Meet the cronut, the half-croissant and half-donut hybrid, which is taking New York and the pastry world by storm.
"It has the shape of a donut. The dough is very similar to croissant dough," pastry chef Domnique Ansel said of his newest creation. "Back in France, we all eat croissants. [A] donut was something I didn't really know before coming here to the states."
The cronut, from the kitchen of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City, is made up of layers of croissant dough that are deep fried and filled with vanilla cream. Its insides are flaky and light and its shell is crispy and warm.
"You want the outside to be golden brown and crisp," Ansel told ABC News while demoing his method to making the new popular pastry.
Then, the crisp creations are rolled in rose sugar and finished with a rose glaze. This month flavor is vanilla cream with rose frosting and candied rose petals, but Ansel says it will change to keep things fresh.
Ansel, a 2013 James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef, admits that putting his French twist on the American classic wasn't an easy task.
"We [tried] about 10 different recipes and the first ones were a total disaster," he explained with a laugh. "If you just used regular dough, the butter will melt, the layers will slide off and you won't have anything that's nice."
Ultimately, Ansel found the winning formula, and now, his hybrid is selling like hotcakes…or well, like cronuts. Since they debuted nine days ago, New Yorkers have been lining up outside his bakery every morning to taste the popular pastry, which sells for $5 each. The bakery has reportedly sold out of cronuts within an hour of opening.
