by Steven Doyle
The lovely flaky layers of pastry that makes up the original cronut, created and trademarked by chef Dominique Ansel in New York, has taken on many forms since its unveiling in early 2013. There have even been several knock-off versions found locally in Dallas, but nothing exactly amazes like the original. Now fast food giant Jack in the Box is making their own attempt, but calls the pastry a Croissant Donut.
For a mere $1.99 you can order three smallish, freshly fried cronuts that are actually pretty delicious. A single bite is .89 cents.
Whereas the original found at the New York bakery clock in at $5 each, they are hand constructed by the baker and are ethereally delicious and seemingly lighter than air itself. The cross bred pastry made half doughnut and half croissant is meant to be light yet slightly crisp. And the originator has a different version of the cronut each month (October’s version will be pumpkin chai with maple sugar). Jack makes one style with a large dusting of cinnamon sugar.
It has been said that chef Ansel is quite flattered by the many knock-offs, but he does own the trademark and leaves the dirty business of business with his attorneys.
Dominique Ansel’s pumpkin chai cronut
The Jack in the Box cronut is about as good as we will taste in the Dallas area, and well worth a spin through the drive through early morning for a sinful bite. Jack tells us that each croissant donut is worth 136 calories and 6 grams of fat.
