So Jeff, cronuts....

[Jenise]

...what's going on there? Have you partaken?

Dominique Ansel's Cronuts are now being scalped on Craigslist...an ad from last Friday offering Cronut pick-up and delivery for $20 per pastry in Manhattan, $30 in Queens, and $40 in Brooklyn. The ad warns: "Of course the max you can have me deliver is 5 Cronuts as I will be eating one myself."

I thought Jeff was a "big mitten" guy and cronuts are a "big apple" thing. I must be confused. Are there 2 Jeffs?

Sometimes I don't pay enough attention. And no, I haven't made the effort to taste a cronut either but they are all over the airwaves here. And they probably are delicious. It would be really easy for me to obtain regular doughnuts of course, but that's a "forbidden zone" for me.

At $20 each, the delivered cronuts would also fall in a forbidden zone for me.

I thought Jeff was a "big mitten" guy and cronuts are a "big apple" thing. I must be confused. Are there 2 Jeffs? ...

I think she's referring to Jeff Grossman, who posts here in the Forum Kitchen quite frequently.

The whole thing sounds crazy. I'm sure they're tasty enough but given the effort required to get them it hardly seems worth it. And when I see photos of people standing on the long lines I have to wonder what else they have going on in their lives. Unless at this point they're all 'flippers' selling them on at inflated prices.

The name "Jeff" is not uncommon, even if each individual Jeff is a uniquely interesting paragon of human virtues.

Cronuts[tm] are a fad. I can wait for the mania to pass. I'm certainly not waiting on line for 2 hours to get one!

ETA: Due to the trademark, imitators are calling their pastry "doissants".

The herd mentality for sure....want one...make it, there are recipes on the NET. Can't figure out why people do that.

Reminds me of the Farmer's Market on Saturday. There is a lady who sells peaches, she is very particular, checks every peach she puts in your basket, even it you get a lug. People line up at her booth early and the line weaves annoyingly through the crowd. Just up and down from her booth are other peach growers who sell great peaches, have them already packed and ready to go. My market buddy's and I just laugh at the way people see a line and figure that is the best place to go. So they spend half and hour or more standing there in the hot sun looking miserable as that gal picks each peach up and places it in a box. I am in and out of the market in 20 minutes. I have a list of what I need, get there 15 minutes early, walk up and down both sides and pick my grower's for the morning shopping. When the opening horn blows, I know exactly where I am going to go. I buy the hard things first for the bottom of my basket and end up with berries on top. Then I have time to stand around and enjoy watching the shoppers, sipping my latte, and talking with others who do the same. If I fill my basket, Gene takes it to the car for me and I continue my quest. So much fun!

This doesn't even sound edible to me. I like a croissant a couple times a year. Can't stand the smell of donuts for some reason. I can't believe people are even paying $5 for them, let alone $20/ea. Who are these nuts? Wonder how much they would pay for a dozen of my homemade shortbreads?!

For those who want a close look at one, I found this big picture: http://timenewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/cronut2.jpg

[Jenise]

An Albertson's (west coast chain) grocery store near where I lied in the 80's used to have croissants (made by their instore bakery, so hardly a great croissant, but definitely dinner roll sized and not sandwich sized as I believe most are today) that they'd drizzle with the same icing they' used on simple raised donuts. The combination, as introduced to me by a roommate, was absolutely divine. Incredibly light with a great shattering crunch to the exterior that no donut could match.

If cronuts get anywhere close, I get it.

An Albertson's (west coast chain) grocery store near where I lied in the 80's used to have croissants (made by their instore bakery, so hardly a great croissant, but definitely dinner roll sized and not sandwich sized as I believe most are today) that they'd drizzle with the same icing they' used on simple raised donuts. The combination, as introduced to me by a roommate, was absolutely divine. Incredibly light with a great shattering crunch to the exterior that no donut could match.

If cronuts get anywhere close, I get it.

Years ago, Albertson's put a store in Redding. I went there once and it smelled so bad, I never went back. I asked around to see what others thought and they all hated the smell. Not sure what it was. They did have a following but left suddenly...good thing.

... near where I lied in the 80's ...

So did you only lied in that location, in the 80's? Or was that one of many locations?

Sorry Jeff G., I had a feeling I was screwing up.

At any rate the guilty food I would really like to get my hands (teeth) on is something with a bit more of an enduring history.

The Canelé. I imagine this as being pretty exquisite, with a hard outer crust and a sweet somewhat gooey interior. And they have been around for a long time but they are difficult to make, you need special molds and really good technique so you only find them in fancy French places or high end tea rooms in NYC (or Paris). Six week fads don't generally grab me...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canele

Sorry Jeff G., I had a feeling I was screwing up.

No harm done.

This time.

The Canelé. ... in fancy French places or high end tea rooms in NYC (or Paris).

Try the ones made at Honore Artisan Bakery in Seattle.