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Cronut knockoffs hit the shelves

Photo by Cathy Glasson
Photo by Cathy Glasson 

Villager reader Cathy Glasson spotted this latest knockoff of a cronut — the hybrid croissant / doughnut invented in May by Dominique Ansel — at a Stew Leonard’s supermarket in Connecticut. The South Village baker was wise to trademark the word “cronut,” since the peculiar pastry quickly became a global gustatory phenomenon, with cronut look-alikes popping up as far away as the Philippines and Australia. The Cro-Do is “162 layers of butter and dough deep-fried to golden perfection,” Stew Leonard’s boasts. Baked daily and for sale off the supermarket shelf, Cro-Dos are certainly more readily available than the coveted cronut — of which only 375 are made daily — and you don’t have to line up at 3 a.m. to get one. Sold in twos, they cost $3.99 (cheaper than cronuts, which go for $5 each) and can be found at three Stew Leonard’s locations in Connecticut and Yonkers. Glasson enjoyed the free samples. She said there were plenty, and there were no lines in sight.