Published in The Global Panorama - Feb 2014
The sweet aroma, the crisp exterior glistening with icing, the moist contours, the burst of flavor mingling with the taste of sweetened dough, and the lingering after-taste playing tricks on you’re taste buds, begging for more, long after you’ve devoured a doughnut; These I must add are the ultimate, quintessential characteristics associated with the doughnut and anyone prone to the delicacies of a sweet tooth know the dangers of the inherent pleasure that comes along with biting into a one. The doughnut has inadvertently become one of the most in demand desserts of the present day; Entrepreneurs, aficionados and foodies alike, have all tapped into this emerging trend as is apparent with the number of gourmet, artisan doughnut shops ubiquitously opening its doors to the masses. In an attempt to lure an ever-growing number of followers, bold, vivacious flavours, which include but are not limited to Earl Grey, Maple Bacon, Salted Carmel and Whiskey Bacon are conjured up and brought to life. Be forewarned: These are not your typical nostalgic doughnuts Grandma used to make. The ingenious Dominique Ansel has furthered our obsession with his creation of the Cronut, which is a hybrid of the doughnut and the croissant. This seamless union of two favourites has only fuelled our hunger for doughnuts and has single-handedly transformed Dominique Ansel’s humble store into one the most lined up bakeries in the world. Due to the labor intensive process involved in the making of the Cronut, Domique Ansels’ store is at most, only capable of making two hundred cronuts a day. Consequently, people wait in line for several hours, at times even before the store is open in order to get their hands on a couple of cronuts since there is a limit of two cronuts per person. Oh and did I already mention the two cronuts per person limit? About a year ago, during a charity auction, a dozen of Domique Ansel’s cronuts were sold for a whooping fourteen thousand dollars in less than twenty minutes! Need I say more?
Though the doughnut is currently the most sought after dessert, this has not always been the case. Contrary to popular belief, revolution is no longer a term confined for use by countries and governments alone. Pastry chefs and dessert-lovers around the world but especially in New York and Paris have taken the liberty to unleash revolutions of a different kind, one in which desserts are at its forefront. It was the cupcake that initially set the trend, starting off with a few pioneer stores; it eventually became a full-blown utopia of cupcake obsession with pretty, little cupcake stores opening at every corner along with the emergence of massive retail chain stores such as Crumbs Bake Shop and Magnolia Bakery. A few years in, the cupcake, in all its previous glory was faced with a competitor that was quickly surging in popularity and gaining traction to become a fan favourite. Heralded by the majority and usurping the cupcake, the French Macaron soon stole the spotlight, resulting in New York streets studded with colourful macaron stores. As all good things must come to an end, the closure of Crumbs Bake Shop all across the US marked the end of the cupcake era and ushered in the French Macaron.
The French Macaron is essentially a delicate cookie comprising of a flavour packed ganache, butter cream or jam sandwiched by two shells made primarily of almond flour, sugar, egg whites and some more flavouring (optional). Unsure of its exact origins, the Macaron has been rumoured to have first been made for Catherine de Medici and then later made popular by Carmelite nuns, who sold the cookies, in order to pay for their housing. Beloved by Parisian tea salons and up-scale pastry boutiques, the Macaron phenomenon had resulted in renowned pastry chefs such as Pierre Herme opening storefronts such as Lauderee that catered primarily to avid Macaron lovers thus making the Macaron an even more prestigious commodity in the world of pastries and desserts. The proliferation of recipe books particularly published to detail the how’s and don’ts of Macaron making and the subsequent number of home cooks attempting their hand at the not so easy to make Macarons, were a testament to their glamorization and popularity. A vast number of cooking schools and bakeshops had also capitalized on this trend by frequently offering Macaron-making classes. Although, the Macaron has not been entirely quashed by the influx of doughnuts, it is duly noted that the Macaron is slowly on the decline and no longer selfishly occupies every major news headline pertaining to desserts.
In pursuit of distinct and unique desserts and pastries, we have ventured in to trends that continuously evolve with shifts in tastes, preferences and new inventions. New York is one of the biggest hubs for popular food trends; always ahead of the curve and setting the food culture for the rest of the world. Willing New Yorkers, powered by their passion, will wait for hours in line just to get a taste of something new. So what can we assume the next dessert trend to be? It could be anything from the broad-spectrum of cookies to canelles, or it could be something completely new and unknown to us. As a dedicated foodie myself with a penchant for sweet treats, I consider life to be a zero-sum game in the absence of deserts to look forward to, and would I wait in line for hours to try something new? The answer is always a resounding yes!
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