Dominique Ansel’s Cronut™ – the much imitated and reinterpreted cross between a doughnut and croissant. I’ve seen Dominique interviewed many times, and he’s always at great pains to point out that his bakery makes much more than the now infamous (and trade marked) Cronut™. And yet – the queues form every morning, for the very limited number available.
In the Secret Recipes, Dominique knows we’re going to turn straight to this one, and indeed I did! I was slightly peeved to find that the recipe here is a version “adapted” for home cooks… To be fair, it’s still a pretty labour-intense two-day process, and will still be a labour of love for some. I don’t know about you though, but I’m perfectly capable of turning out a croissant, so do feel a little cross to be given a watered-down version.. Hardly the secret recipe at all then….
The first section of the book is more anecdotal, and conveys the inspiration behind the best known recipes: Time is an ingredient | Beyond the comfort zone | Don’t listen | What’s in a name | Create and re-create | Everything but the flavo(u)r | Never run out of ideas The Recipe section is broken into:
A toast before baking
Beginner recipes:
Hot chocolate*
Chocolate pecan cookies*
Mini Madeleines
Mini me’s*
Popcorn chouquettes
Marshmallow chicks*
Vanilla ice-cream*
Apple tart tatin
The purple tart
Intermediate recipes
Cannelé de Bourdeaux
Vanilla religiuese
Cotton soft cheesecake
Paris-New York
Perfect little egg sandwich
Black and blue Pavlova*
Pink champagne macarons*
Apple marshmallow (amazing!)*
Sunflower tart
Christmas morning cereal*
“Lime me Up” tart
Frozen s’mores
Arlette
Advanced recipes:
Chocolate caviar tart
The angry egg*
Dominique’s Kouign Amanns (DKA)
Magic soufflé
The At-Home Cronut(tm) pastry
Ibérico and Mahón croissant
Sweet potato Mont Blanc
Gingerbread pinecone (also amazing!)
Baked Alaska
Additional techniques:
Cooking custard
Pâte â chop
Piping
Tempering chocolate
Lamination
*Gluten-Free Recipes
On average the recipes take two to three pages, are well documented, and with good photographs of the finished product. The book is actually pretty luscious, and does include a number of recipes you don’t often see, so it’s well worth adding to your patisserie section. But if you’re buying it only for the Cronut™ recipe, you have been warned.
Get your copy here:
