Have you heard of these things? Cronuts? Apparently they are the NEW THING or something. The NEW cupcake, or the NEW cakepop, or even the NEW donut, which I guess is most appropriate. I suppose I can understand the appeal: it’s a donut crossed with a croissant. That’s like taking the best breakfast pastry from France and mating it with the best breakfast pastry from the US and resulting in sugary, flaky pastry perfection. Makes sense! I was intrigued by these cronuts, and made a mental note to add to my list of Food Places to Go to in NYC (damnit I have STILL yet to make it to Eataly!) despite the pastries being a whopping $5 at their place of origin
I try to keep up with the foodie trends, I really do, and despite cupcakes being “so 2010” I still think they’re keeping their hold. And cakepops? Those can’t fall out of favor until I can make a batch that don’t fall apart, please! I don’t think there’s anything snobbish about food trends, they’re just a fun way to enjoy something tasty, whether it’s “in style” or not. And these look like a particularly original and delicious treat!
Copycats are everywhere, and I knew if I wanted to satiate my need for a donut-croissant hybrid, I was going to have to do it myself.
I saw this recipe from SFist (linked in a recent Jezebel article) and decided it looked simple enough: Grands biscuits, cinnamon sugar, ganache. Boom. Cronut. I, however, took it the extra mile and decided to deep fry the suckers.
That’s right. I deep fried Pilsbury biscuits. Because I’m kind of a bad ass. In truth, I also got two other kinds of dough–crescent roll and puff pastry–to experiment with, but got lazy halfway through and decided to use them for other things instead.
The result?
Crunchy-on-the-outside, buttery-on-the-inside, pastry perfection. Is it the authentic cronut? No. Is it delicious? Yes. Yes. Oh God YES.
The layers of the grands biscuit give a somewhat croissant-like texture, though not nearly as airy and delicious as real croissants or what I’m sure the original cronut at Dominique’s is like. But for those of us who are not in the general NYC vicinity or just don’t want to stand in that endless line, it’s good enough for now. And, you can use the donut holes as mini cronuts, SCORE.
Plus, this is a great quick brunch idea, and so quick and easy! My roommate actually said it was the best donut she’s ever eaten–though here in Dunkin country that’s probably not too hard to do. I am going to add this to my arsenal of post-party-somewhat-hungover-brunch ideas and always keep a tube of biscuits in the fridge, just in case.
EDIT: I forgot to fill with cream somehow. Welp, I have two different kinds of dough in my fridge, perhaps further experimentation is necessary! 😉
Faux-nuts, or Cronut-Impostors
(Adapted from SFist)
- 1 tube biscuit dough (I used Pilsbury Grands)
- Vegetable oil — enough to fill your deep fryer or a deep saucepan
- Cinnamon Sugar (enough to fill a small bowl)
- and/or chocolate ganache (I was lazy and used chocolate frosting I had on hand, melted in the microwave for 30 seconds)
-Remove biscuits from tube and cut a small hole in the center of each. Reserve cut-out dough for donut holes.
-Heat oil to 365 degrees F. Oil is ready when a tiny bit of dough begins to bubble and brown on contact. Gently place the biscuits in the oil and cook until medium brown on both sides–golden brown will not be cooked in the center–about two to three minutes per side. Donut holes take a lot quicker and need to be watched closely so as not to burn.
-Immediately pat dry and coat in cinnamon sugar. Alternatively, you can dip the donuts in chocolate ganache.
It is really THAT easy! Now you can pretend you’re fancy and eat these with your pinkie out. But be careful, just like trends, these cronuts won’t last long–in your house that is.
