By Josephine Cuneta and Eric Bellman
Wildflour Cafe + BakeryA croissant doughnut from the Wildflour Cafe + Bakery in Manila.
Born just a few months ago, the cronut — the New York pastry phenomenon — is already being pirated across Asia.
This doughnut-meets-croissant treat invented by Dominique Ansel in May is an over-the-top pastry made of croissant dough that is deep fried, then injected with cream or jam and topped with icing.
Born just a few months ago, the cronut — the New York pastry phenomenon — is already being pirated across Asia.
This doughnut-meets-croissant treat invented by Dominique Ansel in May is an over-the-top pastry made of croissant dough that is deep fried, then injected with cream or jam and topped with icing.
It has New Yorkers —including cronut scalpers — lining up at 3 a.m. at Mr. Ansel’s bakery in SoHo to snatch up the few made each day before they sell out.
Ana Lorenzana-De Ocampo knew she had to have it in her high-end Manila eatery, the Wildflour Cafe + Bakery, the minute she heard about the food craze.
She sent her brother, who works in New York, to stand in line and investigate. He waited for two hours to get some allotted cronuts, and then flew one over from New York to Manila.
Ana Lorenzana-De Ocampo knew she had to have it in her high-end Manila eatery, the Wildflour Cafe + Bakery, the minute she heard about the food craze.
She sent her brother, who works in New York, to stand in line and investigate. He waited for two hours to get some allotted cronuts, and then flew one over from New York to Manila.
Ms. De Ocampo reverse-engineered the flaky, flavor-packed pastries and came up with her own version. She decided to generically name them croissant doughnuts, to avoid any trademark infringement.
Thanks to her extended global network of Filipino friends and family, Ms. De Ocampo figures she may be the first to bring a cronut knockoff to Asia.
While cronut creator Mr. Ansel has says he is flattered by the imitation, few consumers or even pastry pirates know how close their Asian versions are to the original cronut, so it is bound to evolve into a sort of croissant-frying free-for-all.
Thanks to her extended global network of Filipino friends and family, Ms. De Ocampo figures she may be the first to bring a cronut knockoff to Asia.
While cronut creator Mr. Ansel has says he is flattered by the imitation, few consumers or even pastry pirates know how close their Asian versions are to the original cronut, so it is bound to evolve into a sort of croissant-frying free-for-all.
Whether the fad fades like the Harlem Shake videos or sticks around like gourmet cupcakes remains to be seen.
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