Doughnuts are the new Cupcakes

So everyone knows that cupcakes are the fad right now. There's a Crumbs popping up on every corner and Magnolia is even going into Grand Central. Remember the good ole days when you used to have to wait for 30 minutes just to walk into the Magnolia on Bleecker and go eat your cupcake in the park across the street and wish you were Carrie Bradshaw?

Well those days are over and I'm no longer on a mission to try every cupcake in Manhattan (even though I'm really close. I think I only have to visit Little Red Hen and I've covered them all!). I've moved on and I suggest you all should too.

If you're a Food Network fanatic or are obsessed with food like me, than you might have heard about this secret little gem in the Lower East Side called The Doughnut Plant. Owned and run by a guy named Mark Israel, he is famous for his square jelly doughnuts. Why square you might ask? Well it insures that you get a some jelly in every single bite. What a concept right?

After reading and hearing about this place, I had to try it. A $13 dollar cab ride later, me Jenna and Gina arrived at the infamous Doughnut Plant and entered ourselves in line. Hint -- if you are planning on going to this place on a Saturday or Sunday, arrive early! They sell out quickly and DO NOT re-stock until the next day.

Not knowing when the next time we were going to be visiting, we got 4 different doughnuts to try. They were out of the original jelly doughnut so we opted for the peanut butter and jelly doughnut. The same square shape, the same jelly, just some peanut butter on the outside (even better in my opinion!) We also got a tres leches, an apple fritter type one and a chocolate icing with chocolate cake. We even saw Mark Israel working in the back -- that was a good sign.

With our doughnuts in hand, we ventured off to a sketchy little park in the middle of Ludlow to give them a try. AMAZING! The peanut butter and jelly one tasted exactly like a middle school peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The Tres Leches was soft and moist with some sort of gooeyness on the inside. The apple fritter was great but unfortunately I can't remember details about it (so friends -- chime in) and the chocolate one was not too rich and delicious.

All in all it was a great trip the LES with a visit to Economy Candy right after.

Like I said before, Cupcakes are out and Doughnuts are in, so get yourself to the Doughnut Plant ASAP.

PS: If you think I'm spelling doughnut wrong because Dunkin Donuts spells it like that - then think again. It's Dunkin that needs to use spell check.