The Cronut and Its Imitators

I have a confession.... I have become "slightly" addicted to Cronuts. I put the "slightly" in quotation marks because its only a monthly indulgence.

      Invented by Dominique Ansel pastry chef & bakery owner, the Cronut was named as the biggest food invention/story of 2013. This creation has garnered worldwide media attention and had foodies in a frenzy. Now there are plenty of articles about this creation of Dominique Ansel, the origin and what gave him the idea to come up with this in the first place. I am not going to delve into that. I want to discuss my thoughts on why, almost a year after its debut, there is still a desire for people to wait for hours just to purchase this. 
     I have expertise on this subject because I am one of the "crazies" who go to the bakery monthly and wait just to get my hands on it. For the past eight months I have tried each flavor and have been successful in getting on line at the right time before it gets sold out. 

The infamous line around the block for Cronuts

Freshly baked Madelines for people waiting on line 

   There are a couple of reasons why I return monthly. The Cronut itself satisfies my need for a dessert. The outside is crisp and sweet because it fried and tossed with sugar after leaving the hot oil. This makes a crunchy crust that is the opposite of the interior. The croissant like interior is layered with butter pastry which has the flavor of the month cream nestled between the layers. When you take a bite of the Cronut you have an experience of different textures. The crunchiness of the outside with the crystallized sugar then the chewy butteriness of the inside with bursts of flavored cream. I like to go and try the inventive flavors of the month. The cronut serves as a delicate canvas that allows the fruit & cream combinations to shine. From coconut cream, fig mascarpone to caramelized apple creme fraiche just hearing the new upcoming flavor gets me salivating.  

Salted Dulce de Leche- Novembers flavor

                                               

Whole Foods Doughssant

Crumbs Crumbnut

You know you have something great when there are countless duplications. Dominique Ansel copy-wrote Cronut so there is only one. However, many bakeries & restaurants have tried to re-create this using a different moniker. Doughssants, Crumbnut, Doussants are all creative names that are used for a Cronut copycat. I have tried a couple of these copycats just to compare. Whole Foods has a chocolate covered Doughssant which is filled with vanilla cream. It was extremely dry, no layers, not fried on the outside and the icing & cream tasted artificial. I have also tried Crumbs version called the Crumbnut. Though better than the Whole Foods version, the Crumbnut reminded me of a week old croissant with a dusting of powdered sugar. It had the layers like a Cronut, it was just really dry and had an after taste. All copy-cats have not been just pastry. I have also tried the Cragel from The Bagel Store in Williamsburg Brooklyn. A cragel is a bagel that has croissant dough rolled into it and baked. The cragel was more of a sweet bagel to me. It was not cohesive because the croissant dough pieces did not expand due to the weight of the heavier bagel dough. 

The Bagel Store's Cragel

      Now if you want to snag a Cronut there are a couple of things you need to know to be successful. You can pre-order them from the bakery (if you can get through) or wait on line. If you are going to go, here are some quick tips:1) Go Monday-Wednesday because they are the slowest days. 2) Arrive at the bakery by 7 am to wait on line. This arrive time will need to be earlier during the warmer months. ( In July I arrived at 6:00 am) 3) If the weather looks gloomy, better chances of a shorter line = you getting one. If you arrive to the bakery and the line is around the corner, count the people. The bakery makes roughly 300 cronuts/day and being that there is a 2 per person limit, count the people in front of you to avoid wasting time in waiting. If you are within the first 120 people your golden. Good Luck! 

My happy face about to eat Decembers flavor- Chocolate Valrohna Champagne