If you had asked how I felt about geometry when I was a high school sophomore preparing for final exams, I would have had an immediate and firm answer: “No, thank you.” But as soon as that geometry had anything to do with food, I’d correct my answer to “Count me in for all the research!”
Take cookies. You can make the same dough into round, flat spheres or lofty, square blondies. Or pizza. A grandma slice wouldn’t feel like itself if the pieces were cut into wedges rather than squares.
One of the latest baking trends takes an old pastry concept – croissants – and gives it a brand new look. Cube croissants are the latest dessert trend in London, New York City, and perhaps a shop near you.
BHG / Zoe Hansen
What are cube croissants?
According to the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), relatives of croissants have been part of the culinary lexicon since at least the 13th century. Austrian kipferl, a baked bread roll, was likely the first ancestor of the classic croissants. Around 1839, the doughy delight made its way to France, and for the first time, the term “croissant” was used to refer to the crescent-shaped bread. By 1915, a baker named Sylvain Claudius Goy made the now-iconic French pastry recipe his own by making the spiral with laminated dough. This technique, also utilized to create puff pastry, calls for folding butter into the dough to create delicate, thin, and flaky layers of pastry goodness.
While the original croissant is still a work of edible art, we’re seeing a tidal wave of new twists. Remember Dominique Ansel's cronuts, which drew lines outside bakeries worldwide about 10 years ago? Today, bakers are taking things up a notch and creating swirly, snake-like croissants, wildly-detailed spiral croissants, and perhaps the most eye-catching of all: cube croissants.
This food trend appears to have been launched in 2018 when Swedish pastry chef Bedros Kabranian used an imported Chinese mold to make his 10-centimeter-square masterpiece that’s now known as the cube croissant. They took off in London (and now worldwide) thanks to TikTok posts filmed at Le Deli Robuchon, which is a legacy brand of French chef Joël Robuchon. (The culinary icon earned 32 Michelin stars during his career before passing away in 2018.)
Sold as “Le Cube” at Le Deli Robuchon, cube croissants are also marketed as croissant cubes, cubic croissants, cube danishes, or square croissants. Sometimes, as is the case at Julien Boulangeries in New York City, cube croissants are topped with toasted meringue, chopped nuts, cereal pieces, or fruit. Other bakeries from Canada to California to Australia are now drawing crowds and putting their own riffs on the geometric goodies.
The process for making cube croissants is somewhat similar to a crescent-style croissant, but rather than rolled, the dough is cut into equal-sized squares and stacked prior to baking. (The look reminds us of our fan-favorite French Toast Cubes!)
The surface area to interior ratio means that the texture is one-of-a-kind; expect crispy outer layers and a delightfully buttery, tender, and fluffy inside. Speaking of what’s hiding inside, most croissant cubes are piped full of custard or cream in flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, strawberry, ube, or matcha.
Predicting the Next Dessert Trends
Now that cube croissants have burst onto the social media scene, expect to see them on a bakery menu near you soon. So what’s next in the world of sweet treats? We’re predicting a boom in vegan desserts, a rise in global inspiration, and more plays on classics (we’re looking at you, baked Alaska, fried ice cream, and chocolate-covered berries).
This article was written by Karla Walsh from Better Homes and Gardens and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
