The cronut craze (a doughnut-croissant hybrid), pioneered by NYC's Dominique Ansel Bakery, hit over a month ago. Despite a black market trade, a fan site, numerous knock-offs around the world and the subsequent backlash from Ansel, it hadn't invaded the Chicago area. Until now.

Elmhurst's Gur Sweets Bakery is the first local bakery to attempt to jump on the trend, calling theirs a "croughnut." Available Friday, pastry chef Rubina Hafeez has concocted two flavors of faux cronut for $5 a pop. A heavy dose of sugar covers her version and gooey vanilla filling oozes from layers of fried pastry.

It remains to be seen whether the local market will take to the faux cronut or whether you'll see cronut footage on some VH1 nostalgia show in a few years. Whatever the outcome, they're about to be available in the western burbs.
[Note: Chicago Pastry in Bloomingdale claims to be the first local bakery to offer the faux cronut, Dish reports.]
· Gur Sweets Bakery [Official Site]
· All Cronut Coverage [~E~]