By Hannah Onstad OK, admittedly this was my first experience with the croissant-donut merger we've all been hearing so much about. Something just came over me today and I had to a try the cronut or the cron't as it is popularly called at donut savant. All I can say is, if you have an addictive personality, cron't even go there (sorry!) It's hard not to love. Flaky yes, moist, yes, though a bit denser...hardier than a croissant, and more reminiscent of childhood and my favorite local bakery, Judicke's in Bayonne, N.J. (so iconic the NYTimes managed to cover the Judicke's experience!). True, Judicke's specialized in the Polish specialty chrusciki (crhis-CHICK-ee) which were twisted and fried dough doused with powdered sugar. I, however, was a devoted fan of the many-colored sprinkled donuts, and was known to consume more than one, sitting at Aunt Regina's circular formica table. And later in high school, after hitting the deli, I'd make my way to Judicke's salivating for that first bite, gently breaking the sweet-smelling gooey icing, while my teeth sank into the fluffy-cake. Mmmm... The cron't is different, mysterious even. I ordered the dark chocolate topped cron't. The icing is just right, sweet but not overly so, nor glumpy and teeth-coating like a Dunkin Donuts monstrosity. The cron't's flakiness is kind of subtle, it hits the brain but doesn't fully compute. What is this neither-croissant-nor-donut-thing I'm eating? Yet, immediately, one appreciates its essence, however fleeting. It disappears quickly, I found I had to order another. Just to be sure. This time I went for the maple gluten-free donut while my son nailed the S.O.S. (think jelly donut meets danish). His was superior in every way. While I appreciate that the gluten-free option was available...it was...not the same. There are many other choices: the Apple Fritter was rather yummy in a lightly-soaked, sweetly-hardened-icing sort of way. Still, it's rare for me to set out on a donut quest these days. I remember bringing a dozen donuts to my Berkeley office once a few years back and getting seriously chastised. It was as if I brought Velveeta to a wine tasting. Oh, how times have changed! With a spate of new options in Oakland including organic donuts, vegan donuts, gluten-free donuts, the aforementioned cron't, not to mention the injectable-experience from Doughnut Dolly one can say that the donut is finally having its moment—carpe diem! I intend to try them all.
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About this BlogWritten by Hannah Onstad, unless specified otherwise. Occasionally, posts here have been previously published elsewhere, and if so, that is noted at the top. Archives
June 2020
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