TODAY anchors Al Roker, Tamron Hall, Natalie Morales and Willie Geist taste-tested the $100 24-karat Gold Cristal Ube Doughnut from Manila Social Club in Brooklyn's hip Williamsburg neighborhood.
The brainchild of Filipino chef Björn DelaCruz, the $100 doughnut is filled with ube (purple yam) mousse and Cristal Champagne jelly, and coated with a Cristal Champagne icing. Then comes the bling.
The finishing touch is a smattering of 24K edible gold dust and flakes of 24K gold leaf which DelaCruz painstakingly places atop the doughnut using tweezers and toothpicks.
A single doughnut is presented in a small round black box. But order a dozen (a steal at $1,000, JK) and the restaurant will packages the doughnuts in a large gold box tied with purple ribbon. Don't have an extra grand lying around? Neither do we, but you can still check out the restaurant's original Ube Doughnut.
Made with ube dough and topped with ube icing and pearlized sugar, the ube doughnuts are sold by the dozen for $40 (about $3.30 each).
Last month, DelaCruz debuted his Black and Gold Braven Doughnut, a savory-sweet black cuttlefish ink doughnut that's topped with icing made with Brooklyn brewery Braven's White IPA beer and then dusted with 24k gold dust. Earlier this year, the chef collaborated with Bar Hill, an artisanal gin producer in upstate New York, and created an ume doughnut with an gin-and-kaffir-lime icing. The next flavors will be debuted on Tuesday, January 26th.
In the meantime, here's verdict on the 24-karat Gold Cristal Ube Doughnut from TODAY's panel taste-testing hosts: After her first bite, Natalie said "Oh my God, that is amazing. That is unbelievable. [The inside is] so purple, it's beautiful." Tamron was also a fan, holding the golden round up and likening it to an oversize hoop earring. "That is the best gold doughnut I've ever had," said Willie.