Pastry chef Dominique Ansel invented the Cronut last year at his New York bakery. With its flaky croissant and custard interior and fried, sugar-dipped exterior, it was bound to be popular – but no one could have predicted the ensuing, pastry-flecked frenzy.Within nine days of introducing the pastry to the bakery's menu, Ansel filed for a trademark for the name "Cronut" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which was approved.After the release of the Cronut, similar products have sprung up throughout the world including some with different names such as the Kelownut, Doughssant, Crullant, zonut, and others.Dominique Ansel released an at-home Cronut recipe in his cookbook, Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, in 2015, for bakers to attempt in their own homes. Like the original pastry made at Ansel's bakeries, the process also takes three days.
