By now we’ve all pretty much heard of the Cronut™. The croissant/donut hybrid created in New York by chef Dominique Ansel that has seen people queuing up from before 5am in the morning just to give it a try. His version is rolled in sugar, filled with cream and then topped with glaze (in May it was Rose Vanilla, and now for June it is Lemon Maple.) Soon enough, copycats began springing up around the world (including Adrian Zumbo’s Zonut) and Ansel swiftly trademarked his Cronut™.
This month’s Sweet Adventures Blog Hop is “Out of the Frying Pan” and is celebrating all things fried – what a perfect excuse to give this a whirl!
I wanted to create an easy DIY version of the Cronut™ that any home baker could recreate in their kitchen. I used store-bought puffed pastry (shock horror!) and my technique was actually embarrassingly simple – the reason I ended up calling it a Fauxnut! A criticism I have heard of the Cronut™ is that it is sickly sweet, so I decided to skip the triple threat of sugar x sweet cream x glaze. I considered a cinnamon icing initially and ended up settling on a Nutella filling. Because we all know how amazing Nutella is! A light dusting of icing sugar gave the Fauxnut the right amount of sweetness.
Ingredients
- 3 x sheets store-bought puff pastry
- 750 ml vegetable oil or other flavourless oil
- 1 cup Nutella
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
- Pour vegetable oil into a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat, bring the oil to 170°C. If you don't have a thermometer, test the temperature of the oil by dropping in one of your donut holes - if it immediately starts to bubble and rise to the surface, your oil is hot enough.
- While the oil is heating, cut donut shapes out of your thawed puff pastry. Use a large, round cookie cutter and a much smaller one to remove the "donut hole". I got 6 donut shapes per sheet of puff pastry.
- As soon as the oil has reached the correct temperature, gently lower in your first donut. It will start to puff up and brown.
- Once the bottom of the donut is golden brown, turn it over with a slotted spoon and let it brown on the other side before quickly removing it from the oil and placing on paper towel to drain.
- Repeat this process with the remaining donuts (and donut holes!) until all are golden brown. Be careful the oil doesn't get too hot as they may start to burn.
- Put the Nutella in a small piping bag and pipe a thick line of Nutella around the top of half the cooled Fauxnuts.
- Gently sandwich the remaining Fauxnuts on top of each one.
- Dust the top of each Fauxnut with icing sugar.
Here is a quick step-by-step guide!
Step 1: Cut out the donut sheets from the thawed puff pastry using a larger and smaller cookie cutter.
Step 2: Once your oil is hot enough, gently lower the donut into the hot oil. It should immediately start to bubble and puff and rise to the surface.
Step 3: When the bottom is golden brown, turn the donut over in the oil to cook the other side.
Step 4: Drain all the Fauxnuts on paper towel and allow to cool (I made a mixture of big and small Fauxnuts).
Step 5: Pipe the Nutella in a circle on top of half the Fauxnuts, before gently sandwiching the remaining ones together.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!
What’s my verdict? Well without having the opportunity to yet try a Cronut™ (or even a Zonut) for comparison I can only go by what I made today. The slightly savoury puff pastry contrasts well with the sweet Nutella and dusting of icing sugar. Despite quickly frying and draining the Fauxnuts, they are still VERY and buttery rich. I would enforce a 1 Fauxnut per person rule if you don’t want to feel sick afterwards!
Have you tried a Cronut™ or Zonut? Do they live up to the hype?
44 Comments
You know my feeling on the Zonut…I feel even MORE guilty having eaten it now that I see yours bubbling away in the oil. OINK!
Haha this is a VERY guilt-laden treat Mel!! I’m just going to eat veges for a week…
Love the name – fauxnut! haha I totes need to try this… since rozelle is too far for me to make the drive :P
I’m still curious to try the Zonut but I’m never in the area either… and this is a much easier and quicker method! :)
Wow, Swah. This is epic! I can’t believe how simple it is – well done!
PS – loving the rainbow, too.
So simple and delicious! And I’m glad you like the rainbow, it’s an issue I feel very strongly about :)
Wows this looks super easy and sounds delicious! I would love to experiment with lots of other flavours.. I love the name as well hehe
It’s so so easy Christine! And I highly recommend playing around with flavours… I would like a cinnamon version and maybe a lemon drizzle version too :)
this sounds like a slightly healthier and simpler version of it! im defs giving this a try when i next buy puff pastry!
It is indeed slightly more healthy (probably only slightly though haha) and so easy to whip up at home without pastry chef skills!
That’s like a mega awesome version of a sandwich biscuit. I like where you’ve taken this recipe :)
Imagine smothering ice cream between the 2 cronuts! It would be insanely delicious :)
DROOL. I had never even HEARD of a cronut until about 2 weeks ago and now serendipity (or Swah) has smiled on me and this recipe has come along. Comfort food ahoy! (Get in my belly)
This is indeed the ultimate winter comfort food, I better join a gym or something pronto :p
I’m making this cake today as a trial run for my daerthugs wedding cake. How did you get such perfectly even layers of the nutella buttercream between each layer?(FYI – I think the Nutella buttercream is the best I ever tasted….even better than my own peanut butter buttercream)
Nutella buttercream is indeed the tastiest thing in the world! Using a piping bag and piping an even spiral on each layer ensures it is even :)
Love it! It was only a matter of time ;D
Haha ofcourse I am the one responsible for this monstrosity! Maybe you could try a healthier version? Or would that defeat the purpose… ;)
Yeah, there is no way to make this one healthy (although I have thought about it ;D) and it would totally defeat the purpose! Even baking instead of frying would barely do any good – ha! The original injects the filling into the side so it oozes out of every bite. I want one!
I’m assuming (hoping) the fuss will have died down by November when I visit NY, so I don’t have to line up at 5.30am for one! :D
This looks fantastic, you are crazy amazing. x
Aw thanks Tara, right back at you x
So super easy to make and sounds so delish! There were fauxnuts
in LA that I missed trying. Guess now I can attempt to make my own fauxnuts lol
Give it a try Raff, they are so easy! You could even make your own puffed pastry for a more authentic take on the Cronut if you could be bothered… clearly I couldn’t ;)
:O zomg this is Hard. Core! I havent tried either yet but I think a bite is probably all my body could handle lol.
Haha I think a Cronut/Zonut/Fauxnut is definitely best shared, otherwise you can feel QUITE sick!
These look amazing! You just can’t go wrong with anything deep fried… apart from perhaps Mars Bars and Pizza!
I must admit I am still quite keen to try a deep fried Mars Bar…. I’d probably regret it immediately after though ;)
Wow, a great timely post Swah. Hot as they can possibly be your version of the cronut is the perfect frypan food. Lovely photos!
Thank you and a timely post indeed! Always good being “on trend” ;)
Love it!! I was thinking there must be some ingenious way to make some Cronut like dessert at home and you’ve found it! I’ll have to try this some time :D
It’s crazy how easy it is! Glad you enjoyed it Monica :)
WOW!! I must be behind the times, I have never heard of a cronut or a zonut! I cant wait to try making these with my daughter!
I am a late entry to the SABH, I hope you come over to me site and see what I made… my thumbnai hasn’t appeared yet :(
P.S I am pinning this :)
Thanks Julie and enjoy making them with your daughter! I’ll “hop” over to your entry now :)
I still don’t know how I feel about Cronuts. Living in Adelaide we’re unlikely to get them anytime soon (but who knows) so I guess I don’t have to worry about it for a while.
I do have to say I’m absolutely in love with your cake stand! Where is it from? I’m amassing quite a collection but there’s always room for more. :)
I too have an every increasing collection of cake stands! It was from Myer and the brand is Salt & Pepper :)
I’ve got a craving for a cronut right now and I love your simple version of it. I’ve seen some recipes for it and it is really complicated! :o
I agree Lorraine, the actual Cronut process is a bit too complicated for my skills (and patience!)
If i won i would love your Sweet Treats Vol. 2 cakes and cookies, Sweet Treats Vol. 1 cupcakes and Sweet Treats Vol. 3 Pies, dips, tarts and more.
Thanks :). Love your site!
Thank you Jodi and good luck!! x
[…] je het hele recept zien? Kijk dan op loveswah voor alle stappen. if (typeof Consent != 'undefined' && Consent.has_optin('social')) { […]
[…] and the Cronut is now a hot commodity. Why not whip up a batch of mini Cronuts for Halloween? This blog explains how to create your own version of the Cronut with puff pastry, Nutella and icing sugar. There are hundreds of variations of flavours that you […]
I’d love to make these for a party I’m going to. Can I make it the day ahead?
These are best eaten straight away, unfortunately I think they might get too oily if made a day ahead sorry :(