They say the morning is a good sign of the day. And if that's true, every day should always begin with a delicious croissant. Whether you call it a croissant, cornetto, or brioche, it doesn't matter. We're talking about the French recipe here, and what we can all agree on is that it remains one of the most beloved pastries. So beloved that the classic version isn't enough; we want more: and this is precisely what has led to the creation of some curious new creations that have won everyone's hearts. We're talking about cruffins, cronuts, and croffles. It's fairly intuitive to understand the connections, but let's look at them in detail.
Cruffins
The first sweet encounter occurs between one of America's most beloved specialties, the muffin, and the croissant, from which the cruffin was born. This little treasure is the fruit of a fortunate intuition at a small San Francisco bakery, Mr. Holmes Bakehouse. The idea is simple: combine the crispiness of the pastry, typical of the French dessert, with the softness and shape of the muffin. As for the filling, there's no single way to go. Always coated in sugar, they can be eaten plain or filled with custard, peanut butter, hazelnut spread, pistachio, coffee, fruit, and many other delicious variations.
Cronuts
Let's now move on to the idea that brought Dominique Ansel his fortune: the cronut. A young French pastry chef, he opened his first bakery in 2011 in Soho, a neighborhood in New York City, where he still operates today. It was here that he decided to combine a product native to his homeland with one typical of the country where he chose to live: the cronut was born from the union of the croissant and the donut. As we can read on his bakery's website, "it's not simply fried croissant dough. It's made with a layered dough like that of a croissant (but in reality, a proprietary recipe is used), it's first leavened and then fried in grapeseed oil at a specific temperature." Now a registered trademark, the cronut was the world's first viral dessert: in just one day, the news, which appeared on a simple blog, was linked 140,000 times.
Croffles
We end with the latest fusion that's made its way around the world: croffles. This time, the French croissant is combined with the unique and curious shape of the waffle. The pastry chef, Louise Lennox, is said to be Irish and invented this delightful dessert in 2017. It's nothing more than a simple croissant cooked on a waffle iron and then cooked for a few minutes on each side, creating a super-crunchy exterior with that unmistakable buttery flavor typical of the French dessert but with the unmistakable honeycomb shape of the Belgian dessert. Just like the croissant, this type of preparation also lends itself very well to savory fillings. This means it can be enjoyed at any time of day: for breakfast or as a snack, but also for brunch or as a delicious appetizer.
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