Craving A Doughnut In NYC? The Best Doughnuts In New York That Just Happen To Be Vegan

Ok, it is maybe the WORST picture in the world of the BEST donut in the world (A bold claim, but one I am sticking my next out to make).  You know when you've tasted perfection..right?!  I have long dreamt of a trip to New York, it has been over 10 years in coming and at the beginning of November, I booked a trip on a whim and flew in all crazily excited. It was a last minute impulse, my heart was calling me there.  New York is a city of romance   Remember Sleepless in Seattle?!  It didn't exactly turn out like it did for Meg Ryan...it wasn't exactly 'An Affair To Remember', I didn't go up the Empire State Building (I still live in romantic hope!), but I did spend two hours 70 floors up on the top of the Rockerfeller Centre (and lots more adventures I will share with you about soon). And I got to go to a a lot of vegan eateries I have longed to try, including an all VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE, REFINED SUGAR FREE (MOSTLY)cake shop.  Babycakes!  

Babycakes is a cosy little bakery on the Lower East Side that would make any cake/doughnut/cupcake lover, vegan, coeliac, mother, health nut EXTREMELY happy. Babycakes is the genius spawned by Erin McKenna, who as so many before her, started her business to create something she wished she could visit (Read about it in a fun interview with The Awl). The staff are lovely (Kirsten in particular kindly gave me some fabulous 'off the beaten track' site seeing and foodie tips for Brooklyn, I was very grateful for), and the warm air inside smells divine!

I fought disrupted subway timetables, and a stiff wind to make this my last stop before the UK reeled me back in.  I'd just been on a fascinating visit to the Tenement Museum (after a tip off from Carrie On Vegan).  I HIGHLY recommend going on one of their many interactive, info packed story tours.  I opted for the Hard Times tour, just because it got me into the delapedated tenement that had been untouched since 1935, AND it lasted an hour, which is all the time I had if I was factoring in a quick cake fest at Babycakes.  

I was hungry, hungry, hungry after my brain had been taking in all the fascinating facts about the German immigrants that surged to this area of Manhattan in the latter part of the 19th Century and had their enclave was aptly nicknamed Klein Deutschland .  Without much deliberation, I chose the Samoa doughnut.  It was frosted with vanilla icing, sprinkled with coconut chips and, for good measure, zig zagged with dark vegan chocolate.  They were so busy, I didn't want to hold up the queue interrogating them as to the reason this baked good was named after an island in the Central South Pacific.  So that will remain a mystery, to me at least.  I sat down with a steaming mug of china tea and quietened myself for my first bite.  It was fluffy, tender, sweetened to perfection, moist and with subtle hint of chewiness.  The frosting and coconut chips and wisp of chocolate actually nearly made me groan out loud with pleasure.  Seriously?!!  I honest hadn't expected it to taste THAT good!! Finally, I'd had at least a little romance! I could have easily re-enacted the Meg Ryan cafe moment at this point (I actually visited that actual cafe, too!)

Both times I visited Babycakes I didn't have my beloved Canon with me.  The first was laziness the second was just a few hours before I flew home and after I'd lost my camera memory stick (devastating, but luckily I'd just downloaded everything onto my Mac).  Sorry for the picture quality.

'In a city dominated by cupcakes overflowing with sugar, flour and butter cream, it’s easy for those with persnickety diets to feel left out. BabyCakes offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs. Rest assured, all sweeteners have been chosen responsibly and used sparingly. White sugar will never be found in our bakery, nor will we ever use toxic chemical sweeteners. Instead, most products are sweetened with agave nectar—a natural syrup from a cactus which is low on the glycemia index and often a safe alternative to most non-insulin dependant diabetics. Occasionally, unprocessed and unrefined sugar is used in certain goods, although sparingly'.

Erin McKenna

248 Broome St
(between Ludlow St & Orchard St) 
New York, NY 10002
Area: Lower East Side

Another place I visited but, alas, due to an intolerance for the demon gluten, I didn't get to taste, was Dun-Well Doughnuts.

If the heavenly sweet fragrance of the store and the packed tables are anything to go by, I'd say this place is worth the hop over the water to Williamsburg to try them too.

To quote from their fun website..

Dun-Well Doughnuts started as a food craving when Christopher Hollowell (the "Well" in Dun-Well) called up his buddy Dan Dunbar (The "Dun" in Dun-Well) after having watched a Simpson's anniversary episode that featured Homer's favorite round confections rather prominently. Having been unable to find a vegan doughnut in NYC that satisfied his craving Christopher and Dan agreed to make their quest to create an amazing doughnut and open NYC's first all-vegan doughnut shop.

222 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206, United States

Expect more  of my NYC  trip soon, but sporadic]ally.  I'm living a nomadic existence right now and never know when I'll  speak to you next.    Normal service will be resumed soon.. xx

Vanilla Sugar Dusted, Gluten Free Yeasted Donut Recipe

A first for me. The homemade gluten free donut. I needed guidance.  It wasn't that easy to find a definitive, simple enough gluten free yeasted, fried donut recipe on the Interweb.  Most of them were baked. Normally, this would be my plan, healthier the better. But, I've not eaten a donut for so many years so if I was going to have one I wanted it to be full fat and tasting like I remember a donut tasted.  Phase Two will be trying the baked versions and seeing how they compare.  Meanwhile, I figured I'm probably only ever going to eat my homemade donuts, and I'll make it a once a year occurrence.  

Vanilla Sugar Dusted, Gluten Free Yeasted Donut Recipe

The ingredients
1 1/2 cup warm unsweetened almond milk
1 1/4 cup garbanzo & fava flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1 tbs tapioca flour (meant to add 'chew' to gluten free flours')
2 tbs dry quick acting yeast
1/4 cup xylitol
1 tsp white sugar (I used the 'demon' white and not all xylitol as I read somewhere that yeast needs processed white sugar)
2 tbs flax meal
1/2 tsp salt ( I used less salt than Gluten Free Girl used as I think using mainly garbanzo and lava flour lessens the need)

white processed sugar for dusting

Method
Sift the flours and add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix the dough/batter until well incorporated.  I did this by hand, you may get an even better result from an electric mixer. The mixture is going to be wet.  You'll probably think you've got it wrong.  I did too, but several assurances in my internet research said the dough would be more like a thick batter.  My research took me all over, and conflicting ideas caused much a little confusion, but basically, I used Gluten Free Girls tips for guidance.
Now to form the donuts.  I didn't have a donut cutter so I made mine with my hands. It is absolutely crucial you flour your hands really well from the start.  I didn't and it got messy. Place onto a sheet of baking parchment onto of a baking sheet tray.  Form balls and place (with room for expansion) onto the sheet.  Leave to rise for 45 mins. Mine spread more than towered in height.  

Cooking
Make sure your pan is completey dry before adding in the oil.  Any water residue will make the hot oil spit like an angry camel. When the oil reaches 375F (I didn't have a candy thermometer so I did the throw in a small piece of dough or bread trick and it sizzled nicely so I knew it was hot enough) place the dough carefully into the fryer.  After the first two, the donuts only took about 30-40 seconds to fry each side, if that.  I fried one at a time.  I was so scared of the oil!  I could only handle the stress of mono baking.  Use two slotted spoons or forks to flip the donut.  When cooked both sides put onto kitchen towel to let the excess oil drain for a few moments. Then transfer to your dish of sugar and coat.  It will stick better when the donuts are still fairly hot.

I got tips mainly from  Gluten Free Girl and some from  Gluten Free On A Shoestring &
Gluten Free Baking

I couldn't find the large quantities of starch flours in my local supermarkets, I was amazed, these are not small shops.  Potato starch and tapioca were nowhere to be found and the arrow root came in silly little 5g bags.  To make this recipe 60% starch (40% grain) it would have cost me a Kings ransom.  I am going to go on a hunt of the Asian stores the other side of town to see if they have them as Indian cooking uses a lot of gluten free starchy flours for when I embark on my gluten free bread experiments.  I will let you know.

Their taste far exceeded hoped for visual appeal. I had wanted to fill them but the had not risen sufficiently.  So, I quickly whipped up some cashew, banana, vanilla soft serve in the blender to scoop on top. They were a hit.  Not only with me.  They had to stand up to my donut queen, gluten loving Mother.  Verdict?  You'd never know they were gluten free!  'They're good', she declared.  Any therapist would say I should be way past the stage of seeking parental approval, but I guess I'm still not quite there yet!!   Hey, I'm blogging everyday, and seeking approval of complete strangers who I probably will never even come into contact with, so I think I'd potentially make some therapist quite rich!  Hey ho.

Enjoy the donuts or doughnuts…spell them how you will.  x

Day 17 - Vegan MoFo 2013