Cronuts

The black-market is associated with many different products and materials, but high-end yeasted goods are not normally one of them. Time Magazine , however, reports that an illicit trade in the hybrid pastry known as the ‘cronut’ is thriving in New York, where the French patissier Dominique Ansel creates this unlikely combination of croissant and doughnut. With limited supplies of the confection running out within minutes of the Ansel bakery opening its doors each morning, some enterprising folk are charging huge premiums to queue up and stock up on behalf of their customers.

Given all that, I’m clearly unable to say whether the cronut is really so sublime as to justify the hysteria. Fashions, in food and elsewhere, are more often driven by a combination of novelty and scarcity than by genuine innovation, so I’m sceptical. Having said that, the very idea of a doughnut-croissant crossover is certainly enough to pique my curiosity. Luckily, The Guardian is able to offer Edd Kimber‘s take on it, cleverly christened the ‘Fauxnut’ and giving us the chance at least to get an idea of what the fuss is all about. I will endeavour to report back soon…