When cronuts first came out, I remember reading about people standing in line for three hours to get them. While visiting New York around that time, I went on the Dominique Ansel Bakery website and saw an option to pre-order them… six weeks in advance!
In 2018 I traveled to New York again and decided to see what all the hype was about. Luckily, there was no three-hour wait. Not only were just five other people in line ahead of us, but there were plenty of cronuts for sale.
So what’s the verdict? Are cronuts pieces of heaven shaped like donuts? Are they a ridiculous marketing ploy to get otherwise sane individuals to throw their dignity out the window to try this much-hyped pastry hybrid? Cronuts are pretty much what I expected…
What is a cronut?
A cronut is a donut-croissant pastry hybrid invented by famed pastry chef Dominique Ansel. It’s basically a deep-fried croissant shaped like a donut, topped off with powdered sugar, and sometimes filled with cream. These pastries are made out of laminated dough, in a process that can take up to three days.
The difference between a cronut and a donut is that the former is made with croissant dough and shaped into a donut. As a result, they’re crispy and fluffier than a donut.
Nowadays, you can buy cronuts at most bakeries nationwide. However, the most famous ones (and the original) are available at the Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City.
Where you can buy cronuts
If you want to try the original cronut without traveling to New York, the Dominique Ansel Bakery now sells and ships them online. Brace yourself at checkout because a 4-pack of cronuts costs a whopping $40. That’s a significant markup, considering you can buy these pastries at the New York bakery for $7.75 each.
You can get 10% off your first order by signing up for the Dominique Ansel newsletter. Now is it actually worth it? No. You can find these pastries at local bakeries for under $5 nowadays and many have since perfected their own recipes. I used to go to Nugget Market in Davis, CA for their variation which was so much better than the original.
My visit to the Dominique Ansel Bakery
When I traveled to New York with my siblings, cronuts were not on my initial to-eat list. They seemed gimmicky and I generally stay away from anything overhyped.
But one day, my siblings and I had spent the day eating our way through Greenwich Village and wanted something sweet. We didn’t want to travel far and wanted to sit someplace warm for a while to thaw off. A quick Yelp search pointed us to the Dominique Ansel Bakery around the corner.
“Do you guys want to go to that bakery that sells cronuts?” Needless to say, the answer was, “Yeah, but I’m not standing in a three-hour line.” We got in, and luckily, the line was relatively short. We also managed to find a table and had no trouble placing our orders fairly quickly.
The line moved alongside the pastry display, giving you ample opportunity to change your mind about what to order. The display case was filled with colorful concoctions to suit every flavor profile. In addition to their famous pastry, Dominique Ansel also serves up macarons, various types of cookies, cakes and other goodies.
Flavor of the Month cronuts
Here’s the slightly annoying thing about the Dominique Ansel Bakery: They only have one “flavor of the month” cronut and it’s the only option. Don’t like the pear chamomile version available in January? Come back in February when they’re serving…TBA.
They don’t actually announce the Flavor of the Month until two weeks before the start of the month – fine for locals, but very annoying for tourists who are rolling the dice when stopping by to try this famous pastry. At the very least, it would be nice if they posted a calendar of flavors or offered more than one.
I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t hurt the exclusivity factor – if anything, it would bring more foot traffic. But I’m not a marketing expert, so I’ll stick to evaluating pastries instead:
Pear chamomile cronut
Since pear chamomile was the only flavor available, we ordered one along with the milk bread, cake and the famous blooming hot chocolate. Our order was ready within 15 minutes – not that they were making the pastries fresh. I have a feeling they draw out the wait to increase demand.
I cut into the pastry, took a bite, and thought it was…fine. The pear chamomile flavor was actually very subtle – there was barely any pear jam filling, which I preferred anyway.
The pastry was just average – a little stale, even. I was pretty puzzled over all the type. But then again, I find that social media tends to overhype everything, especially any food deemed “aesthetic.”
I think it would have tasted better warmed up. It had a similar texture as a kouign amann, but far less flavorful. There was nothing very “croissant-like” about it and it didn’t hold a candle to the Philz coffee chocolate kouign amann. Those, I would gladly stand in a three-hour line for.
Other desserts to try at Dominique Ansel Bakery
None of us particularly enjoyed the pear chamomile cronut, so we decided to try a few different options. We decided to try the Nutella milk bread, a random slice of cake and the blooming hot chocolate. All of these items were slightly better, though nothing blew us away.
Nutella milk bread
Of all the treats I tried at the Dominique Ansel Bakery, the Nutella Milk Bread was my favorite. It wasn’t too sweet or dry and it contained Nutella – enough said. I actually thought it was better than the cronut and deserving of more attention.
I opted out of the cookie shot, which is probably the second most popular item at the Dominique Ansel Bakery. It didn’t look that appealing and let’s face it – the front-runner didn’t exactly live up to the hype. How do you think a chocolate chip cookie shaped into a shot glass and topped with milk would compare?
Blooming hot chocolate
While not technically a dessert, the blooming hot chocolate at Dominique Ansel Bakery is another famous concoction people line up for. Social media is awash with footage of the flower-shaped marshmallow blooming within seconds of being placed on top of the smooth surface of the hot chocolate.
Let me warn you about the blooming hot chocolate: It is HOT! It is practically scalding. I let it cool for a good 20 minutes, and it still burned my esophagus. If you’re going to drink it, I’d recommend asking for an ice cube so it reaches a reasonable temperature. Don’t worry; ice won’t dilute the drink because it’s plenty chocolatey.
You can take the term “hot chocolate” very literally in this case – it’s thick melted chocolate with what I assume is heavy whipping cream. In other words, it’s delicious! The staff will give you a chance to pull out your camera to record the “blooming” part.
Are cronuts worth the hype?
I found cronuts to be very average and not worthy of all the hype. I can understand why people made a big deal out of them when they first came out – they were unique and new, so of course, people lined up to try them out and bask in their novelty. But I think most of the excitement was largely the doing of a well-oiled public relations machine.
There is simply no way people lined up multiple times to try this underwhelming pastry. Perhaps that’s why, years after they were introduced, the line to buy them has shrunk to a more reasonable size.
I remember the first time I visited the U.S., my cousin raved about Now & Laters. She talked about it so much, it turned into a song. So we trekked up to a nearby 7-Eleven, I tried one and nearly broke a tooth. I learned afterward that she wasn’t so much enamored with those hard, neon industrial globs as she was with the idea of them. Or maybe it was because of how the name just rolled off the tongue. That would certainly explain the infatuation with cronuts.
It also sums up my experience with pretty much every famous dessert people seem to love stateside: Everything is usually loaded up with sugar and little else.
And while I understand Dominique Ansel is a French pastry chef, he was clearly catering to an American audience with this concoction. 😉
Have you tried cronuts from the Dominique Ansel Bakery or elsewhere? Did you think they’re worth the hype?
If you’re headed to NYC, be sure to read up on how you can save on transportation with NYC rideshare apps.
This story was originally published on February 6, 2018.
