a pre-thanksgiving treat

we started the holiday a little early on wednesday...i finally made it to the doughnut plant! we tried roasted chestnut, coconut creme and the varlhona chocolate. first things first--they are impressive to look at. huge, glossy, inviting. they are made, according to the fella that sold them to me, with all organic ingredients and no preservatives, so they need to be eaten the day they are purchased, which also happens to be the day they are made...(i guess your best bet is to get there early--they open at 7am--for the freshness, and for the selection.) in any case, i was picking them up at 11am so i was a little worried that by the time my family and i ate them they'd be an inferior product! luckily, it took very little prodding to get my family to enjoy them with their afternoon coffee.

and enjoy them they did. my mom thought that the coconut creme was the best of the 3, though, she's cuckoo for coconut--i wouldn't call her objective. the square-cut doughnut had been dipped in a sweet glaze that had fresh shredded coconut stirred into it, making it distinctive in every way from other coconut doughnuts we've grown accustomed to. all the doughnut plant doughnuts had a lightness, and a chewiness, but they weren't too sweet. (of the franchise brands, i actually prefer dd--i find krispy kremes to be cloying, so dense that just one sits heavy in my stomach, but leaves me oddly unsatisfied. but, that's just me. everyone else i know is psychotic about them. anyway, i would take a dd glazed or a chocolate frosted, with sprinkles, please, over a krispy kreme any day.) the coconut creme and the varlhona chocolate were the winners (the roasted chestnut was as sweet and fresh as the others, but with no discernible chestnut flavor, so i was a little disappointed). i'd like to go back some time and try the rosewater (with fresh rose petals), vanilla bean, powdered maple sugar, and malted milk, as well as some of the cake doughnuts, which will be sold starting december 7. and i'll know to get there early...

ps.
6 doughnuts will set you back around $13...