Warning: This is not your daddy's doughnut shop.
Chunks of crisp caramelized applewood bacon crown a glazed round of dense yet fluffy dough. Hidden from the eye is a filling of handmade maple custard boiled down nightly from fresh vanilla beans and real maple syrup.
Rainbow-colored M&M's and smooth chocolate are layered atop the ring-shaped candy-bar doughnut. It's offered in a variety of kid-approved flavors: Snickers, Milky Way, Nestle Crunch.
Rounds of fresh banana slices are drizzled with chocolate atop whipped Nutella on the Nutella banana.
Decadent? Yes.
But in fairness, you were warned, and that warning came straight from Rhino Doughnuts & Coffee owners Athan "Tom" Prakas and Davin Tran.
See Also: Today is National Doughnut Day: Five Fun Flavors to Try
With the recent opening of its first location in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea (four more are scheduled to open by the end of the year), Rhino is diving headfirst into the national craze of artisanal doughnuts.
Dubbed by many as the new cupcake (remember that trend?), handcrafted-doughnut shops have been popping up across the country for the past decade, with increasing frequency over the past few years.
See also: Rhino Doughnuts in Lauderdale By The Sea (Slideshow)
The most highly regarded is Voodoo Doughnut. Started in Portland, Oregon, it's known for off-the-wall flavor combinations like Captain My Captain (with Cap'n Crunch cereal) and Bacon Maple Bar. It's now a Food Network regular and an international destination in Portland (and has since branched out to include several locations). It's even teamed up with Oregon-based brewery Rogue Ales to produce several beers. (Another trend that should make its way to Florida.)
Tran and Prakas visited Voodoo while researching the concept. "We hit all the big ones," Prakas says of famed doughnut shops. "From Voodoo in Portland to San Francisco to D.C., we took the best from them and combined it here."
