Meet the Cruffins!
Leave it to Casper & Gambini’s to deliver fresh, bold,
and consistently delicious ideas. Their latest novelty is a cruffin, a
fusion of croissant and muffin that owes its origins to various bakeries in
North America. Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco popularized and
trademarked the cruffin, and its demand soared following the worldwide
phenomenon known as the cronut: half croissant, half donut.
But back to Lebanon’s own Casper, who this year celebrates
20 years of business across the Middle East. Today it released a three-member
family of cruffins, dubbed Blueberry Heaven, Sweet Vanilla, and Simply Nutella.
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| Casper & Gambini's new line of cruffins |
First, the pastry, which is formed by proving and baking
laminated dough in a muffin mold. Allowed to cool, it is then hollowed out to
be piped with three superb fillings.
You’ll immediately notice that the cruffin
doesn’t suffer from a flaky, buttery consistency as does its parent, the croissant. Sure,
the layers are conspicuously there, but the texture is cakier, stemming from its
muffin pedigree. The result is one incredible pastry I’d readily take any
day over croissant or muffin.
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| Aerial view (from top): Blueberry Heaven, Sweet Vanilla, and Simply Nutella |
My favorite comes filled with the blueberry coulis, a
not-too-rich reduction of pureed and cooked fruit accompanied by four fresh berries.
Next up is Sweet Vanilla, featuring a core and crown of
crème patissière adorned with a vanilla pod. This, too, is faultless.
Simply Nutella is far from simple; in fact, it’s sumptuous,
silky, strong, and cloyingly sweet. You need a full kettle of tea or coffee to
help wash that decadence down, decked with four whole roasted hazelnuts. I can see this one going over well with the
little ones.
Cruffins are priced in the 6,000 LL (USD 4) range, which for
an in-house experience at Casper’s smartly-staffed eateries is rather reasonable.
They’re served all day, but in my book, they’re ideal candidates for the Dessert
for Breakfast Club. Make sure you try one (or all three!), because no one else
in Lebanon is churning them out.
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| One more snapshot for the win! |
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Tried them and was satisfied. But seriously the size of the Cruffin is small relatively to its price (6250L.L.)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know what you mean. I think as customers, we will never be satisfied with the prices we are charged. But I guess you're paying for the service, the premium ingredients, and the whole dine-in experience.
DeleteConsider this: Starbucks charges 5,000 LBP for a muffin and up to 8,000 LBP for a slice of cake, and Starbucks is a casual, drop-in, self-service coffee shop. So for C&G to charge 6,250 LBP for a dessert novelty, complete with waiter service, tableware, and gourmet ingredients, it's reasonable.