Today is National Doughnut Day (June 7, 2013). And, just in time, can you name the latest food craze? It’s a donut-croissant hybrid and people in New York City, where it originated at the Dominique Ansel bakery in SoHo, simply can’t get enough. They aren’t the only ones.
People are lining up for hours to wrap their mouth around the Cronut™. From Rose Vanilla to Lemon Maple, the Dominique Ansel bakery, which has trademarked the name “Cronut,” reportedly has to impose a six-cronut limit for customers who seem happy to wait for hours to shell out $5 per pastry. And online rumor has it that the pastry has gone black market, commanding up to $40 from those who want to say they’ve had one.
A little hype doesn’t hurt—devotees post pics, memories, even gripes at missing out (see cronut.org). People who’ve had them love to boast to friends who haven’t.
While Food Channel kind of makes it a point not to cater to the latest craze, there are days when it’s just kind of fun. Today, while marveling over the-things-people-eat, it occurred to us—we’d kind of like to try a cronut, or its fast food derivative, ourselves!
A little encouragement was all it took for a couple of our culinary experts to do a little research, find the Pillsbury equivalent of croissant dough, and piece together a recipe. After all, we’re experts at food hacking and having a little fun with trends. Next thing you know, we’re peering into our frying vat and coming up with unique fillings and toppings—and, yes, shapes—for our version of the craze. And of course we added bacon. Wouldn’t everyone?
Our favorites included the ultimate strawberry shortcake. The cronut has inspired a rebirth of this tasty dessert that would make it perfect for breakfast. Just fry up your croissant dough, fill the flaky layers with vanilla pudding and fresh, sliced strawberries, top it off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and have at it.
We also loved the Cretzel™. Yep, it’s our creation—the dough formed into a pretzel shape, fried, then dressed up with some caramel and sea salt.
How about Cronut holes? We couldn’t let any fried goodness go to waste, so we drizzled them with chocolate, threw on the last of the bacon, and passed them around. They were a big hit for such a small bite!
We filled some with raspberry, with chocolate, and with orange marmalade. We sprinkled them with lavender, sea salt, and a powdered sugar glaze. We even fantasized about a savory rendition filled with spreadable cheese and a brush of olive oil and herbs on top.
In other words, we’ve contributed to setting health back about 200 years.
Seems to us like the perfect way to celebrate National Doughnut Day.
