Now trending in Manila: Cronuts

It was 10 a.m. last Thursday when I phoned Wildflour at The Podium. “Meron pa ba kayong cronuts … I mean, croissant-donuts?”

The person on the other end of the line answered, “Yes, ma’am, last five pieces na po.”

“Ano pong flavors?”

“Strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, po.”

“Pwede bang mag-reserve ng three pieces?” Having read that they’ve been selling out fast, I quickly added, “Nandyan na ako in 10 minutes … promise.”

“Okay, ma’am, pero …  bilisan nalang po ninyo.”               

I hung up the phone and made a mad dash for The Podium from my office to finally get my stash of these elusive hybrid pastries that have taken New York City by storm. Created by pastry chef Dominique Ansel only last May 18, his cronuts have spread like wildfire on social media, and he soon found hundreds of people lining up outside his bakery on Spring Street in SoHo hours before his 8 a.m. opening. (Some would fall in line as early as 3 a.m.)

A black market for cronuts

Ansel makes only 200 to 250 cronuts — which he has already trademarked — every morning, selling out within minutes of opening. This high demand has opened up a black market online, where they are being sold for up to $40 a piece on Craigslist, eight times Ansel’s asking price of $5. He has since limited the purchase to two orders per person.

As if that weren’t crazy enough, a new cronuts service website sprouted up several days ago. Premium Cronut Delivery charges $100 for one cronut, $200 for two and $1,500 for 10! According to Time magazine, the site, which delivers to any location in Manhattan, adds a 950-percent markup. But it looks like even the exorbitant prices haven’t deterred curious patrons. A visit to the website indicated that the queue for this entire week is already full.

Even celebrities don’t get special treatment. CNN’s Anderson Cooper tried to order for his birthday but was denied due to high public demand. Hugh Jackman was spotted patiently waiting in line for his cronuts like everyone else. Even New York City mayor and anti-obesity campaigner Michael Bloomberg has placed an order. 

Cronuts in the Philippines

Since then, versions of the much-coveted confection have sprouted all around the world, from Canada to Australia to the Philippines.

Thankfully I didn’t have to wait hours for mine. When I got to the Podium, there was one guy paying at the cashier — and sure enough, he had purchased the last two remaining croissant-donuts (what Wildflour calls it). It was only 10:30 a.m. —before the mall had even opened its doors to the public — and Wildflour was sold out.

I was told that they only bake 50 croissant-donuts a day — 25 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon — but because of the growing demand, the good news is they have since increased the production of the P120 pastry to meet their high demand of nearly 300 a day.

The pastry looks like a donut, although cutting through it revealed a light cream oozing out from the multitude of paper-thin layers instead of from a spongy cake. When I took a bite, it was the familiarity of a donut — with the subtle sweetness of the pastry cream — but with the combination of the light and fluffy layers and crispy and flaky textures of a croissant that crumbled in my mouth. It was beautiful. It felt like an upgrade from the traditional donut with textures never done before.

“Croissants are one of the most complicated breads to produce,” says co-owner Ana De Ocampo. “Wildflour prides itself on making breads without improvers, preservatives and artificial enhancers. We bake everything daily and don’t cut corners. The process of producing any bread, for that matter, really requires a substantial amount of time and effort to achieve those flaky layers of buttery goodness, much less a croissant-donut.”

A new contender

A new contender is Chatime, whose “kronuts” are currently only available at their flagship store at Pioneer Center Supermarket Complex in Pasig. “Our kronuts are made of layered dough similar to how we make our croissants at the French Baker,” explains owner Johnlu Koa. “Instead of rolling the dough to form a crescent shape, we cut the dough with a donut cutter to form rings with a hole in the center. After proofing or allowing the dough to rest for an hour, the kronut dough rings are fried for a minute on each side until they puff up to 10 times the original dough thickness. We immediately roll it over refined sugar to allow it to adhere to the residual oil coating the kronut after frying. After cooling it down for 15 minutes, our pastry bakers puncture several tiny holes under the kronut in order to inject freshly made pastry cream. Finally, white or dark chocolate ganache is piped over the top of the kronut.”

A Chatime kronut is reminiscent of a churro, or a funnel cake. The few friends I tried them with had the same consensus. It is soft and flakes easily, but it’s also oilier — well, it is one-third the price of Wildflour’s — at only P55 per piece. It’s definitely a fun snack, and that is what the owners had in mind.  “Our version has the right size, and is not too heavy, so that you can actually pair it with one of our drinks,” said Koa’s nephew, Chris Cua. With almost 35 stores in our Chatime chain, Chris says they are ready to do a thousand kronuts, with flavors that include white chocolate, dark chocolate, salted caramel, pistachio and mocha.

In the pipeline

Brasserie Girolle at the Fort Strip will be selling their cronuts next week. According to chef/owner Ian Padilla, he will be having peanut butter, chocolate butter cream, strawberry, Nutella banana, Bavarian and lemon curd. “They will be flakier, crunchier and better-tasting,” he promises.

In Cebu, District 32 at Mactan International Airport will be serving their version — which is topped with ice cream — under Chef Philippe Estienne’s Ty Mad Bistro. District 32 owner Butch Carungay says he is also working with the paper suppliers of Gucci and LVMH to make the boxes a la Pierre Hermé and Ladurée, “and get this baby branded properly!”

Many have commented that Ansel’s treats come right in the wake of the bacon, cupcake and macaron manias. I personally think it is a bold move — merging two classic pastries that have stood the best of time. Countless debates have emerged on whether this is merely a trend or here to stay. According to The New York Times, what Ansel does is merely “the latest iteration of the croissant in the last 325 years or so,” alluding to the couture croissant (with added almonds, chocolates and raisins), Croissan’Wich (Burger King’s Americanized croissant filled with sausage, egg and cheese), and the pretzel croissant, which have sprouted up over the last several years.

Well, only time will tell, but trend or not, Wildflour’s Ana de Ocampo says, “Trends are very important to us; they provide something new and exciting for our customers.”

So get those cronuts/croissant-donuts/ kronuts/croughnuts while you can.

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Wildflour is located at 4th Avenue cor. 26th Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, and at the ground floor of The Podium Mall in Ortigas. Call 856-7600 (Fort) and 571-8588.

Chatime is located in the Pioneer Center Supermarket Complex in Kapitoloyo, Pasig, 584-7221.

Brasserie Girolle is located at the ground floor of the Fort Strip (below URBN). Call 478-4119 and please indicate it is for the Brasserie.

Ty Mad Bistro is located at District 32 at the Mactan International Airport in Cebu, (032) 260-1668.

Bread Bar by Dolce Latte sells a box of 6 croughnuts for P660. For information, call 332 3407, 0906-552-6297 or e-mail dolcelattebanquetservices@yahoo.com.ph.

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You can reach me at inbetweendeadlines@gmail.com or http://www.twitter.com/cheryltiu.