According to the dictionary, hybrid is “an offspring of two animals or plants of different races, breeds, varieties, species or genera.”
In the pastry world, hybrid now refers to the famous cronuts (of chef Dominique Ansel), a cross between a croissant and a doughnut; the crookie, a croissant stuffed with cookies; and the brookie, a mix of brownie and crookie.
Our talented pastry chefs and bakers have challenged themselves to recreate today’s hottest treats—croissant-donuts and other hybrid pastries, each with their personal touch.
Wildflour
Sixteen of my students and I sampled croissant-donuts and fell in love with those made by Wildflour.
The croissant-donut is crisp, flaky, airy. When you take a bite, you hear a soft crackle. Each pastry leaf has a filling: chocolate and vanilla has classic pastry cream; the mixed berry has berry-flavored pastry cream; and the tiramisu and dulce de leche has coffee-flavored cream butter.
Wildflour owner, pastry chef Anna Lorenzana de Ocampo, says that she and her sister Margie Manzke share a passion for food: “We’re always game to experiment and offer new things. My brother discovered the cronuts when he was working at New York magazine’s Grub Street blog. He immediately told us about the hybrid and did the dirty work—stood in line, sent cronuts to Margie in LA, and to me in Manila. We decided it was too good not to share with people here.”
What makes Wildflour’s croissant-donuts special?
“For one thing, all our pastries are handmade,” says Anna. “Aside from using high-quality ingredients and avoiding additives, our croissant-donuts come in natural flavors. We’ve also got a croissant-donut with a hazelnut filling that we import from the US.”
What about other hybrid pastries?
“There’s our crookie, which is an Oreo-filled croissant. If inspiration strikes to bring two more beloved pastries together, we won’t hesitate to indulge ourselves.
“The crookie was another idea we picked up in the US. Bringing in cutting-edge pastries is something I and my sister always wanted to showcase at Wildflour.”
Wildflour is at Bonifacio Global City, tel. 8567600, and The Podium, tel. 5718588, 0917-8520950 .
Chatime
Another crowd favorite, perfect with coffee, is Chatime’s croissant-donut. This version is light, delicate and, for P55 a piece, makes for a most satisfying treat.
This croissant-donut is airy and flakes gently with a burst of pastry cream.
According to Chatime master baker Johnlu Koa, his croissant-donut is “fluffier because it’s made with butter and not compound butter or margarine. Also, we use a special piping tip to fill up the cavity with pastry cream that we make from scratch, not with instant custard powder. For the icing, we use good quality dark and white chocolate and infuse it with color and flavor to create the varieties.
“We have them in choco-ganache pastry cream, white ganache mocha pastry cream, white ganache pistachio pastry cream variants, for now.”
Chatime is at Pioneer Center, Kapitolyo, Pasig City; call 5847721 for orders.
Park Avenue Dessert
The brookie, a brownie-cookie, has also become everyone’s favorite. It has a moist brownie base with a soft, chewy, chocolate chip-like cookie, and a gooey, oozing, chocolate center. An absolute treat for the chocoholic, it is satisfyingly sinful.
According to its baker, chef Buddy Trinidad, “my brookies are a molten brownie recipe which ensures that it will always be soft and moist. Microwave it for five seconds and you will have a molten brookie.”
Buddy’s brookie, Melanie Chua says, is “talagang sobrang sarap!”
Buddy says more hybrids are coming.
Call 8526141.
Croissant-donut recipe
Chef Buddy shares his Croissant-Donut Dipped in Chocolate Ganache recipe.
- 1 k all-purpose flour,
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 20 g instant yeast
- 20 g salt
- 2.5 c water
- 2 pc whole eggs,
- 500 g croissant butter, (available at baking supply store)
Combine flour, sugar and salt.
Combine the yeast and the water in the mixer and whisk to dissolve the yeast.
Add the flour mixture and put on medium speed using the paddle.
Add the eggs.
Continue mixing till well-combined and smooth.
Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Roll out to three times the size of the croissant butter.
Put in the butter and fold over and seal; roll out once.
Roll out two more times, resting the dough 20 minutes in between each roll.
Roll out the dough to one inch thick, then cut with a donut cutter.
Let rise till double, then fry in 350-degree oil till golden brown.
Let cool on a rack.
Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
Top with dark chocolate ganache.
Ganache:
- 100 g heavy cream
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 20 g butter
Boil cream. Turn off heat. Add chopped chocolate. Mix with rubber spatula. Finish with butter.
