Homemade Cronuts!

Ever since I heard about star pastry chef Dominique Ansel inventing the cronut, I knew I needed to try one. So mock this trend if you must, but I just tried my first one tonight, and I'm proud to say I made it myself! I started making the croissant dough on Bastille Day, and tonight made my first run at the cronut. I have to say it turned out perfect, fried at 375 degrees for just a couple of minutes (flipped too), then dusted in cinnamon sugar. I have more dough in the fridge and plan on getting a little more ambitious on my next try. But I didn't want to invest too much tonight not knowing how the first try would work. In particular, I was worried about the butter and the hot oil and possible burning - but no issues. So many possibilities, and with all that's fresh at the market, perhaps a blueberry or peach filling, with a vanilla glaze . . . or maybe a coconut pastry cream filling and a dark chocolate glaze with toasted coconut. Anyway, here's my pictorial including the cinnamon-sugar cronut:


The dough, pre-butter



The softened, shaped butter meets the dough



The folding and turning begins!



A long process



The first cronut is formed - two layers, water to keep the layers together



First cronut done!



The interior


I plan to be very busy making more cronuts soon . . . can't believe how good they are.

I wimped out and bought a dossaint. It made a very poor mans 1-2 punch after lunch at Hickory River Smokehouse in Glendale Heights. I tried the Nutella. It was very, very rich.
http://www.chicagopastry.com/

They're one of 2 places that are selling them according to the trib. Though that was a week or 3 back.

Batch 2, a little more layering and a little more height (let sit at room temperature a little longer, and added an extra fold). I haven't bothered to fill them yet - they're so good simply rolled in cinnamon-sugar. The most difficult part is finding the right frying temperature, which I'm thinking is closer to 340-350 degrees. Of course, the issue is the butter in the dough. I'll probably never achieve Ansel success (his show more distinct layering), but they're still pretty terrific, and still better than any doughnut I've ever tasted.

Me want cronut!!

Wow, Brad. You rule!

Haha - thanks! Glad to hear I'm not the only one around here who thinks they're pretty awesome.

I'm officially available for product control testing.

Batch 2 certainly looks better than Batch 1. Nice work.

And now, the official recipe. I guess it's about time to give it another go.

BR wrote:And now, the official recipe. I guess it's about time to give it another go.

Not quite the original recipe, it's a version he worked on for home scale and home equipment. Still takes three days... hoping to talk SueF into trying the recipe.