Milk & Cookie Shots > Cronuts™

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation and Q&A with award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel of the preeminent Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo. Chef Ansel is most well known for the culinary sensation known as The Cronut™ which began its takeover of NYC last May and established Ansel's small, eponymous bakery as one of the top destinations for pastry in the world.

If you don't know what a Cronut™ is, in which case, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!? -  it is essentially a croissant with a hole in the middle, lots of sugar and some frosting.

Now, I like sugary doughy things as much as the next person, but pastry/doughnuts/croissants would never compel me enough to be fanatical. This being the case, it's been perplexing and somewhat humorous to watch the entire world become so freakishly obsessed passionately fascinated by the $5 Cronut™ over the past year or so.

I don't mean  to hate on all the foodies who are nuts for Cronuts here. To be fair, I only had one bite of a Cronut™  last summer. Though I don't find the taste as amazing as the rest of Earth does, what I do find impressive  is the cultural phenomenon the little center-less bun has created.

The Cronut™ has maintained almost the same level of buzzworthiness since it's launch  for over a year now. As of this writing, there are 72,800+ photos on Instagram tagged #Cronut and counting. Every day on my way to work, I observe the frenzied line of Cronut™ - cravers snaking down Spring Street and up Broadway. When Cronut Mania reached fever pitch sometime last summer, the daily line reportedly started forming around 5:30am for the bakery's 8am opening.  These days I'm told the line starts closer to 6:30am - 7am.  As Business Week mentions, the Cronut™  Line is nearly as famous as the Cronut™ itself. The Dominique Ansel's website even has a section in it's Cronut™ 101 tab that calls out proper etiquette in the Cronut™ Line: "Do not cut or reserve spots for friends and we hope you don’t endorse any scalpers you may see. Please do try to keep the sidewalk clear of obstruction so there is ample room for passersby and keep your voice level to a minimum."

As Ansel explained yesterday, he refuses to mass produce his creation and thereby diminish it's quality. You've got to respect that. He only makes 300 for sale per day plus 150 for special orders. The result is a demand that is never met and a sustained state of exclusivity. Ansel should be just as praised for savvy marketing/business sense as he is for inventing the juggernaut of the dessert world.

Though not the biggest fan of doughnuts or pastries, I am definitely a huge fan of cookies - particularly of the chocolate chip variety. So when we got to try Ansel's latest baking innovation, the Milk & Cookie Shot, after the Q&A session, I was really excited. Made with incredible Valrhona Chocolate, the delicious, chewy cookie portion serves as a cup holder for vanilla-infused farm milk from upstate New York.

If you ask me, this $3 dessert is definitely better than its world famous predecessor. If you're sampling one at the bakery, ask for extra milk - you'll need some while you eat the cookie part. They'll provide it to you in a separate (non-edible) cup.

Good luck waiting in that line. Cheers!

[caption id="attachment_24" align="aligncenter" width="483"] Cookie Shot by Dominique Ansel[/caption]