I must say that when I first heard of the Cronut phenomenon I dismissed it as a passing fad – purely a New York obsession that would blaze briefly and then be forgotten. Well, I was wrong. Dominique Ansel’s trademarked pastry was a 2013 phenomenon that not only continues to fascinate as we about to wave 2014 goodbye but has spawned copycats around the world. Even my local bakery has a version – albeit not a very good one (way too greasy and sickly-sweet).

Monsieur Ansel has now revealed his secret cronut recipe to the world – it is included in his new book (fittingly titled Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes). I read through the recipe with great interest checking to see how it compared with my homemade cronut and I have to say I think it is overly fiddly ensuring that very few home bakers will be foolish enough to attempt it. Even my original attempt was quite tricky and time consuming using Danish pastry dough which requires a lengthy folding / chilling / folding process. The results were great, don’t get me wrong, but it is not something I would expect most people to grapple with.

I revisited my homemade cronut this time using my quick method Danish pastry dough to see if it would work and I was quite blown away by the deliciousness. A fresh homemade cronut really is the best thing EVER – followed closely by a freshly made doughnut, with a homemade croissant a distant third. The layers aren’t as apparent with the quick method dough but when something tastes that addictive you quickly overlook such minor details.

Christmas Cronuts with marzipan & rum pastry cream

Make the dough up to three days in advance – it needs overnight chilling. The pastry cream can also be made one day in advance and kept chilled until you use it.

Quick method Danish Pasty Dough

Makes 10-12 cronuts

180ml | 3/4 cup (6fl oz) milk

1 sachet dry active yeast (about 1/2 tbsp)

70g | 1/3 cup (caster) sugar

1 large egg

250g | 2 cups plain flour (plus more for dusting and rolling)

65g | 1/2 cup white bread flour

230g | 2 sticks cold unsalted Lurpak butter, cubed

1 tsp salt

Method

Cube the butter and put it in the freezer while you get on with the recipe. Heat the milk for a few seconds in a microwave until warm. Add the sugar and yeast and whisk to combine. Let it stand for 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy. Add the egg and lightly whisk together. Set aside. Put the flour and salt in the large bowl of your food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the cubed butter and briefly pulse a few times until mixture resembles chunky breadcrumbs.You want the butter to remain in pea-sized pieces. Put the flour mixture in a large bowl and add the milk/yeast mixture. Gently combine using a spatula until the dough just comes together – don’t overwork it. Line your worktop with two large pieces of cling film. Tip the dough onto it and use the cling film to squash the dough into a square. Put in the freezer for 1 hour or until fairly firm but still pliable. Dust your worktop and rolling pin with flour. Roll your dough out to a rectangle roughly three times as long as it is wide. Fold the top over towards the middle and then bottom over it to create a square – using a pastry scraper to help you if sticky. Rotate the dough by a quarter turn and repeat the folding. Flip the dough over so the seams are underneath. Roll it out again and repeat 8-10 times until the dough starts to get elastic. If the dough gets too warm and butter starts to melt pop it back in the freezer for a bit. Wrap the dough twice with cling film and rest in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. You are now ready to use it.

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Marzipan & rum pastry cream

Please note you will need double this quantity to fill 12 cronuts – I left some plain as they are equally delicious unfilled!

375ml | 1 1/2 cups | 12 fl oz whole milk 1 tsbp vanilla paste 2 large eggs 100g | 1/2 cup caster sugar 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) 2 tbsp unsalted butter 100g | 3.5oz good quality marzipan 3-4 tbsp dark rum Method Whisk together the sugar, cornflour and eggs – either by hand or in a mixer – until smooth. In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk and vanilla paste until small bubbles appear along the edge of the pan. Slowly pour the some of the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking to avoid curdling the eggs. Gradually add the rest of the milk while whisking. Pour the cream back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, for about 5 minutes until cream thickens. Pour cream through a fine sieve into a bowl and stir in the butter. Cut the marzipan into small pieces and put in a bowl with the rum. Microwave for short bursts until it warm enough to mix into a paste. Sieve the marzipan into the pastry cream and mix thoroughly. Cover with cling film and chill for a couple of hours or overnight. Frying & glazing the cronuts

Vegetable or grapeseed oil for frying

Sugar + 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

100g | 3.5oz icing (powdered) sugar

Juice of 1/2 orange or a few tbsp milk or rum

Edible stars to decorate

Method