Vegan MoFo 2019 Day 5 - Not a Cronut
/Welcome to Vegan MoFo Day 5! Today’s prompt is pastry! This presented the perfect opportunity to check another millennial dish off my list - cronuts!
But First, Salad!
I totally ate a nice big salad before diving into this experiment in pastry goodness. Today’s salad was brought to us by Urban Remedy. All of their vegan foods are incredible, but the Tahini Bowl is my favorite by far. The raw falafel seed mix is so so so good. I wish I could add it to everything. I’d eat it by the handful. I also really love the “Made With Care” stickers that they use to seal the container. Definitely give Urban Remedy a try if you ever have the chance!
And now, back to the cronut!
Apparently cronuts are trademarked by the creator and they’re aggressively suing anyone in the country who sells “cronuts” so people have been coming up with all sorts of crazy alternative names. Some of the more popular are Doissant, Doughssant, Crescent Doughnut, and my personal favorite, NotaCronut.
My version is made out of puff pastry, so I’m thinking we should call it a puffnut. Feel free to name yours anything you’d like. I experimented with a variety of methods, but ultimately settled on one adapted from Nish Kitchen. These puffnuts are baked, plus the glaze is made from fresh blackberries, so you won’t even feel guilty after eating one (or two or three!).
Ingredients
For Puffnut
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed (Pepperidge Farms brand is vegan)
1/4 cup Just Egg
For Raspberry Glaze
About 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. nondairy butter (I prefer Earth Balance)
Directions
Unfold puff pastry sheet on cutting board.
Brush with Just Egg and fold sheet back into thirds (like it was packaged). Brush top with Just Egg.
Repeat with second sheet.
Use a large cookie cutter to cut 3 circles out of each pastry sheet. Use a small cookie cutter (or piping nozzle) to cut out smaller circles from the center of each large circle.
Arrange the circles on a lined baking tray. Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes.
While baking, prep glaze. In an electric mixer, combine butter and lemon juice and berries (reserve a few for decorating if desired) on medium speed. Turn down to a low speed and add the powdered sugar slowly, a quarter cup at a time.
Dip puffnuts in glaze or drizzle glaze over them with a spoon.
I tried baking the holes too, but they turned into weird little puff fingers. My husband loved them and said it was like eating a cronut cheeto. Your mileage may vary.
I’ve never had a real cronut so I don’t know how they compare. I personally think this recipe is a keeper though! This was also my first time using Just Egg as an egg wash substitute and it worked brilliantly. I can’t wait to experiment with it in other recipes.
