I’m trying out unique croissant creations to see if they are worth the hype, or if we should just leave the classic pastry alone. So far, I’ve noshed on the Suprême Croissant from Lafayette Grand Bakery and Cafe and practically inhaled the crookie from Janie’s Life-Changing Baked Goods. But it seemed like I simply couldn’t continue without trying the creative croissant that shook the world: the cronut from Dominque Ansel Bakery.
The Cronut’s Story
The story of the cronut starts with the story of its creator. Dominique Ansel grew up in Beauvais, France, and he got his first restaurant job at the age of 16 to help support his family. There was a free culinary school in town, so he decided to enroll. He fell in love with the science and precision of baking, and after completing his military service at the age of 19, he drove to Paris hunting for a job in a bakery. Dominique landed a job at Fauchon, a legendary pastry shop, and worked there until the Big Apple called. In 2006, he moved to NYC to work as the head pastry chef of Daniel Boulud’s restaurant Daniel. Five years later, he opened up his own bakery in Soho and it was an instant hit.
Dominique Ansel Bakery had an exquisite selection of classic sweet and savory pastries, but someone pointed out that there was no iteration of a donut on offer. Dominique grew up with light, flaky pastries in France, and wanted to mold that with the American donut to create something totally unique. Nearly 3 months and 10 variations later, the Cronut was born in May 2013.
This little pastry shook the nation. News stations and online publications pumped out articles about the Cronut, and massive lines would form outside the bakery hours before it even opened. Dominque continued to create viral dessert after viral dessert including the cookie shot, frozen hot chocolate, and gingerbread pinacone.
But is the Cronut from Dominique Ansel Bakery worth the hype? Let’s dive into the different components.
The Pastry
The pastry itself had a super soft, melt-in-your mouth quality. It was far more donut-like than croissant-like, but the texture didn’t quite hold it’s shape. I would have liked it to be a tad more flaky.
The Filling
Each month, there’s a unique Cronut flavor, and Peach Earl Grey was the flavor for our visit in July. It featured a tart peach filling with an earl grey ganache. The peach filling had my taste buds doing backflips. It was light and bright with zesty floral notes.
The Experience at Dominique Ansel Bakery
We rolled on up at 9am on a Wednesday. There were people there, but there wasn’t a line outside. It moved quickly, there is a huge garden seating area in the back, and a bathroom. All the components of a great experience!
The Cost
One cronut was $7.50. I’m torn on this. While I think $7.50 is quite steep, the laws of supply and demand are at work. Hundreds of thousands of people are willing to pay $7.50, so I can’t be too mad about it!
So is the cronut from Dominique Ansel Bakery worth the hype?
My hot take is that it’s not. The cronut from Dominique Ansel Bakery was perfectly tasty and I’d be happy to eat another. But is it worthy of wild world wide hype? Eh…. I don’t think so.
