GO TRENDS DESSERTS THE CRONUT CHRONICLES The croissant-doughnut hybrid is yet another case of pastries going viral. By Beverly Pereira ON THE TENTH DAY of May last year, Such a Cronut-induced mass hysteria a New York bakery witnessed notoriously didn’t occur in India, but the pastry has, over serpentine queues. People lined up and re- the months, managed to capture our inter- fused to budge until they got a taste of what est. In Mumbai and other Indian metros, the would soon become one of the most talked pastry is fast finding a place on the shelves about pastries in the history of, well, pas- of standalone bakeries and patisseries, and tries. Not long after, the sweet treat started on the coffee shop menus of hotels. The pas- trending on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram try has been flying off the shelves since they and Pinterest. ‘#cronutcraze’ was, and still were introduced a few months ago at Mum- continues to be a trending topic. The Cronut bai’s Theobroma, Eat Around the Corner and has arrived, and people across the world, Tart, and at Chez Nini in Delhi. THE CRONUT CRAZE from Manhattan to Malaysia, are not willing One of the first hotels to offer the crois- l Pastry chef Dominique Ansel of the to give it a miss, even if it requires them to sant-doughnut hybrid was Trident, Bandra New York-based bakery Dominique Ansel stand in a queue for hours on end. Kurla, Mumbai. Pastry Chef Anurag Barthwal Bakery is the brain behind the Cronut. A cross between two popular pastries – feels that it’s the novelty factor of the Cronut l Ansel trademarked his invention. l On May 10, when the Cronut made its the croissant and the doughnut – the Cronut that makes people want to try it. “It’s a great debut, the bakery was sold out within 35 has the flakiness of the crescent-shaped thought to fry croissant dough instead of minutes. French pastry, and the shape and toppings baking it. It makes one wonder what it might l To ensure that the Cronuts weren’t an of the ubiquitous fried doughnut. New York- taste like,” says the chef. immediate sell-out, Ansel placed a limit of two Cronuts per person. based pastry chef Dominique Ansel was the While Barthwal feels that the novelty l The pastry continues to fly off the shelf one who invented it, wasting no time in turn- might eventually wear off, he is positive that at $5 (excluding tax). ing it into a patented pastry (see box). those patisseries that have their own recipe l To this date, Cronut cravers queue up This hasn’t stopped pastry shops and for unique variations, might not drop the two hours before the Dominique Ansel delicatessens from cashing in on the Cronut pastry from their menus. The Trident Patis- Bakery opens at 8 am. l The bakery’s pre-order list is booked craze. Dunkin’ Donuts, in the US, unveiled its serie and Delicatessen, for instance, offers through December 2013. own version – the New York Pie Donut, while Cronuts that have a rustic look and are filled l In New York, a black market for Cronuts another bakery has gone so far as to trade- with Belgian bitter chocolate cream. offers the pastry at prices as high as $50 mark its ‘doughssant’. But to crack down on Years ago, cupcakes became all the rage, for those who have no patience. the Cronut’s widespread global presence, be largely because of the television series Sex it in a quaint English town or in the bustling and the City that showed lead actress Sarah interest. It could be anyone’s guess what city of Shanghai, would be nothing short of Jessica Parker devouring cupcakes from the tomorrow might bring. But for now, we’d like futile. And so, everyday, thousands of Cro- famous Magnolia Bakery in New York. Today, to revel in the rarity of the Cronut for just a nuts continue to be sold as Cronuts. it’s the Cronut that has captured public little while longer. 1 GO-GETTER | DECEMBER 2013.