American Cronuts – the perfect combination of croissants and donuts

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• e.g. oil for frying
• 1 can of dough (croissant dough) from the refrigerated section
• 500 ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod(s), split and scraped
• 4 egg yolks
• 80 g sugar, white, extra fine
• 40 g cornstarch
• 500 ml whipped cream, whipped stiff
• 1 egg white
• 250 g powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 18 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 18 minutes

Prepare the vanilla pudding. In a saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla seeds almost to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl until frothy and gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the vanilla milk back into the pan and simmer until thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the pudding into a bowl. Place plastic wrap over the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Allow the pudding to cool completely. Then fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the pudding into a piping bag fitted with a straight nozzle, or into a plastic bag and cut off one corner. For the cronuts, preheat the deep fryer to 175°C or heat the oil in a saucepan. Divide the croissant dough sheets into 4 rectangles, pressing the perforations firmly shut. Place 2 rectangles on top of each other. Fold the two sides in around each other and repeat with the remaining 2 rectangles. Using a glass approximately 7 cm in diameter, cut out two cronuts from the two stacks of dough, then use a wooden spoon handle to make a hole in the center of the cronuts. Combine the remaining dough, roll it out, and cut out the third cronut. Fry the cronuts in hot oil for 1.5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain the cronuts on kitchen paper and let them cool for 5 minutes. Now you can either carefully cut the cronuts into two horizontal halves and use the piping bag to add a few dollops of pudding to the bottom half of the cronuts and then place the top half on top. Or you can use the nozzle of the piping bag to make small holes in the sides of the cronuts and pipe the pudding into the cronuts. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can also make small holes in the cronuts with a spoon handle and then fill the holes with the pudding from the plastic bag. For the glaze, beat the egg whites until light and fluffy, then add the powdered sugar and mix everything into a firm paste. Then add the lemon juice and orange blossom water. Finally, dip the cronuts’ surfaces briefly into the glaze, let them dry slightly, and then serve immediately. Tip: The remaining vanilla pudding can be served as dessert, garnished with fruit, if desired.