The Great Cronut Hunt
/If you're not up on your foodie news or have not been privy to any media for the last couple of months, or maybe you've been hiding in a cave, you may have missed the Cronut Craze.
Started in New York at Dominique Ansel Bakery, the cronut is a delicacy designed by the aforementioned pastry chef in his self-named bakery. The best way to describe this delicious treat is as a cross between a croissant and a donut. (Although purists will argue that it is neither.)
Since I was going to be in New York a few weeks ago, I thought I'd get myself to this wonderful place and try these babies for myself.
However, there are strict rules to be adhered to when attempting to acquire a cronut. You must arrive at the bakery 2 hours before they open at 8am and be prepared to stand in line. There's only a limited amount of cronuts to be had each day and only of whatever flavor the chef chooses for that day. So even if you get there at 6 am (I can't quite completely wrap my brain around this), you may not end up satisfied with your ($5.00 apiece!) pastry purchase.
Getting up that early to attempt to be somewhere in NYC at 6 am was a little bit too challenging, even for a die-hard croissant/donut lover like myself. And there apparently were none to be had later (at more reasonable hours) in the day. So I came home with an unfulfilled cronut® craving, but that's not important right now. *sigh*
Where to Find a Cronut In LA
Lucy is up in LA for 5 weeks doing an Improv Intensive, so I went to visit her the day after I got back from New York. Ulterior motive: Find the elusive cronut® somewhere in Los Angeles.
Señor Google (along with Yelp and Urbanspoon) pointed me in the direction of DK's Donuts in Santa Monica. Only they call theirs DKronuts® so as not to be infringing on any Cronut® trademark issues. They promised a variety and they swore that they make them fresh all. Day. Long.
Could it be true? I decided to give it a shot.
DK's Donuts • 1614 Santa Monica Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90404 • (310) 829-2512
I drove up to Santa Monica in the afternoon and arrived at DK's around 5:00 pm. The place was empty except for one other customer, but to my great and everlasting delight, the cronuts DKronuts® were in and there was a huge variety to choose from. *insert angelic chorus*
Cronuts. Cronuts. And more cronuts! Or lots of flavors of DKronuts...
I was floored by the variety I found in this off-the-beaten path donut cronut DKronut® shop. I snagged a maple-bacon one, because well, bacon. And there were Cronut DKronut® Holes, people. Genius, I tell you.
Of course I had to get a Nutella one for Lucy.
Lucy and the layers and layers of Nutella Cronut DKronut® goodness.
They were just introducing a Guava Cronut DKronut® the day I was there. Serendipitous.
Guava syrup and light cheesy cream in between layers of cronuty kronuty love. My day was made.
How to describe this goodness? Well, it was flaky, like a croissant. And light. Surprisingly light, like a serious French-type pastry. But with a real donuty taste. And not greasy at all, which was a happy surprise. But rich. Oh-my-how-have-I-lived-this-long-without-tasting-this rich. In other words, it's too hard to describe. Go on your own cronut hunt and join the other True Believers.
Also, you know what's fun to say? Cronut.
Coming up next week: I think I figured out how to make these beauties at home. Stay tuned.
