Coffee + croissant = the croffee

One of last year’s biggest food trends was the cronut, the croissant-doughnut combination created by New York chef Dominique Ansel. Out of its success, several other food hybrids came to life, such as the crookie (croissant dough stuffed with a cookie), the brookie (brownie and cookie), the croclair (a croissant crossed with an éclair) and another innovation from Ansel: the Chocolate Chip Cookie Milk Shot.

Just as I thought the list of food crazes couldn’t get any longer, I encountered the croffee—which, as one may have guessed, is a croissant-coffee pastry. This new hybrid is trademarked by local Filipino food chain Café France and is set to be sold in all their branches starting June 2.

The croffee technically is just a croissant. Its audacity in claiming its right to a portmanteau name is due to the very pungent smell of the brew that flavors it. The top portion of the pastry is heavily glazed with coffee-flavored cream lined with faint chocolate.

Cut it in half, and the croffee exposes the essence of this combination: a thick and rich chunk of coffee batter generously stuffed in the middle of the yeast-leavened dough. So this is not just a croissant with a bit of coffee flavor; it's a croissant stuffed with coffee in paste form.

Mary, a self-confessed coffee addict who drinks at least three cups of coffee a day, was impressed with the croffee. “It’s like eating a cream puff, but instead of that sweet cream oozing out, it’s the coffee mixture which is quite strong” she said.

When asked if the croffee can be a substitute for her cup of joe, Mary replied after some thought, “Probably not; [you don't get] the sensation one gets when sipping real coffee, but maybe the same jolt of caffeine.”

For a non-coffee drinker like myself, the mix is indeed heavy. But for caffeine enthusiasts, the croffee will not disappoint.

This new hybrid will sell at P45 per piece and is best consumed warm. — BM, GMA News