The cronut is, of course, the famous cross between a croissant and doughnut. They're made with flaky croissant dough, but shaped and filled like a doughnut. They were first invented by French pastry chef Dominique Ansel at his New York bakery. Cronuts have now become so popular that bakeries across the world, from Tokyo to Barcelona, have been replicating them. Of course, Ansel has trademarked the name ‘cronut' so now you may see them referred to as doughsánts or even scronuts.
The duffin is a mash-up between a doughnut and a muffin. It was said to have been created by the famous London bakery – Bea’s of Bloomsbury (now sadly closed). It’s a sticky, cakey sort of doughnut, made with buttermilk and nutmeg, and injected with raspberry jam. Starbucks, however, has also claimed that its supplier Rich’s Products invented these jammy concoctions, and coined the name 'duffin'. Whichever one is the truth, it's clear to see these sticky treats have become incredibly popular.
Sometimes referred to as a boughnut, a bagnut or even a dogel, some say the dagel (a bagel and doughnut creation) was the brainchild of The Doughnut Project in New York, while others claim it was based on an old Portuguese recipe for malasadas. The Doughnut Project sells an Everything Doughnut, slathered in cream cheese and topped with poppy and sesame seeds (pictured). You can now find dagels in bakeries across the US.
A croissant and a pretzel mix, these chewy brown croissants are made by covering croissant dough in lye and sprinkling them in flakes of salt. No one is quite sure who invented them, however they have mostly been associated with Coyle's Bakeshop in Seattle, where they have become a hit with customers.
And now of course comes the cragel – a croissant and bagel fusion. It is said to have first been created at The Bagel Store (the inventor of the rainbow bagel) in Brooklyn, New York. The owners claim they have all the characteristics of a bagel, yet with the flaky texture of a croissant. It’s buttery, flaky, chewy and sticky all at the same time and is often topped with savoury ingredients.
Not quite a macaron and not quite a meringue, macaringues are sweet almond-flavoured meringues filled with whipped cream and various fruity ingredients. They were created by confectionery company Lees of Scotland, which also makes snowballs, teacakes and meringues. Macaringues are no longer available in major supermarkets but they can be sourced online for those who are big fans.
The brookie combines two of everyone’s favourite baked goods – cookies and brownies. It’s either a brownie topped with crunchy cookie, or a cookie topped with gooey brownie. It’s not clear who invented the brookie, as recipes can be found all over the internet and versions are also sold by various pizza chains, however one man who's credited with having made them more popular is Jovon English. Owner of Milk + Brookies in Los Angeles, Jovon even tried to pitch them on Shark Tank.
A fusion between a tart and a brownie, the Townie was another invention by the now shuttered Bea’s of Bloomsbury in London. It was created after the ‘duffin’ battle with Starbucks, when the Evening Standard newspaper challenged the bakery to come up with something new. It’s a gooey brownie encased in a crispy pastry case... what's not to love (if you can find them, that is)?
An Italian cannoli and doughnut hybrid, the donnoli is a doughnut filled with sweet ricotta cream. It’s hard to say who created it first, but it has often been attributed to John Colosi from Frangelli’s Bakery in Philadelphia. Other places that have become well known for their donnolis include Big Vinny's Bakery (formerly Vaccaro’s Bakery) in New Jersey and Alidoro in New York.
The wonut is a part waffle, part doughnut. It’s smaller than a normal waffle, is round in shape and then fried like a doughnut, before being glazed and sprinkled with toppings. The wonut was created by Alex Hernandez at Waffles Café in Chicago, where they used to be one of the most popular offerings before the joint closed a few years ago.
Is it a croissant? Is it a muffin? No, it’s a cruffin. The cruffin is croissant pastry baked in the shape of a muffin, and sprinkled in sugar before other toppings are added. It is said to have first been created by Foxcroft & Ginger bakery in London, however some also claim that it’s based on an old French recipe. They became incredibly popular in the US when San Francisco bakery Mr. Holmes Bakehouse started making them.
From the cruffin and the duffin to the bruffin (oh dear, this is beginning to sound a bit like a Dr. Seuss book!). A bruffin is in fact a brioche muffin cross, with various sweet or savoury flavours swirled into them. Surprisingly, the bruffin came even before the cronut – only not many people knew about it back then. It was first created by Michael Bagley and Medy Yousef from The Bruffin Shop in New York.
A croissant-éclair hybrid, the croclair is made from croissant pastry, but is long like an éclair. Also, like the French pastry, it’s filled with various flavoured creams and topped with more cream or icing. Several bakeries claim to have created the croclair, including Jason Bakery in Cape Town, South Africa and Baked Dessert Cafe in Maryland, US.
These doughnut-shaped macarons were invented by famous French pastry chef François Payard for Macaron Day in New York, when customers can receive free macarons at participating bakeries across the city. They are essentially macarons with holes in the middle and covered in sprinkles. They can now be found in cities from Paris to Melbourne.
The scuffin is a scone-muffin hybrid – muffin in shape, yet with a slightly crumbly scone texture and filled with fruit jam. They were made famous by Frog Hollow Farm, which sells its produce at farmers' markets across the Bay Area in California. Another popular spot to find them is 9Bar HNL in Honolulu, Hawaii where they are more scone-shaped and come in wacky flavours such as matcha green tea.
A macaron marshmallow cross, the mallomac is a crunchy macaron with a marshmallow base encased in a chocolate shell. It was created by Dana's Bakery in New York and became so on-trend that it's been mentioned everywhere from The New York Times to morning talk shows on TV.
There's no fancy name here – it's simply a pie and a shake. This popular trend sees classic American pies being whizzed up to create milkshakes. They work best with traditional pie flavours such as pecan, apple, pumpkin and blueberry, but can be made with any of your favourite pies. They were made famous by Polly's Pies restaurants, which can be found across southern California, but are also very popular in Portland cafés such as Pacific Pie Co., Shari’s Café and The Pie Spot.
This waffle-muffin creation is waffle in shape, but is made from mini muffins and is filled and topped like a muffin too. The muffle however is not a new creation, it has been a popular dessert in places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore for years. In Asia, they are better known as bubble waffles or egg waffles. This trend has really caught on and now you can find them everywhere from Australia and the US to Spain.
There are a couple of versions of the croissant-cookie combo out there – one is a freshly baked croissant stuffed with an Oreo cookie, and the other is a small cookie made from croissant pastry. The first was invented by pastry chef Olivier Jansen-Reynaud in Toronto, while the other could once have been found at the now permanently closed Pressed Flour bakery in West Virginia.
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The coffee cone is part ice cream cone and part espresso coffee. The inside of the waffle cone is coated in layers of chocolate so that the coffee won't drip through. It's said to have been invented by Dayne Levinrad from The Grind Coffee Company in Johannesburg, South Africa. The coffee cone can now be found everywhere from Australia to the US.
Cake pops have been around for a while and have become a favourite of the hybrid bakes across the world. A cake-lollipop mix, cake pops are now popular photogenic treats at weddings, birthdays and other events. They were invented by baker Angie Dudley, nicknamed Bakerella, in 2008.
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There’s no catchy name here, just the fusion of two favourites – churros and cheesecake. Churros are of course the long sugary doughnuts associated with Spain, while cheesecakes are one of the US’ most popular desserts. Crunchy churros with cheesecake filling, they're topped with cinnamon sugar and were originally invented in Mexico, but are now popular across the US and Canada.
As you'd expect, this is exactly what its name suggests – a classic fruit-filled pastry pie encased in, topped or placed on a piece of sponge cake. As there are so many recipes online for pie cakes, from everyone including Martha Stewart to Betty Crocker, it's hard to say who actually invented them. The now permanently closed PieCake bakery in Portland, however, claimed to have thought up the idea.
There are several different theories as to what a chonut actually is – many people consider it to be doughnut-churro mix, which resembles a doughnut hole and is a little more fritter-like and crispier than a regular doughnut. However, one US restaurant in New Jersey, Kimchi Smoke Barbecue, claims that it coined the word 'chonut' for its sandwich. According to the restaurant, a chonut is filled with short ribs, bacon, cheese, kimchi and is served in a glazed doughnut bun (pictured).
The ultimate dessert combo – a cross between any and every type of your favourite bakes, piled on top of a milkshake. You can find freakshakes topped with everything from brownies and cookies to sugary pretzels, doughnuts and ice cream. They were first created at the Patissez Cafe in Canberra, Australia and since then have taken the world by storm. They are particularly popular in New York, London and Singapore.