Week 27 - Floral

Wow, where did the past couple of weeks go? I thought I'd be done with these challenge recaps for 2021 by now, but seem to have lost steam after the big end-of-year push. Time to get back into it!

The floral challenge took place back in July, but it turned out to be the last challenge I completed for the year (on the last day!). I intended to make it earlier, but I had decided on lemon lavender donuts based on a recipe from Short Girl Tall Order, and first, I needed to get a donut pan. (We actually got some silicone donut baking cups, but same thing.) Then, I had to get pastry flour, which wasn't always available during our online shopping (and isn't sold at places like Trader Joe's). Once I finally had that, I just never seemed to find the time or energy to actually make them until right up against the deadline.

Had extra batter after filling the cups so made "cake"

Making the donuts didn't turn out quite how I expected either. (New Year's Eve seemed like a cooking day full of mishaps anyway - just wait until the Week 44 post.) I followed all the instructions, but the batter was super thin and runny, thinner than most of my pancake batter. That didn't seem quite right, and I wasn't sure how it would hold together, so I added more pastry flour to it until it thickened up. I put the batter into the cups, and shockingly, they did turn into actual donuts, but they still fell apart pretty easily. I'm not sure what I did wrong.

Little B couldn't even wait for them to be glazed before eating one

I made the glaze and added more powdered sugar to make it thicker, but even after dunking the donuts in the glaze on all sides, you can't even see it on there. It was definitely there, and they were sticky from the glaze, but this is not what glazed donuts should look like (in my opinion). Again, not sure what I did wrong.

Invisibly glazed

I don't think the problem is the recipe since it turned out some great-looking donuts there, but my first adventure baking donuts didn't turn out too well. I haven't given up completely and will try again another time, but for now, maybe I'll just stick with cookies. Even though I was disappointed with my final product, it wasn't all bad though. It was the primary thing B ate for New Year's Eve night, and he really seemed to like them, so I'm still glad I made them.

Eel Burgers

When news broke earlier this month that Shake Shack would be collaborating with Chef Fergus Henderson of St. John in London on a special limited edition burger, we were really excited. We love chef collaborations, and the description of the eel burger they had planned sounded interesting. While we were really looking forward to it, I did have a couple of lingering doubts in the back of my mind. First, my experience with eels on our trip to London wasn't the greatest. Although this sounded completely different, those jellied eels are still one of my food nightmares. Second, we hadn't lined up for a chef collaboration or special limited edition item at this Shake Shack for a while, not since the epic 3.5-hour wait for the shrimp stack back in 2014. While I was prepared to wait on line for this event, I wasn't willing to go through a repeat of that stressful time.

My plan on Friday morning was simple. While I was getting ready to head down to Madison Square Park (the only Shake Shack with the eel burger), both A and I would keep an eye on the Shack cam. If the line circled all the way around the park to the point where the end was out of camera range, I would seriously reconsider going. Not just because the wait would be long, but because we had no idea if we'd get a special burger at that point. There was a real lack of detail in the announcements about the event. What time exactly would they start selling eel burgers? How many were going to be available on each day? How many were we allowed to get? (My main worry there was whether any office interns would buy out the entire supply.) We figured that if we watched the line get to a third or half of where it was on shrimp stack day before lunch even started, it probably wasn't worth taking a chance and ending up with no burger and lots of frustration. Lucky for us, some combination of it not being summer, it being a two-day promotion, it not being Momofuku, and maybe some people being grossed out by eels or not liking the flavor of eel led to a much more reasonable, I'd even say short, line.

Although our main focus was on the eel burger, they were also selling St. John vanilla custard doughnuts that they were calling "pillows of joy," so we had figured that even if they ran out of burgers by the time I hit the registers, there would at least be doughnuts left to buy. (There was wine too, but we didn't really look into that.) By the time I got to order, it was around 11:25, but they still had everything. I ordered two eel burgers and a doughnut for us to share. Success!

First up, the doughnut, mostly because we took one bite of the eel burger and then decided we should eat the entire doughnut first, so that the eel burger would be the last thing we tasted. (There were also fries which we snacked on in the beginning and then as a palate cleanser between the doughnut and burger.) The doughnut had "sourdough notes and lemon zest, filled with creamy custard filling." I'm not a fan of custard doughnuts in general -- they're more A's thing -- but I appreciated being able to see flecks of vanilla bean in the custard. I ate a little of the custard and thought it was nice, but concentrated more on the sugary, chewy exterior of the doughnut, which was pretty great. I'd love to eat a doughnut like that without any filling. A, on the other hand, thought that overall it was a good doughnut, but that the custard tasted better than the doughnut part.

After we finished off the doughnut, we moved back to the eel burger, savoring every single bite and remarking over and over again about how good it was. Piled on a soft bun was the smoked eel burger, along with smoked Niman Ranch bacon, pickled red onion, creme fraiche, fresh horseradish, and watercress. The eel burger was kind of like a fish cake patty, and the smoked flavoring was amazing. (Then again, we are fans of smoked fish in general, like the year that two dishes with smoked fish ended up on my favorites list.) All the other ingredients complemented the eel patty well. The smokiness of the eel, combined with the smoky saltiness of the bacon, the freshness of the watercress, the creamy bite from the horseradish and the creme fraiche, and the sourness of the pickled onions, made for "a perfect melody of flavors" (A's words which I think are quite fitting here).

We were so happy with our lunch, and it was definitely worth the walk and wait on a very muggy and hot morning. It was much better than the shrimp stack that we waited so much longer for, and that was even after walking with these finished burgers for almost a mile to where we were meeting to eat them. We had thought we would probably like the eel burger, since we both like eel, but I'm not sure we expected it to be this good. It was so good that we might even like it more than the regular ShackBurger. We were sad when we remembered that it was probably going to be the only one we would ever get. Really wish this were becoming a permanent part of Shake Shack's menu.

A Visit to the Strip District

We had one full day in Pittsburgh on our road trip. We were planning to spend the second half of that day at a Pirates game, but for the first part, we wanted to get in some sightseeing. It wasn't my first time in Pittsburgh since A had lived there for a few summers with his family, but it was my first time doing any real sightseeing there. Since it was lunchtime, we decided to start out over in the Strip District, which had developed over the years into a historic market district. A had been there several times during the time he lived there, mostly with his mom to go food shopping, but hadn't really spent much time wandering around or eating at the various vendors since they went there specifically to shop at a couple of stores.

A suggested we start out with Wholey's, a grocery store that had been in Pittsburgh for over 100 years. We strolled around the aisles, but couldn't really buy anything because of our schedule. After that, we went to some other shops, like Penzeys Spices and also open air markets. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, the narrow streets were packed with people, very slow-moving, and it took forever trying to get anywhere. As a result, we didn't investigate too many places before deciding to get something to eat for lunch.

We started off with tacos at Edgar's Tacos, which had a sign proclaiming themselves the best tacos in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, four years and probably at least a hundred tacos later, I couldn't even tell you which tacos we got here. Even though the details are a bit fuzzy (I really wish we had taken notes on this trip), I do remember that the portions were generous and that the tacos did taste good. That was a nice start to lunch.

Our next stop was at S&D Polish Deli, where we split the Polish platter. The platter had three pierogi,  haluszki, and stuffed cabbage, and also came with a drink. Don't remember which type of pierogi these were, but they were good, as was the stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce. The haluszki, I think, was the "Pittsburgh style" with cabbage, onions, and butter. All of the food was really good, and we were really happy with our platter. After eating, there was some customer service-type drama relating to getting a bathroom key which had me steaming for a bit until I wrote it all out in my journal to get it out of my head forever, and that must have worked since I don't remember the majority of the details anymore. So our takeaway from here was that the food was good, but maybe not worth dealing with the foot traffic and the potential for a bathroom key drama repeat.

Our last stop was at Peace, Love and Little Donuts, which we went to partially because we wanted a snack and partially because we loved the name. We got the cinnamon sugar (in part, because they were giving out samples before we ordered) and the Samoa donuts. Both were fine, although we think the donuts we have at home in NYC (or when we visit Chicago) are better.

Overall, while it was nice to visit the Strip District, what we ate and experienced wasn't so different from anything we could get at home, including all the crowds. We have since accumulated other bookmarks for places to visit in Pittsburgh, so I'm not sure if we'll do this Strip District visit again, but I'm glad we at least did this together once.

Ohiopyle Bakery

We're coming up on the fourth anniversary of our road trip through Pennsylvania, so our travels are on my mind a lot. When we last left off, we had just visited Fallingwater and had lunch at their cafe. Fallingwater is still one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen, and we're so glad we made the trip out to Western PA. Back to the recaps!

After lunch at Fallingwater, we lingered around the property some more, trying to take in as much as we could before hitting the road. Our plan was to drive over to nearby Ohiopyle State Park and go for a walk. When we had initially researched Ohiopyle, we wanted to go bike riding, but we just didn't have enough time for that on this visit, considering we still had one more stop to make that afternoon before heading up to Pittsburgh.

I had made a full list of activities we could do that afternoon, trying to take advantage of our brief time in the southwestern corner of the state, but since we didn't end up leaving Fallingwater until after 2, most of those plans ended up going out the window. It also meant we only had a very short window of time at Ohiopyle, just enough for some strolling, seeing one of the waterfalls, and grabbing a snack.

We had heard good things about the Ohiopyle Bakery, so we stopped in there for some sweet baked goods to tide us over until dinner. It was mostly cookies and some doughnuts from what we remember, and we went with both of those. The doughnut was your regular yeast doughnut with some chocolate glaze and sprinkles (of course in Steelers colors). We also got a couple of sugar cookies, because it's hard to go wrong with sugar cookies. While they didn't have any unique variations or flavors at the bakery that we could see, what they did have was done well.

After our snack and a little more time at Ohiopyle, it was back on the road for a short drive over to Laurel Caverns. I had never been to a cavern before, and A's only visit had been when he was really young. We didn't know when our next opportunity would be, so we definitely wanted to check that out. After our tour, we began our trip up to Pittsburgh (of course, in rush hour), where we would spend a couple of days before beginning our drive home.

Stan's Donuts and Coffee

After feasting on fried chicken sandwiches and a donut, M and I decided to digest a bit by walking around the block. We did this because we ended up wanting another donut from Stan's Donuts and Coffee. Stan's is an LA institution that opened their first outpost in Chicago in 2014, a year before our visit. They have since opened additional locations across the city and suburbs.

Stan's was started out in LA back in 1963 near UCLA. They moved out to Chicago when they partnered with a Chicago-based bakery that loved the passion from the owner of Stan's on TV. We ended up only getting one donut, the lemon pistachio old fashioned, since we had just eaten lunch and another donut, and I got some coffee to go with it.

The donut itself had a nice crunch to the exterior that covered the soft, moist interior. The glaze had an amazing amount of pistachio flavor, and they studded it with crushed pistachio. Overall this was a delicious donut. I don't remember much of anything about the coffee, but it served its purpose of pairing with the coffee. It was a delicious dessert to our first dessert.

Doughnut Vault

Since we're currently in the middle of a bunch of Chicago doughnut posts from our 2015 road trip, this seemed like a good time to jump back to another doughnut shop we visited in 2012 that we didn't have a chance to revisit on that 2015 trip: Doughnut Vault.

At the time, Doughnut Vault had been open for a little over a year in their tiny location on Franklin Street, and we only knew three things about them: the doughnuts were supposed to be good, they sold out fast, and the lines could get really, really long. They made a set number of doughnuts every day, and once they were gone, the shop was closed. We were a little on the later side when we headed over there (around 10:45 am) since we had gone to Do-Rite first, so we weren't even sure they would still be open when we got there. They were, and we were happy to see that there were only a couple of people in front of us in line. Maybe it was because it was cold or because it was a random Tuesday in September, or maybe we just got lucky. While they did still have doughnuts, they were almost sold out of their entire inventory. They only had about 10 left, so we really just made it.

We got the gingerbread stack, which for some reason I thought was going to be a single gingerbread donut but turned out to be three. (You would think I would have realized that from the name "stack" but apparently not.) They were a little smaller in size than other doughnuts because of the stack, and were very soft and kind of cake-like with a light gingerbread flavor.

The other doughnut we got was the buttermilk old-fashioned. This one had a little bit of a chewier texture to it, which we kind of liked, but because of the type of doughnut it was, it was much, much richer. We had been hoping for a glazed doughnut or maybe a special if they had one, but these were the only two types left by the time we got there so we of course got them to try. They were good, but we prefer other styles so they weren't our favorites.

We sat outside, shivering in the cold, eating our doughnuts (and in A's case, drinking coffee to try to warm up), and watched as the last few customers wandered into the shop and bought the final doughnuts for the day. Before we even finished eating, the sold out sign was in the window and any future patrons were out of luck. We did enjoy the doughnuts there and would return, but considering how many good doughnut shops there are in Chicago and how much we dislike waiting in line, I doubt we would wait if the line was wrapped around the block, as it still seems to be five years later.

Double Do-Rite Donuts

After our less-than-satisfying char dog, we spent some time enjoying the sunny weather in Millennium Park and took a walk up the lakeshore to our old neighborhood of Streeterville. Our plan was to get lunch from Do-Rite Donuts, which we had visited in the Loop on an earlier trip, but which now had chicken sandwiches that sounded delicious. (Funny coincidence, on that earlier trip, we had gotten Do-Rite and then Gold Coast Dogs later in the day, while on this trip we had Gold Coast Dogs and then Do-Rite later in the day, something I never even realized until putting this post together.)

On our first visit to Do-Rite a couple of years earlier, we were kicking off the morning with some coffee and doughnuts. I don't know when it happened, as it wasn't the case when we had moved out of Chicago seven years earlier, but by the time we made this visit in 2012, Chicago had become a serious doughnut city. We hit up quite a few of the big players on the trip, and Do-Rite was one of them. A picked up a Dark Matter coffee (which he thought wasn't bad, but he was expecting a dark roast because of the name and it turned out to be lighter and not as bold), and then we got three doughnuts to split.

The three doughnuts we got were the valrhona chocolate glazed, the maple bacon, and the special of the day, which had a pineapple glaze, shredded coconut, and nuts. It's been about five years, so we don't really remember that many details, but we do remember that we thought the doughnuts were quite good. If I had to guess, I'd say that my favorite was probably the daily special since I love pineapple and shredded coconut, but A thinks we might have liked the valrhona chocolate the best because the chocolate was excellent. (This is the problem when you don't take notes and don't write a post while the memories are still fresh.)

And now back to our 2015 road trip visit. We knew we would eventually get doughnuts from Do-Rite since we knew they were good, but first, it was time for chicken sandwiches. We split two for lunch, the "original" and the CBR. We had considered getting the one called "The Sweet Heat," which was a fried chicken sandwich with spicy maple aioli on a glazed doughnut, for the novelty of having a fried chicken sandwich on a doughnut "bun" (although we have seen that concept elsewhere since), but decided not to and to get "regular" chicken sandwiches instead.

The original chicken sandwich contained a fried chicken breast, special mayo, lettuce, and dill pickles. This sandwich was good, very basic, but a little bit bland in flavor, especially compared to the other sandwich. The texture of the fried chicken was good. The lettuce was a little more like cabbage, which was something we weren't expecting, and we weren't really sure what made the mayo special but it seemed nice and creamy.

The CBR stood for (aged) cheddar, bacon, and ranch (mayo), and we got the spicy version of this sandwich. This sandwich had much more flavor than the other one, probably from the bacon, but we wouldn't really call it spicy. Cheddar, bacon, and ranch is usually a good combination, and that was the case here as well. The CBR is still on the menu online, which is nice to see.

Considering we eat a lot of fried chicken sandwiches (especially in 2015, which was kind of the year of fried chicken sandwiches for us personally and they seemed to be everywhere), these probably fall in the middle part of the list for us. They were good and we enjoyed them, but we definitely have others we like better at home (like Hill Country Chicken, Bobwhite). We would try more varieties at Do-Rite though. Who would say no to more fried chicken sandwiches?

After we finished our chicken sandwiches, we went back in for a doughnut, this time choosing the cinnamon old fashioned topped with cinnamon sugar. This was a good cake doughnut, very soft in texture, with good cinnamon flavor. Do-Rite definitely does doughnuts well. We've had good experiences both times we've visited, so we would return.

Krispy Kreme

One year ago today, after our delicious dinner at ShopHouse, we went to Krispy Kreme because I wanted a little dessert. They had a couple cute looking Easter donuts so we decided that we should get one. We opted for a regular glazed and a chick donut.

The neon sign out front of the store said they had hot donuts, but neither of these donuts seemed very freshly made or hot. That was a bit disappointing when it came to the glazed donut since we've had their fresh, hot glazed donuts before, and they are simply delicious. These, on the other hand, were a little on the cold side. The glazed donut was still airy and fluffy, but it was a little denser and less fluffy since it wasn't fresh. The chick was filled with cream and not custard and topped with glazing and crunch sugar along with some piped frosting for the design.

I preferred the glazed donut because it just tasted better. M preferred the chick because she loved the crunchy sugar topping, and she also (intentionally) didn't have much, if any, of the cream. I found the cream to be a little too sweet. I prefer custard filled donuts because custard tends to be a little less sweet when it comes to donuts. All in all we were happy with our dessert, but we know that we've had better experiences at Krispy Kreme in the past.

February Cronut

Continuing our exploration of the Dominique Ansel Bakery Cronuts thanks to the convenience of pre-ordering, the February Cronut flavor was lychee rose jam with pistachio ganache. Since Cronuts are a treat, now that we've gotten them for a couple of months, we've decided that we should probably only pre-order for the months where we are really intrigued by the flavor. The February flavor was an absolute yes for both of us, so we happily put in the order.

M's review: I was really excited for this Cronut. I love lychee, I love rose, and in recent years, I've had greater appreciation for pistachio. My first thought biting into this Cronut was that the rose flavor was really nice, very floral, but from then on, the subtle flavor of the rose just got overpowered by the cream. The filling in the Cronuts is really rich and creamy, another reason I probably shouldn't get them that often. For some reason, I missed the fact that there was pistachio ganache and thought it was only the pistachios on top and thought the inside would be all lychee and rose jam without cream. I guess I was kind of confused about the flavor, but it probably also shows how little pistachio flavor there was. I did like the lychee part of this a lot, especially since it seemed like there was actual lychee jelly in it, sort of like the ones you would get in snack-sized containers in the big tubs at the Chinese grocery store once upon a time.

M's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) lychee rose jam, 3) golden honey vanilla

A's review: Unfortunately since the day we got them was so cold, by the time M got up to my office for us to eat this month's flavor it was cold and sort of tough from starting to freeze. That being said, the flavors were still great, and the Cronut itself was still good despite being slightly firmer and tougher. The rose flavor in the cream was very pronounced and offered a wonderful, floral flavor. The lychee jelly tasted heavily of lychee, and I think I found bits of actual lychee in there as well. The pistachio I didn't get as much flavor on. Yes, there were actual pistachios on top, but I didn't really detect a ton of pistachio anywhere else. This was really tasty, and I think it cemented the fact that we definitely prefer the fruit-centric cronuts better.

A's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) lychee rose jam, 3) golden honey vanilla.

Cronuts We've Tried

June 2016: blueberry elderflower with lime sugar

January 2017: golden honey vanilla with lemon sugar

February 2017: lychee rose jam with pistachio ganache

A Dominique Ansel Day

We started off MLK Day by heading down to Dominique Ansel Bakery for some Cronuts. No, we didn't wait in the long line early in the morning. Instead we took a leisurely trip down in the early afternoon and picked up our pre-ordered Cronuts with barely a wait at all. They were sold out of Cronuts for the day and the regular line went for the entire length of the bakery, so we were pretty glad pre-ordering exists. 

This wasn't our first time getting Cronuts from the bakery, although we haven't been pre-ordering as much as we would like because we often forget before it's too late to order for that month. (You have to order two weeks in advance.) We got some last summer when the flavor was blueberry elderflower with lime sugar (which made A's favorites list last year), and this time around, the flavor of the month was golden honey vanilla with lemon sugar. Both were good, but between the two, we preferred the blueberry elderflower one, as there was just so much delicious fruit flavor in that one.

If you've never had a Cronut before, they're a magical creation of Dominique Ansel that is part croissant and part donut. It's layers of flaky croissant dough formed and fried up like a donut. It's filled with whatever cream/jam and then frosted with the second flavor. It's a simple concept that no one else has seemed to figure out how to do. A has tried several imitators, and none of them have come anywhere close to being as light, airy, and delicious as the original.

After our Cronuts, we intended to go get something savory for lunch, but after we found out the place we planned to go for fried chicken had closed down, we meandered up the avenue trying to decide what to do instead. As we deliberated, we found ourselves approaching Dominique Ansel Kitchen. We knew they had some special collaborations over MLK weekend and had thought about dropping by for a snack later if we had time, so since we were already there, we put off our savory food for a little bit longer.

The collaboration was with Wildair, and they came up with two things - an apple pie corn dog and a warm quince apple cider. We didn't order the cider because we were only there for a snack, but they gave out some samples so we got to try it anyway which was great. The cider combined local quince, Red Jacket apple cider, kaffir lime, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and hints of maple and birch. It was cozy and comforting, and if we had been looking for a warm drink, we really would have considered getting a cup of that.

The apple pie corn dog consisted of roasted parsnip ice cream, caramelized gala apples, and almond biscuit in a cornmeal batter, topped with apple cider caramel and potato chip feuilletine. Neither of us could really taste that the ice cream was supposed to be parsnip flavored. A thought it really just tasted like vanilla. The apples were a nice mix of tartness and sweetness, and they made an excellent topping. The potato chips didn't add a ton of flavor, but they gave the dessert a depth and texture that was very similar to streusel with just a mild hint of salt.

We hadn't planned on hitting up both Dominique Ansel spots one after the other that day, but sometimes things just work out for the best. We're glad we were able to try the apple pie corn dog since it was a very limited time offer. It definitely pushed back our savory meal for the day, but in the end we weren't too upset by that.

The Everything Doughnut

We love trying unique doughnut flavors, so when we were snacking around the Bryant Park Winter Village the other day, we had to grab this Everything Doughnut from The Doughnut Project. Based on an everything bagel, it was a yeast doughnut with a cream cheese glaze, topped with sesame, poppy, pepita, garlic, and sea salt.

M's review: I was expecting this to be a savory doughnut with maybe a little sweetness from the doughnut part only. We've had different takes on the everything bagel before (like the one we got at wd-50), so I thought this would be similar, where it tastes just like an everything bagel but in doughnut form. The cream cheese glaze here was sweet like you would find on doughnuts or cupcakes, and I wasn't expecting that at all. I thought the glaze would be much more savory. Because of how sweet it was, the flavors of the sesame seeds, garlic, and other toppings got a little bit lost in the sweetness of the glaze. I got a little bit of the seasonings in the first bite, but after that it mostly just tasted like a sweet cream cheese glazed doughnut. I did like the texture of the doughnut though. I was just expecting and hoping for savory flavors.

A's review: I liked the texture of this donut. It was light and airy, and it had a good bite to the outside. The toppings were interesting, but I'm not sure they fully work. I like sweet cream cheese frosting, but I didn't think the rest of the toppings really came out that much. In fact, I didn't taste the pepitas at all, and from the picture I don't actually even see any on there. I like the idea of this donut, but I'm not sure I really got the execution.

Although we likely wouldn't get this particular doughnut again, we would be interested in other flavors from The Doughnut Project. It's nice to find places that are willing to try out interesting combinations.

Doughnuts on the Road

Last week, Food Network Magazine and the Sweetery food truck teamed up for another promotion, this time called "Doughnuts on the Road." We've enjoyed this promotion in the past, trying out different cupcakes, popcorn, and macarons, and were really looking forward to this one. (If there was one last year, we must have missed it.) The doughnuts sounded so good, and the location-based flavors for each travel sponsor always give us a little bit of wanderlust.

A stopped by the truck at its first stop while on his way to work. A was glad that he got there so early as the line was already starting to curl back on itself when he arrived. Thankfully they had all of the options as he really wanted the king cake doughnut. M was sure that he would get the key lime pie, but he had been craving king cake for so long, and without access to New Orleans during Mardi Gras there was no way to get it without spending tons of money.

Unfortunately this didn't really taste like the king cake he had had earlier in his life, but it was still good. There was a nice bite to the skin of the doughnut followed by the pillow-y insides. The frosting was fairly standard vanilla, but it paired well with the doughnut and the sprinkles strewn on top. All in all, it was a good doughnut, but it wasn't king cake.

M went to the penultimate stop, about halfway through the truck's time there, and was super excited to get the king cake doughnut too. She thought of a couple of other flavors as "backup" just in case they had run out of king cake, but it was primarily going to be dictated by whether or not they had filling, as she's not a huge fan of doughnuts with filling.

When there were about 10-15 people in line in front of her, they made an announcement that all that was left was vanilla and key lime pie. Vanilla? There wasn't even a vanilla doughnut listed on the card. When she got to the front of the line, she asked the person handing out the doughnuts if either had filling. They said no, so M picked the key lime pie, figuring she should try the doughnut that was actually part of the travel promotion.

The no filling thing was a lie, as there was so much filling in the doughnut (way more than it looked like in this picture), and in fact, that's where most of the lime flavor was. The doughnut itself seemed okay, but it was totally overshadowed by all that rich, creamy filling. M caught a glimpse of what looked like someone else's vanilla doughnut when leaving the event, and it looked like a regular glazed one with sprinkles, so she had such chooser's remorse. Too bad.

The king cake was clearly the winning doughnut of these two, so at least A got to try it!

Timbits Time

(Previously on our Great Lakes Road Trip: dinner at Sahara in Maumee.)

We woke up the next morning in Maumee ready for our next (and thankfully shorter) leg of driving to Chicago. A went out to get some Starbucks coffee, and having seen a Tim Hortons nearby, also decided to pick up some breakfast for us.

We've been big fans of Timbits ever since we first tried them in Canada about 7 years ago. They're similar to the Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, but the flavors are slightly different and there are more flavors to choose from. (As an aside, does anyone remember those toasted coconut munchkins DD had once upon a time? I miss those.)

The Timbits we got that morning were a combination of chocolate glazed, honey dip, original glazed, and Funfetti. As a big fan of Funfetti, and sprinkles generally, I was pretty excited to see that A got those. It really just tasted like a donut hole with sprinkles, but sprinkles make everything better. A liked the chocolate ones a lot.

With Timbits in our bellies, we finished packing up and getting ready, and then set out to grab a quick lunch in Maumee before getting back on the interstate. A lot of the Tim Hortons near us at home have closed, so we were glad we had the opportunity to get some Timbits on the road!

Korean Barbecue Seitan Sandwich

Today in NYC was a really cold day. I kept thinking that I might go get some soup to stay warm, but in this weather, food trucks need love too. In the end I opted to visit my normal Tuesday haunt, The Cinnamon Snail. It was late in their day so unfortunately I missed the daily special. In the end I opted for the Korean Barbecue Seitan sandwich.

First impression when I opened this was that this was a really big sandwich. Maybe it was the end of the day and they wanted to clear out their inventory, or maybe it's just this big. I don't know, but whatever the reason, it worked out in my favor. I do have to admit, though, that this didn't taste nearly as good as I think it was meant to. Because of how cold the temperature was outside and the length of my walk back to my office, the sandwich had cooled considerably by the time I got to eating. Because of that, I think I lost some of the overall flavor, and the cooler temperature made it a little less palatable.

All that being said, this was still a tasty sandwich. It had a nice heat from the kimchi and chili butter, and mixed greens were really fresh. From what I saw and tasted, it was a mix of mostly arugula and kale. It offered crunch and freshness to go with the softer seitan and the crispy tortilla. Overall this was a good sandwich, and I think I'll try it again in better weather so that I can give this a fair taste.

As is often the case with me and the good Snail, I got myself dessert. I chose the Hulk Hoagan Fudgie Wudgie more for the name than anything else. It really amused me. Yes, it looked amazing as well.

The donut was similar to most of their others. It was a little drier than non-vegan donuts because of the lack of butter and eggs, but the density actually makes them better for holding toppings. This was hollowed out a touch in the middle and filled with chocolate ganache then topped with crumbles and a chocolate drizzle. It was delicious, and the chocolate was so smooth and rich. I have yet to have a bad donut from here.

Cinnamon Snail Brings Vegan Delights to the Garment District

Back on Tuesday The Cinnamon Snail tried out a new spot near my office at 38th and Broadway. If you don't know, they're a vegan food truck that serves some of the best truck food of any type in NYC. I don't care what your thoughts are on vegan food, you would do well to check this truck out if it's near you.

I had originally looked to get the weekly special, but they were out. Instead I went with the Gouchujang Burger which is a seitan burger with sautéed kimchi, arugula, pickled red onions, black sesame gomasio and sriracha mayonnaise on herb grilled focaccia. I had no clue what black sesame gomasio was, but after some research it is apparently a black sesame infused salt condiment. Regardless, this burger is delicious.

The seitan burger doesn't have the richness of a regular burger, and it can fall apart a little more easily, but it certainly holds up as a great base for a burger. The gouchujang and kimchi don't bring much heat, but they offer a beautiful set of sweet and tart flavors. The sriracha vegan-aise was really rich and creamy just like a regular mayonnaise so I didn't even notice. The focaccia was less greasy than other focaccias I've had in the past, and it was still just as soft. The herb topping really showed through. For people that think vegan food is boring and can't taste good, I challenge them to say that after trying this burger.

I also tried to get one of their seasonal creme brulee donuts, but they were also out of those (I went to lunch late). I ended up getting one of their Mexican spiced chocolate donuts. Despite it's somewhat fecal appearance, this was AMAZING. I still like their creme brulee donut better, but this donut is moist, dense, and light. The cocoa powder really comes out in the donut, and the chocolate icing is rich and fully coats the donut. The donut also is dusted in cinnamon and chili powder which pair extremely well with the chocolate flavor. They took everything that's great about Mexican spiced hot chocolate and turned it into a really nice donut.

The line they had was probably 8-15 people deep the whole time, but it moves fast. All of the food is made fresh for you on order so be prepared to wait a little after you order, but it's maybe only 10 minutes. I really hope they decide to make this a regular weekly stop for them as I'll definitely look into getting there every Tuesday if they do.

Holiday Doughnuts

I stopped by Doughnut Plant last week to check out their holiday doughnut offerings and was faced with many more choices than I was expecting. I thought maybe they would have a couple of seasonal specials, but they had 5! I decided to get a marzipan star (mostly because it was a star) and the triple chocolate mint, and headed inside.

They were sold out of a bunch of doughnuts that late afternoon, including the marzipan star, so I substituted the star with one that jumped out at me in the display case - the cranberry yeast doughnut.

We really like the yeast doughnuts at Doughnut Plant. They're soft and airy and the glazes on the ones like the cranberry doughnut always taste so natural. The coating on this doughnut was made from actual cranberry and you could taste the freshness. Because it was made from fresh cranberries you could taste both the sweetness and tartness you'd expect from the fruit. We really liked this one and it was probably our favorite of the 2.

The triple chocolate mint doughnut came in cake form, which meant it was much denser.

The outside icing of the doughnut tasted heavily of chocolate and mint, but the flavors were very mild when paired with the cakey donut, and the donut itself tasted like chocolate cake. We were hoping for (and expecting) more mint out of this.

Doughnut Plant makes some of our favorite doughnuts (although, to be fair, we haven't yet tried a lot of the heavy hitters in the NYC doughnut world since DP is so close to us now). Can't wait to see what specials we can get next time!