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What do you call the sweet and fatty decadence, of a crossant and donut combined? a Cronut. They have become quite the Manhattan frenzy, after Dominique Ansel (A French chef) created the dessert and started selling at his tiny bakery in SoHo.
People willingly show up at 6am, two hours before the door opens just for a chance to nab the quirky, fried treats. According to reporter Leanne Italie “Some often leave empty handed, or at least Cronut-less if they turn up their noses at the 30 or so other items on Ansel’s menu” she says.
Its approximated that he only makes 200-250 cronuts per morning (as it takes three days to complete the entire process). But don’t expect to pick up more than two, when finally reaching the counter. The famous chef frequently sells out within an hour of opening, and is known for limiting customers to only 1-2 cronuts.
“A little bite of heaven. Definitely worth the calories,” said Kyra Parkhurst, who was in town from Utah and pursaded Ansel to sign her gold, cardboard carry box once she made it inside Dominique Ansal bakery.
For the ones that don’t make it inside, some are going to extremes to sell them on websites such as craigslist. More than a dozen of people have already brought the trademarked donuts for up to $40 a piece, which is eight times as much as Ansel’s $5 asking price.
Ansel also takes pre orders up to two weeks in advance, (for those who want more than two per day) and takes reservations for 100 or more months in advance. “We try to make enough for everybody” says the chef, who worked for seven years under Daniel Boulud before opening up his own bakery a year and a half ago.
So what on earth is the big fuss about a cronut?
While Ansel is adament on not sharing his secret recipe, copycats have already tried to mimic his creation. “I’m not sure how many calories, but it’s very tasty,” Ansel smiled. “I wanted to do something new and original. I wanted to do something fun to eat.”
“He acknowledges loads and loads of butter, along with cream injected through multiple layers with a syringe-like pastry tip and a glaze on top that encircles the hole in the middle. He fries each Cronut in grapeseed oil for 30 seconds, using just one pot that can hold up to nine at a time. The oil leaves outer layers crunchy but inner bites doughy. Oh, and he rolls the sides in sugar and added dried, candied rose petals to May’s flavor of rose-vanilla. For June, Ansel switched to lemon-maple with glaze and cream to match.” says Leanne Italie, a journalist for the Huffington post.
So would you be willing to bite into a possible 1000 calorie+ cronut for a little “taste of heaven”?
