The $100 Donut Flying Off Shelves In New York: Donut Features Champagne And 24-Karat Edible Gold Leaf


A Brooklyn restaurant owner created a special gold-covered, champagne-infused donut for a Friday special that proved so successful it has been permanently added to the menu at the Manila Social Club in Williamsburg, New York. Despite the donut’s shocking price tag of $100, it seems that patrons can’t get enough of the golden creation. In fact, the donut creator, Björn DelaCruz, says that people are ordering the donuts by the dozen spending over a grand on one box of the pastries.

The Daily Mail reports that one Brooklyn restaurant owner set out to create a special donut for the New Year’s celebrations. However, his Golden Cristal Ube Donut proved so popular that it has now become a staple on the Manila Social Club’s menu in Williamsburg, New York. The donut creator says that he initially created the gold donut for the restaurant’s Friday donut special. The establishment offers up a new, unique donut each Friday for patrons. However, when the 24-karat gold-covered donut debuted as a limited edition special, it was such a hit that DelaCruz decided to add it to the menu.

Gold Donut
Manila Social Club owner DelaCruz shares photos of his creation to Instagram. (Image via Instagram)

When asked about the popularity of the expensive donut, DelaCruz said he was initially shocked that people were ordering the donut by the dozen, dropping over a grand for 12 of these unique pastry creations. However, he says he realizes that this is New York and people spend money a little differently.

“I wanted to add something [to the menu] for the new year to celebrate how long we have been going. I didn’t know people would go and order a dozen [of these] at a time! But then again, it is New York, and there are people willing to put down [over a] grand for a dozen donuts.

The donut’s glitzy appearance was originally designed to ring in the New Year for New Yorkers wanting to add a little glamour to their New Year’s donut. However, DelaCruz says that the flavors were phenomenal and the donut’s unique appearance kept people coming back for more. The donut was created using Cristal champagne and is filled with an ube paste. The ube is a purple yam that DelaCruz says goes perfectly with the honey flavor of the Cristal champagne. To complete the elegant creation, the donut was covered in an edible 24-karat gold leaf.

Gold donut
DelaCruz shares a photo of the making of the golden donut. (Image via Instagram)

Though DelaCruz seemed to pick the most expensive ingredients on the market for the donut, he claims that he didn’t make the donut for shock value, but rather because he felt that the ingredients would go well together to create a truly unique pastry. In fact, DelaCruz seems quite proud of his Golden Cristal Ube Donut and plans to continue making it for his new gold donut customers.

“For me, it’s shiny and it’s golden, but it comes together to create a really great donut, as crazy as that sounds. There was a time when I was eating this donut while drinking Cristal, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is a great combo!’ I cook with [those ingredients] because I think they taste good. If I wanted it to be just an expensive thing, I would use the Ace of Spades [champagne]. For what I wanted to do, Cristal was the perfect match. To me, I think this tastes really amazing. It’s not just about the shock value, it’s a combination of it all.”

What do you think about a donut with a $100 price tag? Can you believe that people are willing to fork over $1,200 for a dozen of these donuts?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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