The cronut. It's not a croissant, it's not a donut -- it's both at the same time. The hybrid concoction that put the French pastry chef, Dominique Ansel's name up in lights, is still riding high among sweet-toothed aficionados. So much so that the cronut craze has now been forever immortalized in a limited-edition NFT series.
Nine years ago, in May 2013, chef Dominique Ansel introduced the world to a never-before-seen pastry that proved an instant hit, thanks both to a tasty recipe and to the hype it generated, leading to hours-long lines outside the pastry chef's New York bakery. The former Fauchon pastry chef had created a hybrid delicacy, with the flaky texture of a croissant and the hearty chewiness -- not to mention the filling -- of a donut. The signature creation has given rise to a number of flavors, from strawberry/lemon to banana to smoked caramel and burnt vanilla.
Now, the Beauvais-born pastry chef is bringing the cronut to the digital realm with the help of an NFT collection. In short, fans can own and keep a slice of the history of his legendary recipe for ever more. No less than 60 virtual cronuts are on sale via the OpenSea platform, as of Wednesday, May 4. Each pastry has a different flavor. The choice of varieties was previously submitted to a vote among Dominique Ansel's community. Each flavor has been offered in the chef's store at some point since its opening in New York.
These NFTs will give buyers access to certain perks, including one treat that's sure to be of interest to New Yorkers. Thanks to this digital certificate, they will no longer have to wait in line to buy their favorite pastry from the chef's bakery. A minor revolution for this coveted store, which also gained notoriety through its famously long lines.
Still, it costs much less to wait in front of the bakery than it does to buy an NFT cronut: prices start at $50, or the equivalent in Ethereum, the cryptocurrency used to make the acquisition.
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