Fat Pants Friday: The Doughnut Plant's Pumpkin Doughnut

Although we live perilously close to the Doughnut Plant, we almost never go there, mainly because its weekend crowds put us more in mind of Soviet-era bread lines than carefree, low-maintenance treats. But the yearly arrival of its pumpkin doughnut is, we will happily concur, something to stand in line for.

The pumpkin doughnut ($2.50) comes in cake and yeast varieties; we chose cake because most yeast doughnuts make us feel like we're eating a box of sugar-coated gauze. The Doughnut Plant's cake doughnut is everything a cake doughnut should be: dense but tender, soft but sturdy, and bearing flavor vibrant enough to belie its diminutive dimensions.

The pumpkin doughnut is all of this, only better, because it's a pumpkin doughnut. Which means it may put you in mind of pie, grandmothers, dead leaves, and all that is good and warm in the world. Best of all, it is covered with a pumpkin glaze that is barnacled with caramelized pumpkin seeds, which offer crunchy, savory proof that when it comes to pumpkin, there is no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Because of its small size, the pumpkin doughnut rates only a pair of Skinny Jeans on the Fat Pants scale. Which means that it's advisable to buy more than one -- especially considering all of the time you've just spent standing in line.

The Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street
212-505-3700

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