📍Fan Fan Donuts, New York City

Donuts from Fan Fan Donuts

I get cravings for donuts every so often. Donuts are so ubiquitous worldwide that they're something I like to try. Often donuts are an expression of the chef and city in a way so few other foods are. I picked Fan Fan to satisfy that craving on this particular morning. They routinely collaborate with chefs from around the country and have non-traditional flavors.

Fan Fan Donuts is a small shop. It's on the corner of the street with a couple of benches outside. When you walk in there's enough room for 5-6 people to line up. There are some shelves for merch and a fridge for grocery items. The entire kitchen and prep space is open though behind the counter. It gives the feeling of walking into the kitchen and purchasing through a pop-up shop. I like the level of intimacy.

I didn't have much of a plan. I picked the first three that looked interesting: Peanut Butter S'mores, Chocolate Chili, and The Cali Queen. They all have the same yeasted base so this is all about glaze, filling, and toppings. They packed it up into a box. I paid. I went home. If I bought one donut I might have stayed to enjoy on the bench like others.

Peanut Butter S'Mores Donut at Fan Fan Donuts

The Peanut Butter S'Mores donut is shaped like an eclair. It was filled with a light peanut buttery pastry cream that wasn't overpowering or sweet. It had this nutty (obviously) salted, almost savory quality to it. It was topped with a sweet, torched marshmallow glaze. On top were salted peanuts and donut croutons. Fan Fan uses donut croutons in other things like their hot chocolate. It's their base donut chopped up without any glaze or toppings that's dried out to become crunchy. The marshmallow brought almost all the sweetness to the party and I appreciated the balance with all the salty elements. The different textures between the cream, donut, croutons, and peanuts were also really nice.

The Chocolate Chili donut was the only traditionally shaped donut I got. It had a shiny, almost reflective, chocolate glaze. If I had to guess it was in the 60-70% chocolate range. It was sweet and a little bitter with a light heat to each bite. It's meant to mimic Mexican Hot Chocolate which mixes cayenne with cocoa. It hits that flavor profile. The individual chilis on top of the donut were not spicy for me. Despite the seeds, I think it was more decorative than flavorful as the spice in the chocolate was well distributed.

The Cali Queen is shaped like a roll but also uses the same yeasted donut base as the other two donuts. This one is topped with a silky sweet coconut milk caramel glaze. It's topped with candied persimmons and kumquats. The persimmons bring this solid spiced pie fruit-like texture and taste. The kumquats are tart and citrusy. The combined bite is reminiscent of a tropical tart cinnamon roll.

Writing this has brought about another donut craving.

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