Alas. The Cronut.

Cronuts.  It's just about the biggest talk in New York foodie-town.

If you don't know what a cronut is, lemme give you the brief run-down.

1. Dominique Ansel, the master cronuttaire, introduced the hot confection on May 10th, and it's been flying off the shelves ever since.  A thorough Cronut 101 is provided on his website.
2. You can get a solid photo summary from this Buzzfeed post.
3. But since that Buzzfeed post, things have escalated for the cronut, which already requires fans to wait in line at 6 a.m. - 2 hours before the bakery even opens.
4. And who can really get up at 6 a.m.?  So naturally there arose a black market - the cronut delivery service - $100 for one cronut, $200 for two cronuts, or $3,000 for 10!
5. Dominique has been cracking down on cronut scalpers, by greeting them every morning and limiting the amount of cronuts.  Originally the limit was 6, then it was 3 and now it's a sad 2.  That's one cronut for every hour you will have to wait.

But what you could do is just have a couple of friends interested in cronuts wait in line, and remember your birthday that is conveniently coming up.  And they give you a beautiful gold-packaged gift.

With this inside.  The mighty lemon maple cronut.

Cinnamon sugary crust. Crunchy.  Lemon glaze icing.  Good.

Beautiful croissant layers inside, check.

Cream-filling. Nice.

And it's hard to eat this cronut without thinking of all the hoopla that accompanies it, but to be honest, the cronut is merely fine.  It's fun and unique, but it doesn't make me weak-to-the-knees-must-have-this-again like I felt when I first experienced the amazing DKA.  It was not as crisp as I had hoped, and I couldn't discern the maple flavor, though the lemon was bright and good.

Maybe I'll feel different when it's a different flavor, so there's always August when Diana rolls into town :- ). Or when Dominique manages to nationalize this pastry wonder !

Han's Nonsensical Rating: Sleep in.  Worth a try if you don't have to wait (so make friends with those who are willing to!).

Dominique Ansel
189 Spring St
New York, NY