella: You can’t go wrong with Nutella.

Dough is also one of my favorite doughnut spots and the guy at the counter was super nice to P from what I had heard. I could eat a whole box of their doughnuts.

Underwest Doughnuts

638 W. 47^th str, Manhattan, 7:30 A.M. opening, 7:45 A.M. arrival

Brown Butter: Tasted like a really nice homemade doughnut, or one that you would find at a really great diner in a small town.

Maple Waffle: Just the right amount of maple flavor and had a wonderful scent to it.

Old Fashioned: Unfortunately, we couldn’t really eat this one. The temperature of the oil may have dropped when it was being cooked because one half of the doughnut was completely soaked with oil. I took a bite and couldn’t do more than that.

I love that this place is tucked away in a car wash. The doughnuts tasted different than all the other doughnuts that were brought home that morning, I’m guessing due to their frying process.

–

Joyce Huang