Raspberry Earl Grey

We continued our Cronuts adventure on Memorial Day since we were very excited about the May flavor - raspberry earl grey with earl grey sugar. We got it as an afternoon treat, and it attracted a lot of attention as we sat at one of the front tables since so many people were wondering how we managed to get one in the afternoon. A lot more people know about pre-ordering because of that, so guess we'll have more competition in the future!

M's review: Having just recently done the tea cooking challenge at the time we got this, I was curious to see how the tea would combine with the raspberry here. The two flavors seemed like they would go well together, but unfortunately, I didn't get any tea flavor at all. The raspberry though was very sweet and so good, but I love raspberries so I could just be biased. I thought it was a really good raspberry jam filling. I was happy with the raspberry flavor, but had just been hoping from more from the tea.

M's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) raspberry earl grey, 3) lychee rose jam, 4) golden honey vanilla

A's review: In my opinion, this really should have just been called raspberry. I got no tea flavor at all, and it reminded me of my failed Earl Grey cupcake idea. I don't know, maybe Earl Grey just isn't strong enough of a flavor to come out when used in cooking. Regardless, the raspberry jam was delicious, and I would definitely eat any donut concoction filled with that again. I don't know that I would need to get another Earl Grey infused donut, though.

A's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) lychee rose jam, 3) raspberry earl grey, 4) golden honey vanilla

February Cronut

Continuing our exploration of the Dominique Ansel Bakery Cronuts thanks to the convenience of pre-ordering, the February Cronut flavor was lychee rose jam with pistachio ganache. Since Cronuts are a treat, now that we've gotten them for a couple of months, we've decided that we should probably only pre-order for the months where we are really intrigued by the flavor. The February flavor was an absolute yes for both of us, so we happily put in the order.

M's review: I was really excited for this Cronut. I love lychee, I love rose, and in recent years, I've had greater appreciation for pistachio. My first thought biting into this Cronut was that the rose flavor was really nice, very floral, but from then on, the subtle flavor of the rose just got overpowered by the cream. The filling in the Cronuts is really rich and creamy, another reason I probably shouldn't get them that often. For some reason, I missed the fact that there was pistachio ganache and thought it was only the pistachios on top and thought the inside would be all lychee and rose jam without cream. I guess I was kind of confused about the flavor, but it probably also shows how little pistachio flavor there was. I did like the lychee part of this a lot, especially since it seemed like there was actual lychee jelly in it, sort of like the ones you would get in snack-sized containers in the big tubs at the Chinese grocery store once upon a time.

M's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) lychee rose jam, 3) golden honey vanilla

A's review: Unfortunately since the day we got them was so cold, by the time M got up to my office for us to eat this month's flavor it was cold and sort of tough from starting to freeze. That being said, the flavors were still great, and the Cronut itself was still good despite being slightly firmer and tougher. The rose flavor in the cream was very pronounced and offered a wonderful, floral flavor. The lychee jelly tasted heavily of lychee, and I think I found bits of actual lychee in there as well. The pistachio I didn't get as much flavor on. Yes, there were actual pistachios on top, but I didn't really detect a ton of pistachio anywhere else. This was really tasty, and I think it cemented the fact that we definitely prefer the fruit-centric cronuts better.

A's Cronut rankings: 1) blueberry elderflower, 2) lychee rose jam, 3) golden honey vanilla.

Cronuts We've Tried

June 2016: blueberry elderflower with lime sugar

January 2017: golden honey vanilla with lemon sugar

February 2017: lychee rose jam with pistachio ganache