Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
“Absolutely eat dessert first. The thing that you want to do the most, do that.” Joss Whedon
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
What is the Cronut™ pastry? The Cronut™ pastry is the unique creation by Chef Dominique Ansel that many have described to be a croissant-doughnut hybrid. After its launch on May 10, 2013, Cronut™ pastry fans spanned the world from Berlin to Singapore, making it the most virally talked about dessert item in history. Dominique Ansel Bakery
Yes, yes, yes! I finally gave in to the hype and headed down to Spring Street yesterday morning, at 6:30 am, with my daughters in tow. We joined the throngs of people gathered for this early morning pilgrimage to Dominique Ansel Bakery. Our mission? To get there early enough to guarantee our purchase of a special, chewy, sugary, croissant-doughnut hybrid named – Cronut. Like other foodies, many of whom were tourists from other parts of the world, we were curious to try the flavor of the month. For December, it was the Valrhona Dark Chocolate Raspberry (with a splash of Chambord) Cronut.
When Dominique launched his unique dessert, the aforementioned Cronut™, on May 10, 2013, he started a feeding frenzy that reminded many of us of the Krispy Kreme mania a few years before. Unlike Krispy Kreme though, Dominique has done what the French luxury market has mastered well: controlling supply to ensure continued demand, packaging the product in beautiful yellow and bronze boxes and elegant orange bags, and offering his product at a higher price point than the norm. At $5 a Cronut, you are only allowed to buy 2 maximum per person. The lines are always long and the wait is worth it, especially, if you have good company and like creating events that feed into your memory bank of special experiences… Read on!
“I love dessert. I can’t be guilty about it because I have to taste everything. I experiment.” Martha Stewart
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
The Makings of the Cronut™ Pastry…
Taking 2 months and more than 10 recipes, Chef Dominique Ansel’s creation is not to be mistaken as simply croissant dough that has been fried. Made with a laminated dough which has been likened to a croissant (but uses a proprietary recipe), the Cronut™ pastry is first proofed and then fried in grapeseed oil at a specific temperature. Once cooked, each Cronut™ pastry is flavored in three ways: 1. rolled in sugar; 2. filled with cream; and 3. topped with glaze. The Cronut™ pastries are made fresh daily, and completely done in-house. The entire process takes up to 3 days.Dominique Ansel Bakery
My daughters suggested the idea the night before and I was game. We woke up pretty early, around 6:00 am, and were out the door by 6:30. I drove into the city at a time most of us know the City that Never Sleeps is actually sleeping, and the only people awake are cops, night-clubbers, early morning delivery guys … and foodies. It’s a great time to be in the city, as an unusual quiet hangs over everything. You get to see a side of the city that most don’t see when the hustle and bustle kicks in; the blaring sirens are silent, the loud buses and thundering noise of speeding trains on the underground subway, and the constant buzz of people and yellow cabs are absent. Good weather was on our side. The temperature outside was in the 40s and sunrise cast a warm light on everything.
We joined a line that had already formed; it was easily about 75 people who must have spent the night in front of the bakery (joking). A security guard was directing new arrivals to the back of the line and informing people on how things worked. My daughters and I picked up on a few accents and languages; Japanese, Italian, German, Chinese, and even French. It was an international group and everyone had a smile on their faces as they chatted with their companions about what not. I was glad my daughters had suggested doing this because I’d thought about it for months but dreaded heading out to Spring Street alone in the cold.
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
As we waited in line, the kind chefs inside the bakery brought us delicious treats; each of us got small servings of hot chocolate and the most delectable mini Madeleine. I took a ton of photos to make sure I’d captured the spirit of the moment. I actually enjoyed hanging out so early in the morning with a group of cheerful people on a food mission. Before we knew it, 8:00 am had rolled around and they started letting people in, in groups of 15 or so. As people left, more were people let in. We soon found ourselves in front of the wait line and the excitement was building up. What can I say, I love desserts and would definitely be the type to eat mine first. I was ready.
More below
“Work is the meat of life, pleasure the dessert.” B. C. Forbes
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery – half a Cronut, a DKA Caramelized Croissant, and a Cannale de Bordeaux.
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
Food Files: Cronuts At Dominique Ansel Bakery
There is only one flavor of the Cronut™ pastry every month. Here are the flavors we’ve had: May – Rose Vanilla; June – Lemon Maple; July – Blackberry Lime; August – Coconut; September – Fig Mascarpone; October- Apple Creme Fraiche; November – Salted Dulce de Leche; December -Valrhona Chocolate Champagne; January – Peanut Butter Rum Caramel; February – Raspberry Lychee; March – Milk & Honey (with hint of lavender); April – Passion Fruit Caramelia; May – Blueberry Lemon Verbena; June – Strawberry Balsamic and Mascarpone; July – Morello Cherry with Toasted Almond Cream; August – Yellow Peach Black Tea; September – Bosc pear & Sage; October – Pumpkin Chai; November – Caribbean Rum Raisin. For December, it is Valrhona Dark Chocolate Raspberry (with a splash of Chambord).Dominique Ansel Bakery
Once we got inside, my savvy daughters changed the plan for me. “Let’s not get 6 Cronuts mom, we can manage with 3-4 and try a few other things.” Smart idea! We did. We got 4 Cronuts, 2 DKA Caramelized Croissants, 1 chocolate pine-cone cake, and 1 Cannele de Bordeaux. I was stoked. We also decided to eat breakfast. My daughters had yogurt with granola and cups of tea. I had the egg sandwich on a brioche with Gruyère cheese, and a cup of cappuccino. Yummy!
We enjoyed our breakfast and debated if we should eat a Cronut at the bakery before heading to the movies to see SELMA (Oprah Winfrey’s new poignant and powerful film about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr). We finally gave in and shared one of our 4 Cronuts. It was a chewy, sugary, scrumptious treat, with a dark chocolate and, quite tart, raspberry filling. The raspberry filling was a bit much, but the rest was divine. Verdict? Scrumptious! Yes, it was worth the effort and I’d love to taste test the other flavors, please.
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Food Files: Green Beans Medley
Positive Motivation Tip: Enjoy your foods with friends and family, and those in need. Give gratitude for your abundance.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All photos from my Personal Collection
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Google+
Wow ~ my mouth was watering just looking at your photos. Then I read your post…I’m ready to plan a trip there.
I have heard so much buzz about cronuts for so long and when I tried one, I was really disappointed. It was a huge let down 🙁
What flavor did you buy? Was it from the bakery in New York?
Wow! These look and sound fantastic. But waiting in line that long for a breakfast pastry? I think I’d need to pay someone to wait in line for me and then bring me my cronuts in bed. 😉
Gah! This might be my favorite post ever! I’ve been dying to try the cronut, but haven’t gotten into the city to do it. I’ll wait and see what the January flavor is and then beg my boring friends to get their lazy butts up and come with me.
BTW, the January flavor is fabulous. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll make it in before February! 🙂
you had me at Doughnuts!…but, these seem to top the cake…or is it top the doughnut!
Hahaha! You had me with your comment. Happy New Year! 🙂
Yum Yum yum! Those look delicious! With my massive sweet tooth my mouth is watering!
Omg yummmmm!!! This bakery looks beyond delicious!!! Makes me miss living in a bigger area where a delicious bakery was just a walk away 😉
i recently had the chance to sample a few doughnut/croissant treats from a Ukrainian bakery in my neighborhood, and I LOVE them. I cannot wait to go there again and buy more.
Elizabeth, hello. I trust you are well. You may enjoy the attached couplets for the New Year. Feel free to pass along all or some of these thoughts, with attribution, please.
Hill-to-Hill reflects articulated views from a recent trip to Scotland.
Thank you for all the great work you do!
May the New Year be abundant for you and yours.
All best thoughts,
John
Happy New Year and thank you for the information you shared with me. I will have to reach out to you again on Facebook. 🙂
Sounds heavenly – except January, I would have skipped that one!
It wasn’t that cold out. We were lucky. I took all the pictures on the same day while we were on line.
Wow. The ambiance is amazing. I want to try some Cronuts
I’ve heard of cronuts before. While perhaps a good business idea, it seems strange to me to limit the purchase to only 2 a person.
I do love that people LOVE them so much they are willing to wait. I think that shows a lot about how tasty they can be. I would love to have one!
I’ve heard of cronuts many times already but believe it or not, I haven’t tasted them yet. Those look good. Makes me want to buy one now.
It took a while before I tried them so no rush. 🙂
That sounds delicious! I have always loved the texture of a croissant and combining it with a donut just sounds amazing! I would love to know how Selma was as well. I’m thinking about seeing that movie.
Selma was very moving and gave a lot of information about Dr. King’s personal life and behind the scenes stories. It was a very interesting and informative movie. I enjoyed it and would see it again. My kids are film buffs and they delved deep into the technical aspects that were weak/strong. I keep telling them to write me a review as it would be far more sophisticated than my version. As for the Cronuts, they have a unique texture and are delicious. 🙂
Looks like a yummy one to have – though I am not a fan of anything bread-like.. from time to time I do appreciate the goodness of pastries.
For a time there was a cronut craze here in the Philippines. They were actually good, so I’m not surprised that it is also a blockbuster there. I usually pair it with a nice, warm cup of coffee.
Yummy Cronut flavors. I’ve tried a few Cronuts from differents bakeshops and they all taste differently.
Definitely want to try a Cronut now. Also wish I was with you guys having breakfast and going to see Selma with you guys. Sounds like a great day. Thanks for sharing this experience with us <3
Glad that you gave into the temptation! Nothing like getting up in the morning and heading to a great bakery although 6.30 is a little too early for me!
Hahaha! <3 I avoided going there for a year because I didn't feel like standing on a line that early in the morning. Since my kids suggested it, it was fun standing in line with them. Time goes by quickly when you are in the company of people you love.
Stressed when spelled backwards is guess what? Desserts! So when you are feeling down and stressed, eat some desserts. It will surely make a great difference. And oh, I really love those Cronuts you posted above. Yummy!
Didn’t you just want to eat all of them!?!?!? They looks so good. I have never had a cronuts before, but I must try one now!
How cool! If I wasn’t clear across country I would totally go get one too!
I’m not a big eater definitely not in one sitting but this post so opened my appetite I might have to head out and find a local treat! Cronuts? Never heard of them before. Now I’m curious.
Try them once and you will be satisfied. 🙂
OMG – these look amazing. I must give them a try!
Eating dessert first sounds like a great idea. These look so delicious.
New York City at that hour i unbelievable-I know I have been there at those unheard of hours back when I was MUCH younger! I actually never heard of Cronuts before they do sound good–but generally anything that is bought at an authentic French bakery in NYC or the surrounding suburbs is to die for!
Your so right! With desserts like that, your have to eat them first. As a matter a fact skip lunch and have 2 desserts 😉
I’ve heard so much about cronuts and it got me really curious. Russ was right about the cronut craze here and it was only recently that I’ve tried their cronuts. They were good!
They are quite good but a one time experience is great too.
I’ll never make it there to try one. I like Forbes’ quote, by the way.
Thank you for the info on the cronut! I had no idea.
These cronuts images made me crave more for sweets… have to find these gorgeous munchies later…. (“,)
Yum! I’ve only had cronuts once before but they didn’t look near as good as these! I am drooling! And yes, eat dessert first 😉
those cornets looks so amazing!!! i must have one
I’ve only ever had a cronut from Dunkin Donuts. Somehow I don’t think they compare! I would love to try one from here.
We had our first Cronut last year and my husband fell in love with it! I haven’t been able to find them around here so I’m super jealous!
Holy crap.. that looks like HEAVEN.. donuts are always too sugar and like.. empty for me.. but I love me a good pastry, bread or croissant… and to blend them… HEAVEN!
I had the chance to visit this bakery last time I went to New York what a delicious place just loved it =)
Oh my gosh, how delicious looking. I’ve never tried cronuts before but I’ve just got to. These look amazingly delicious.
These look so good! I can definitely see why there is a long line waiting to grab a few too. yum
I had heard about cronuts before but never got to taste any. I don’t even know if they exist in the UK. You’re making me hungry with your pictures! xx corinne
These look worth every dollar and calorie! I know the cronut phase has died down a lot.. but these should always be a must have lol
The picture of the display had me drooling! they look so yum!
I’ve never had a cronut before but I’d love to try them after seeing this post.. What a lovely way to start the day, an early start, nice fresh air and the company of your daughters! The cronuts look great and it is so sweet that they bring waiting customers little treats, its little things like that that make you feel like a valued customer 🙂
OMG I haven’t had cronuts for more than a year or so, and now I’m craving for it! Yum!!!
I’ve never heard of a cronut, but they look so so good. And the boxes they come in are absolutely adorable!
These look like they are worth every single penny! I’d love to go here one day and try one of them for myself. 🙂
Cronuts are awesome. I love trying new baked goods and finding bakeries that are amazing!
These look wonderful – the cronuts, the caramelized croissants, the chocolate pine cone cake… Oh, man! I would love to try these one day!
Their cronuts look so delicious! I would love to buy some! I have only tried a cronut once, in London, but it wasn’t that good, it was way too sweet for my taste as it was filled with jam.
I’ve heard of cronuts before, I think they were featured on a Food Network show or something. They sound amazing. Now I know where to get one!