Where To Find The Best Doughnuts In NYC and Philadelphia
Along with the other miracles at Chanukah, we’ve got sufganiyot to celebrate. Typically jelly-filled, the round Israeli donuts take on ever-more decadent forms every year. With that in mind, here’s our very selective list of 2018’s best:
Breads Bakery At Manhattan carb mecca Breads, owner Gadi Peleg and crew offer typically irresistible sufganiyot in strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and halva flavors. They’re $3.50 a pop, and worth every penny (and calorie).
Federal Donuts In Philly, Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s donut-and-chicken chainlet is sizzling with Chanukah Minis – diminutive spiced-cake donuts, dipped in light lemon glaze & filled with raspberry jam. The tart citrus, they insist, plays perfectly with the berry’s sweetness. And when are they ever wrong?
The Eddy In Brooklyn, Hungarian-Jewish hotspot The Eddy’s serving a decadent Chanukah dinner all week long. Highlights: Latkes with applesauce, labneh, and caviar; deviled eggs with whipped schmaltz and crispy chicken skin; braised short ribs with black garlic. But sufganiyot are the showstopper – homemade jelly donuts with quince jam, served with a shot of Manischewitz and Chanukah gelt.
The Williamsburg Hotel The candidate for this year’s most decadent sufganiyot comes from the hip Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn. Executive chef Nic Caicedo and executive pastry chef Leah Morrow have put their own spin on sufganiyot by whipping up chocolate-filled doughnuts topped with caramel and powdered sugar. They’re $12 for a pair.
Mile End Deli These retro-cool, Montreal-inspired delis are going the classic route for their sufganiyot. On a Chanukah menu that also showcases house-made latkes with a range of artisan toppings (whitefish mousse, trout roe), the sufganiyot arrive as jelly donuts with powdered sugar, a straight-up treat.
Doughnut Plant The New York Times called these “doughnuts of the gods”. Hard to disagree once you taste their indulgent sufganiyot, like marzipan doughseed – filled with housemade blackberry jam, dipped in marzipan glaze – and vanilla bean doughseed, with the same delicious filling in a vanilla-bean glaze. Bonus: They’re kosher!
Underwest Donuts At Orlee Winer and Scott Levine’s west-side car wash/donut shop hybrid – and its Penn Station outpost – sufganiyot translates as fried brioche filled with luscious raspberry pomegranate jam or salted-caramel milk chocolate. Bonus: They’re topped with sugar-dusted designs of menorahs, dreidels, and Stars of David.
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