“An abomination,” snaps a Parisian friend when I mention the croiffle, the latest croissant hybrid to hit our Instagram feeds courtesy, if that’s the right word, of Belgian chocolatier Godiva – filled with everything from chocolate to tuna and now available in its shop at St Pancras station. According to her, the only acceptable spin on the plain croissant is the almond version made from leftovers, drenched in sugar syrup, sandwiched with almond cream and rebaked. “Why gild the lily? Sounds British to me.”
In fact, Dominique Ansel, creator of the cronut, the pastry that started all this nonsense, was born in Beauvais, a city barely 75km from her apartment. The idea came to him in New York though, where, at the height of their popularity, these croissant-doughnut mash-ups were selling on the black market for $40 apiece. So long were the queues outside his Soho bakery that one infamous Craig’s List ad even offered fresh cronuts in exchange for sex.
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