Since dropping in his SoHo bakery in 2013, cronuts have been the most-talked-about baked good since, probably, sliced bread. Thousands of imitators have popped up across the world -- and we have some damned good renditions in South Florida -- but for the first time, Dominique Ansel Bakery is sending out shipments of the hybrid pastry for special Valentine's Day gift set. The limited-edition treats are available for purchase today, starting at 3 p.m.
See also: Ten Best Bagels (and Bialys) in Broward and Palm Beach Counties
Teaming up with Virgin Mega, the pastry prodigy has created the ideal gift for the dessert lover in your life. For $100, the #CronutIsForever gift set includes a one-of-a-kind handcrafted pendant capsule containing brass cronut flakes (seriously!), specially designed by Gabriel Urist.
But that's not all, folks. The package comes with two his-and-hers (or his-and-his or hers-and-hers) cherry cronuts. Like anything that comes from the sweets savant, this is not your average cough-syrup-tasting cherry dessert. The flaky pastry is layered with cherry-blossom ganache with sour-cherry jam and citrus sugar.
To get your hands on one, you're going to have to act fast. The gift set is only available through the Virgin Mega App and only 100 will be sold; 50 will be distributed to New York City residents, and the other 50 will be overnighted to cronut enthusiasts across the country. Delivery is guaranteed before or on Valentine's Day.
For each #CronutIsForever set sold, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank for New York City to help fight hunger. Every $1 donated will help provide five meals for New Yorkers in need.
To make it happen, Ansel will be using Virgin Mega's new "line" technology that allows customers to wait in line on their phone and earn "jumps" by engaging with the line community. So, everyone has a fair chance to win, no matter where you started in the line. (Our guess is you'll still want to start early.) It can be downloaded through the Apple App store or, for Android, the Google Play store.
And if you're looking to get some face-to-face time with the pastry wizard himself, he'll be making an appearance at next weekend's South Beach Wine and Food Festival on Saturday, February 21, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Death by Chocolate: A Dessert Party hosted by Dominique Ansel. Admission is $125; tickets are still available. Visit sobefest.com/ansel.
Again, sales start today at 3 p.m.
Follow Sara Ventiera on Twitter, @saraventiera.
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