(Not So) Crazy Over Cronuts

These past few months, it seemed a lot of people are going ga-ga over a new pastry that recently made waves in New York. Called cronuts, croughnuts, doissants, and a whole lotta names, this croissant-donut hybrid has caused a lot of pastry shops scrambling to join the Cronut Craze. It's basically croissant dough shaped into a donut, fried, then filled with cream and topped with chocolate, caramel or some other flavor of choice. Cronuts have become so popular that one bakery-cafe has resorted to rationing, making the following announcement on their social media page: "Due to long lines for our croissant-doughnuts, we have to ration the pastries based on the length of line". Apparently, a person waiting in line that could stretch on for an hour or more would be given between 2-4 pieces of the pastry depending on  the number of people who lined up. Gah!

Now, I've had my fair share of waiting in line (sometimes for hours on end!), but one thing I have not done yet (and possibly never would) is to line up for long periods just to buy the latest craze. That's probably why I'm always one of the last to know (or taste) the new "IN" thing, teehehe! Not being snobbish, just lazy and a little practical. And hey, if something was really good, it'll be around even when the hype has died down, right? So I put cronuts in the on-hold file, thinking to give it a try when the hype has died down.

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing around when I chanced upon GourmetFinds, another home-based bakeshop. I actually checked it out because I was on the hunt for the best macarons in Manila, and saw on the product list that the bakeshop has jumped on the cronut bandwagon. Calling them DCs (short for Doughnut-Croissants), GourmetFinds offers four varieties:

Chocolate topping with Vanilla, Coffee or Nutella filling

Pistachio topping with Pistachio flavored filling

Speculoos topping with Vanilla filling

Salted Caramel topping with Almond Cream filling

There's a 4-day advance order requirement, and a minimum of 6 pieces per order with 1 to 2 flavors. As I was ordering a box of French macarons to try out, I thought why not get some cronuts as well. So I ordered a box, choosing Chocolate with Coffee filling and Speculoos with Vanilla. I initially wanted Salted Caramel as it is my favorite macaron flavor, but as I haven't tried Speculoos yet (yes, I have NOT tried it despite its popularity), I opted for the latter.

Here's my box of six:

Box of six DCs (Doughnut-Croissants), Php600

Slightly closer look

Almost all the reviews I've read about cronuts say that the pastry should be eaten immediately, not refrigerated and not re-heated. However, the box that I got was cool, which made me think that it came from a refrigerator. Also, there was a sign on the side that says KEEP REFRIGERATED. Obviously, these will have to be kept in a ref. At home, hubby and I got a piece of each flavor to try. As I took out the cronuts, my fingers got all oily, evidently from the oil used to fry the cronuts. Uh-oh! Not a good sign for me.

Note: GourmetFinds was kind enough to send an apology for the cool DCs, as the box was kept in an aircon room prior to pick-up. The gesture is much appreciated, though it was not necessary as the pastries were bound to get cold if not eaten immediately.

I wasn't too happy with the thought of eating what essentially was a cold, fried croissant, so I popped the cronuts into the oven toaster for a couple of minutes or so just to warm them up. I then sliced into it to check out what the craze is all about. As I have not tasted cronuts before, I do not think I am in the position to say what a good cronut should be. This is just to describe what I had.

The cronuts had delicate layers, light and flaky like a croissant, except that these had cream oozing out from the layers. Maybe I re-heated it too long, which made the filling all runny. Oh, well...

Nice, delicate layers, an indication of how much work
was put into making this pastry.

I first tasted the chocolate-coffee combination. Being a picky eater, I normally do not set high expectations when trying out something for the first time. But with all the hype, I probably set the bar a bit higher than usual. Something like, "I'm getting another box as soon as these are gone!" kind of reaction. However, the cronut was just okay for me. The coffee filling tasted nice, just the right amount of coffee flavor, though a little too sweet for my liking. The chocolate topping was also quite sweet. What I liked was the delicate layers of the pastry, really light and flaky, just as a good croissant should be. Obviously, these were made with good quality butter and other ingredients.

Chocolate topping with coffee pastry filling.

The Speculoos-vanilla cronut, on the other hand, was not as sweet as as the chocolate-coffee one. The vanilla filling was still quite sweet, but it was balanced by the mild sweetness of the topping. I have to say, though, that the Speculoos topping didn't make an impression on me. I know a lot of people raved (and are still raving) about Speculoos Cookie Butter, but in all honesty I really didn't get what's so special about it. If I have to describe it, I'd say it's pretty much like peanut butter without the peanut taste. Or maybe I'm just not partial to it. Sorry Speculoos fans!

Speculoos topping with vanilla pastry filling

That pretty sums up my first encounter with the cronut. I did not really expect to taste the best dessert/pastry ever (taste is subjective, afterall). But after all the raves that I've read, finally having a taste was a bit of a letdown. I liked the texture and lightness of the cronuts that I had, albeit a little too sweet. What put me off, though, was the combination of the butter in the croissant plus the oil used in frying the pastry. If you're like me that you slice off and discard the fatty layers of liempo and other meat because you have low tolerance for overly-fatty food, then the butter-oil combination can be a little too much.

Will I give other popular brands a try? Why not? It won't hurt to sample other versions, and I might grow to really like it. That doesn't mean I'm willing to wait in line, though. Never mind if I will be among the last ones to finally get a taste of all the other cronuts out there, I will take my sweet time until getting cronuts is as ordinary as buying a dozen glazed donuts from your regular donut shop.

Update: Bought a couple of cronuts from Le Coeur de France. The baker convinced me to try them after telling me that theirs are baked, not fried, hence less oily than the usual cronuts. Will post my thoughts on this baked version later.