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Cronut Craze Takes Over Charm City

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's something new that sweet lovers are craving.  It started at a pastry shop in New York, and now they're in Baltimore.

Ron Matz has the latest on the cronut craze in Charm City.

It's a foodie's dream. The cronut is deep-fried and served up for dessert at Regi's in Federal Hill.

It's a golden brown croissant-donut hybrid.  It can be filled and topped with anything, like vanilla mousse and blueberries.

Chef Mark Dunaway whips one up in about three minutes.

"They're a light and flaky pastry. It's not your normal donut filling.  It's more on the side of a dessert.  It's light and fluffy, something you're definitely going to share," said Dunaway, executive chef at Regi's in Federal Hill.

"My daughter tried a cronut from Dominique Ansel's Bakery in New York. She stood in line. She said it was amazing.  She told me I had to try it and I said, 'Are you kidding me? A cronut?'" said Alan Morstein, Regi's American Bistro owner.  "I tried it, I tasted it, I made it.  We've been doing it since the second week in June.  We can't call it the cronut for obvious reasons.  It's registered, so we're calling it the 'Why Not.'"

And those layers are taking a lot of diners by surprise.  It's a tasty treat for $5.

"I thought these things were never going to sell.  I said, 'What are we making fried croissants for?  There are donuts everywhere.' Then when you eat one, you're sold," said Dunaway.

"If a croissant and donut got together, this is their offspring.  It has the shape and appeal of a donut, but the flakiness of a croissant. So there are multiple layers of flakiness," said Morstein.

Regi's started offering cronuts about two months ago.  Customers can't get enough.

"I thought it was going to be a fad.  I thought it would be like the '80s, the hula hoop or mood ring.  But it just keeps building momentum.  So as long as the demand is there, we'll keep on making them," said Morstein.

In New York, some customers are standing in line for up to two hours to get their cronuts at the small bakery in Soho where the cronut craze started.

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