The Sugary Contenders in a NYC Pastry Bust Up

The original Cronut at Dominique Ansel Bakery. / Courtesy of dominiqueansel.com

Roy Auddino suspected he had something special when he invented the Dough’ssant, a combination croissant and doughnut, in 1991 at Auddino’s Bakery & Café. He was right. But his hidden gem remained relatively unknown until a bakery in New York City began selling a similar product — the cronut — taking credit for inventing the hybrid treat. Auddino is now pursuing a trademark for his Dough’ssant.

Hybrid desserts, specifically the doughnut-croissant, are among the decade’s hottest dessert trends, according to the National Restaurant Association. The Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York, which claims to have invented the popular pastry, trademarked the name “cronut” in 2013. Since then, the croissant-doughnut frenzy has elicited copycat creations around the world. But it all started in the heart of New York City. Let’s take a look at the original contenders and discover which one won over ExtremeFoodies expert Mijune Pak.

Cronut - Dominique Ansel Bakery

Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel spent two months in his test kitchen creating the cronut, a half doughnut and half croissant pastry lovechild. Since it was introduced on May 10, 2013, people have gone nuts for it. Fans start lining up around 6 a.m., and wait hours for his SoHo bakery to open at 8 a.m. Ansel’s creation is not simply a fried croissant. Made fresh daily with a laminated dough, the pastry is proofed and fried in grapeseed oil. Each cronut is rolled in sugar, filled with cream and topped with glaze. The bakery usually sells out of its 300 cronuts within two hours. So, if you've been in line and they run out? Tough luck.

Dough'ssant - Dessert Club, ChikaLicious

The Dough'ssant at Dessert Club, ChikaLicious. / Courtesy of Mijune Pak

Its fans claim the Dough’ssant is the pastry you really want from one of the city's finest French bakeries, and it doesn't require camping out at 6 a.m. to get one. The Dessert Club is the casual offshoot of ChikaLicious, the first dessert bar in NYC history. Baked twice for a lighter, fluffier and less sweet take on the hybrid, ChikaLicious Dough’ssants are available in several flavors: The Original, Crème Brulee, house-made Nutella, Salted Caramel and Teuscher Chocolate.

THE VERDICT

Interior of the Dough’Ssant at ChikaLicious. / Courtesy of Mijune Pak

Mijune Pak, author of followmefoodie.com: Call it a "Cronut knock-off" or whatever, but I actually liked the Dough'ssant from ChikaLicious better than the Cronut from Dominique Ansel. With just a light dusting of icing sugar rather than a super sweet thick icing on top, the Dough'ssant doesn't feel like an instant cavity. It is much lighter, fluffier and tenderer, whereas the Cronut is dense and chewy with perhaps more layers. The pastry cream between the layers on both are very good, but overall the Dough'ssant is a great croissant and a great doughnut, and I'm not sure I could say the same about the Cronut. It's the original and historic, but Ansel's regular croissant and other pastries are what I'd line up for.

CONCLUSION: While the Cronut may have caught the world’s attention, for the best of the doughnut-croissant hybrid, food lovers should head for the Dough’ssant, the original unsung hero, which triumphs over the Cronut in quality and taste.