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Cronut creator Dominique Ansel predicts dessert trend for 2014

Cronut creator Dominique Ansel had a wild ride in 2013—his doughnut-croissant hybrid went down in history as a confectionary juggernaut, spawning two-hour lines, dozens of copycat recipes, an online pre-ordering service, and perhaps the world’s first dessert black market.So what does the New York City pastry chef see when he looks into his crystal ball for 2014? Veggie desserts. “I think veg
Chef Dominique Ansel packages Cronuts at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City.
Chef Dominique Ansel packages Cronuts at Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City.Today

Cronut creator Dominique Ansel had a wild ride in 2013—his doughnut-croissant hybrid went down in history as a confectionary juggernaut, spawning two-hour lines, dozens of copycat recipes, an online pre-ordering service, and perhaps the world’s first dessert black market.

So what does the New York City pastry chef see when he looks into his crystal ball for 2014? Veggie desserts. “I think vegetables will make a big play in the dessert world,” he told TODAY.com.

“There’s always been a fascination mixing sweet and savory, but I think this time around, it’ll be done to harness the sweetness of vegetables rather than slabbing bacon on some chocolate.”

He may be onto something: Chef Amanda Cohen’s vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy in New York City offers a celery cheesecake roll and rosemary eggplant tiramisu. Dominion Ice Cream in Baltimore offers several veggie ice cream flavors, including tomato, spinach or carrot. And this fall at Absinthe in San Francisco, executive pastry chef Bill Corbett added a spiced parsnip cake to the menu as well as a caramelized corn genoise, a cake made with corn pastry cream.  

As for general culinary predictions, Ansel adds, “I think steaming is a largely unexplored cooking method. Maybe that will be a trend? Or just what I’d like to explore next.”

Sounds healthy. Does this mean there could there be steamed kale Cronuts in our future? We’re guessing not.