By Josephine Cuneta and Eric Bellman

Born just a few months ago, the cronut -- the New York pastry phenomenon -- is already being pirated across Asia.

This doughnut-meets-croissant treat invented by Dominique Ansel in May is an over-the-top pastry made of croissant dough that is deep fried, then injected with cream or jam and topped with icing. It has New Yorkers -- including cronut scalpers -- lining up at 3 a.m. at Mr. Ansel's bakery in SoHo to snatch up the few made each day before they sell out.

Ana Lorenzana-De Ocampo knew she had to have it in her high-end Manila eatery, the Wildflour Cafe + Bakery, the minute she heard about the food craze.

She sent her brother, who works in New York, to stand in line and investigate. He waited for two hours to get some allotted cronuts, and then flew one over from New York to Manila. Ms. De Ocampo reverse-engineered the flaky, flavor-packed pastries and came up with her own version. She decided to generically name them croissant doughnuts, to avoid any trademark infringement.