Doughnuts: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

By Lisa McLaughlin

The low-carb craze may be affecting sales of Krispy Kremes, but the doughnut is finding new life as a high-end dessert. Pastry chefs are now filling their after-dinner menus with doughnuts and fritters fresh from the fryer, like the Drunken Doughnuts at New York City's Maloney and Porcelli, left, which come with three tiny jars of liquor-spiked jams. Also in Manhattan, at the Red Cat, pastry chef Rebecca Masson offers risotto fritters with gingered blueberries and wildflower honey semifreddo, while diners at Riingo are treated to doughnut holes filled with green tea jam. At Grace restaurant in Los Angeles, Elizabeth Belkind serves jelly doughnuts with a velvety vanilla custard and strawberry-buttermilk ice cream. And at Chicago's Japonais the must-have dessert is the whimsical Coffee & Doughnuts, a cup of green tea semifreddo accompanied by warm chestnut-filled beignets.