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

Madrid... A Food Lovers Paradise

Flat of Figs in Spain

         It all began with a fig....... I was at work doing my usual task of recieving food orders to check in and I saw a flat of figs. Staring at the small figs, squished into the plastic mesh containers with bruises my mind began to wonder. I reminisced back to over a month before when I was in Madrid, Spain and stopped dead in my tracks staring at a flat of large, gorgeous figs. Thats when all of the wonderful food memories came back.

               There have been very few times in my life where I was speechless when it came to terms food. This was a time where it was the case. Never have I ever been to a place where I felt so inspired and happy to see what was going on around me. Now, I have been to Spain before and was well aware about the special care they take into their food. However this time was different. Unlike my past time in the country, I actually cooked meals. I had to go to the shops and grocery stores to purchase food and that was the difference.

Cherries stacked neatly....blew my mind

Even the meat looked great!

Presentation is key!

                                       








              Walking into the grocery stores, fruit stands and supermarkets, I was amazed by the presentation of the produce, fish, meat and cheese stands. No customer was allowed to pick up any item. There were workers for every station which picked up (with gloved hands) the item that you want and placed into a bag for you. They took pride in their work and nobody was going to mess it up. All of the produce were neatly arranged- by color and food group. The seafood section was a sight to see. First of all, there were fish, mollusks and shellfish that I have never seen before. All of the items were arranged going the same way and grouped by species. The colors and overall freshness of it made me so excited that I would be cooking.

Pan con Tomate & Pan con
Serrano

Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese & Balsamic
Reduction

Mussels in White Wine, Butter
Sauce

  

 I came to Madrid with the Nomad•ness Travel Tribe and that was our home base in Spain before we went up to Pamplona to run with the Bulls. Before we embarked on our trip it was known that we were going to have a group dinner in which members Blue, Kyla and myself would do the cooking. On the day of our special group dinner, the three of us ventured off to one of the many food markets in Madrid to shop. We had a long list of ingredients to buy and was happy and excited about the food we were going to prepare. Our theme was traditional Spanish food. The menu that we came up with was: pan con tomate y jamon (toasted bread with tomatoes and serrano ham), figs with goat cheese & balsamic reduction, mussels with white wine herb sauce, potato salad with tuna, white asparagus salad, seafood paella, braised chicken with fennel, caramelized peach tart and passion fruit flan. 

Seafood Paella 

          The meal that fed fifteen people took us about 4 hours to complete. Of course there were tons of talking, laughter and sips of wine in between but we made it happen. It was such a joy to be in a country unlike our own when it come to food culture and actually prepare food. 

Potato Salad with Tuna

Passion Fruit Fl 

    
       

Braised Chicken with Fennel

Caramelized Peach Tart

           Upon returning back home to NYC, I was a little saddened. Going food shopping wasn't the same, supermarkets did not have the standard for products like the ones in Madrid. Here, you can go to places like Whole Foods, farmers markets other and specialty markets where the upkeep of food is priority. In Spain that was the normal everywhere. From the local fruit stands to the supermarkets there was a sense of pride in all products that was showcased. I have since come to the realization that it will never be the same so I should stop comparing. Whenever I get into a food funk..... I just think that I will always have the memories of Madrid.


*photos of the dinner courtesy of Antoine Kinch*