Forget the Cronut, the mince pie croissant has arrived
- Published
It’s all about that buttery festive flake
It’s basically November, which is basically December, and once it’s December, it’s officially Christmas.
That means it’s legitimate to start stuffing yourself with food like a grizzly bear late to the hibernation party.
Fortunately, some culinary wizard has conjured up a new festive food hybrid: may we introduce the mince pie croissant. The Mincessant, if you will.
This Anglo-Franco pastry alliance combines the pastry goodness of a buttery croissant with the moreish sweetness of mincemeat, and is coated with a satisfying amount of sugar.
If this sounds like something you were put on this earth to consume, then your life will be significantly improved on 28 November when it debuts on a high street near you.
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The Mincessant is just the latest hybrid treat to have raised foodie eyebrows in recent years.
And while we’re not entirely sure we’ll be rushing to the shops for one, to mark its arrival, we’ve rounded up a selection of the best taste-bud-twisting hybrid foods.
Bon appetit!
Cronut
If we’re going to talk about hybrid foods then we need to talk about the Cronut.
The half-croissant, half-doughnut combo was brought into this world by New York City’s Dominique Ansel Bakery in May 2013.
People pretty much lost it over the Cronut. Queues stretched for hours and a two-Cronut-per-person limit was put in place at Ansel’s. The rule stands to this day.
But the Cronut's most enduring legacy is arguably the internet’s ongoing search for the next big hybrid baked good.
“It’s like the quest to create a new smartphone, but in food,” said Mr Ansel, speaking to the New York Times, external.
Townie
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In the wake of the Cronut craze, the boutique UK café chain Bea’s of Bloomsbury received a challenge from a food writer, external to come up with a response to rival the croissant-doughnut.
And they did, with pastry chef Bea Vo coming up with the half-tart, half-brownie. The Townie.
This combines flaky, shortcrust pastry with a soft, fudgey centre to deliver, according to Vo, a “strong chocolate hit.”, external
What more is there to say?
Duffin
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As you may have guessed, this is a combination of a doughnut and a muffin - baked, dipped in melted butter, and then coated in sugar.
The Duffin was so popular when in launched in 2013 that it sparked a legal dispute over ownership of the Duffin concept between Starbucks and Bea’s of Bloomsbury, the same chain that was behind the Townie.
All for the right to stick two doughy snacks together…
Mallomac
What do you get if you dip a marshmallow in chocolate and then push your sugar limits one step further by adding a macaron? A Mallomac of course.
And what happens if you combine a Mallomac with the impulse control of the average chocolate lover? Well, you might end up feeling a bit queasy.
Wonut
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Finally, the Wonut. Not a woke doughnut, but a waffle-doughnut mix.
Released in spring 2014, the Wonut is Chicago’s answer to the Cronut. It consists of a deep-fried waffle that is dipped in a variety of glazes like chocolate and maple syrup, and then hundreds and thousands.
The Wonut could be the very embodiment of heaven.
And while you get yourself to a spin class, we’ll do that thing Homer does.
