Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side offers two heavenly types of doughnuts for gluttonous consumption - yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts.
They open at 6:30am and sell doughnuts until they have none left - then you'll just have to wait for the next batch to be ready the following day, unless it's Sunday, which means you'll need to wait until Tuesday for your next Doughnut fix. We sampled 4 different sweets that left us giddy. The creme brulee doughnut is filled with a sweet, smooth custard and has a nice crisp sugary exterior. The peanut butter doughnut is huge and filling, stuffed with the jam-of-the-day flavour (on our trip, it was fresh apricot jam). Tres leche was subtle and not too sweet, while the chocolate glaze was also filled with yet more chocolate.
Doughnut plant is a sinfully delicious treat in the LES that everyone needs to experience. We loved our trip to the plant and would go back in a heartbeat.
www.doughnutplant.com
379 Grand Street
Not satisfied with our first cupcake experience at Crumbs, off we went through the Lower East Side and East Village exploring a previously unfamiliar area to both of us. Though we were not specifically looking for cupcakes, we did find two noteworthy bakeries - Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Butter Lane.
Sugar Sweet Sunshine was, as the name indicates, a ray of sunshine in our young cupcake journey. Fair prices, a delicately soft, moist cake and a not-too-sweet, but just-sweet-enough buttercream icing made this $1.50 treat a welcome sight. The Bob, a yellow cake with chocolate almond buttercream was delicious, so much so that we talk about going back almost daily. Our next venture to the LES will undoubtedly yield expanded waist-lines as we stuff ourselves on these delicate clouds of sugar sweetness. 126 Rivington Street (212) 995-1960 www.sugarsweetsunshine.com
Another standout cupcake shop is Butter Lane at 123 East 7th Street. This tiny shop in the middle of a quiet street offers local, organically sourced ingredients including real vanilla beans and local, organic dairy. You mix and match the bottom cakes (vanilla, chocolate, red velvet) with an American or French buttercream icing. American buttercream icing is the most common type of icing and does not require the addition of eggs - its main ingredients are powdered sugar, butter and milk, while French buttercream is made of granulated sugar, butter and eggs. The consistency of the French meringue icing is quite different than the American, but a smoother, more creamy texture makes for a nice contrast with the standard cupcakes found in the city. On par with the other prices in the city - $2.50-3.00 each.
East 93rd and Lexington
Mint Chocolate Chip cupcake from Crumbs bake shop.
While wandering up the Upper East side, we stumbled up this bake shop, which we later found out was a chain throughout Manhattan. These dense, large cupcakes look sweet and delicious. They are definitely sweet, but too dense for my taste. I like my cupcakes light and fluffy with a soft butter cream icing.
That said, this was a nice treat on our walk up to 125th.
