Cronuts! The donuts that make people Go Nuts! Part 1: The Dough

Cronuts! The donuts that make people Go Nuts! Part 1: The Dough -

I guess since you 're on a food blog you've probably heard about "cronuts" but just in case, here's a quick review.

This growing hybrid / donut was invented by Dominique Ansel Ansel Bakery in Dominica in New York City. It became a sensation overnight, and now people queuing for hours just for a chance to get one of the precious few that are made every day.

Why all the hype? Very simple - it has the shape and flavor of a donut, but has the crisp, flaky texture of a butter croissant. What not to hype? Anyway, after watching as two dozen new reports on the craze, and receive a frightening number of food wishes for it, I decided to give it a go, if for no other reason than to save a few -uns of my friends NYC humiliation of being Instagrammed standing in this line.

Since I've never tasted a cronut, the following is purely a guess, but I think I'm pretty close. Maybe one of you New Yorkers are going to send me one, so I know for sure? My game plan was simple. Do, yeasty, batter-esque slightly sweet, which I then layer with butter, using conventional growing techniques.

There is a procedure that I do all the time as in a time back to culinary school, there are thirty. So instead of going by the book, or even look in a book, I winged, not only that, I rationalized things too. Instead of beating thoroughly on slabs perfectly cold butter size, I decided to try just spread the softened butter instead. I also threw caution to the wind, and pulled off the rare and terrifying "double fold turn" and lived to tell the tale.

As I said in the video, we will cover the final results of part 2, but spoiler alert .. . they were great. I did two different versions, one regular and one with an extra "fold and turn", which resulted in a larger and even more impressive cronut. Stay tuned!

Ingredients for 16 Cronuts:

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 c)

1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees F .)

1 teaspoon of salt

2 rounded tablespoons white sugar (add extra if you want a "sweet nut)

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg coffee

1 pound all-purpose flour, more than necessary

6 oz sweet unsalted butter, "European style" (12 tablespoons )

Fist steps:

- Combine yeast and warm water, and let stand five minutes

-. Add remaining ingredients except flour and butter European style , and whisk to combine

-. Add flour and knead for about three minutes or until a soft paste form sticky balls

-. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

-. Roll dough into approximately a rectangle of 18 x 9 inches

- Proceed to butter as indicated

See the complete recipe