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From Cronuts to Croissantries: Pizza, Cookies, Brownies, and More in NYC

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, cuisine, culinary arts, foodies, pastries

Is the bagel really the star of New York’s pastries? Think again. Have you considered the croissant variations, ranging from pistachio fillings to pigs-in-a-blanket?

 Manhattan is known for being a bagel city, a pizza city, and could it also be considered a croissant city?


 Over the last twelve years, numerous individuals have directed their focus towards revamping the traditional pastry. From those early days onwards,
 Cronut
 , bakers based in New York have been altering butter-laminated dough to produce a variety of items ranging from Sicilian pizzas to various other dishes.
 Dubai-style chocolate bar
 pastry.


 To grasp the appeal of croissants, one must trace the path of butter,” asserts Gadi Peleg, who founded the New York-based bakery chain Breads Bakery. According to him, croissants serve as an incredibly versatile blank slate and represent the pinnacle of skill due to the intricate process required for laminating the dough.


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 He feels that the increasing accessibility of both local and international artisanal butter enhances the appeal of these baked goods, making them highly desirable items for pastry chefs and their clientele.

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 Despite the escalating costs of nearly all essential croissant components—particularly butter—a number of pastry chefs in New York are presenting highly unconventional versions of the classic curved bread.


 However, if there is one thing inflation cannot diminish, it is the enduring allure of a dish enriched with butter. This is particularly true when these dishes come in enchanting forms and tastes.


 In recent years, TikTok has transformed numerous visually appealing, short-run pastries into online phenomena.

<h3>
 The beginning
</h3>

 In 2013,
 Dominique Ansel
 Ignite the flaky rebellion at his namesake bakery in New York with the Cronut; this viral crossover of a croissant and doughnut continues to attract long lines during weekends.


 The resulting creations combined with the audience-generating force of social media have contributed to making New York a center for laminated dough innovations.

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 Lamination is an essential method used in making French pastries, which entails folding and rolling butter into dough to produce fine, light layers. The croissant stands out as the quintessential illustration of this process; crafted using yeast-based dough enriched with both sugar and plenty of butter.


 Peleg refers to Ansel's Cronut as such a "brilliant" creation that it made many people wonder, "How did I not come up with this myself?"


 David Zaquine from Sweet Rehab, a French bakery, notes that unusual croissants continue to be popular as they tap into people’s desire for both nostalgia and novelty. These pastries boast an “unforgettable” buttery flavor, a sumptuous mouthfeel, and offer “countless opportunities for creative reinterpretation,” which makes them beloved worldwide.


 In 2013, when Peleg launched Breads Bakery shortly before Ansel unveiled the Cronut, he presented a decadent and chewy layered chocolate bread.
 babka
 .


 In 2021, Peleg introduced a croissant-inspired black-and-white cookie. This treat features layered pastry enclosing a chocolate and vanilla shortbread cookie, topped with both vanilla and chocolate glazes.

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<h3>
 TikTok gold
</h3>

 In 2022, Scott Cioe, who serves as the executive pastry chef at Lafayette Bakery, hit it big on TikTok with The SuprEme—a croissant variation that is first baked in a cylindrical mold before being stuffed with flavored creams like their renowned Sicilian option.
 pistachio
 .


 The outcome has been frequent, sneaker-like releases accompanied by long lines; each day, Lafayette sells as many as 1,000 of the $10.50 coiled treats. Cioe now uses an astounding amount of 725 kilograms (1,600 pounds) of these per day.
 butter
 every month.


 In that very year, the croissant adopted an unusual form when Gautier and Ashley Coiffard presented $50 boxes of homemade croissant cereal at their compact bakery called L'Appartement 4F.

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 Now, the creativity with croissants is expanding even more broadly.


 Last fall, the Italian-American bakery Angelina hopped onto the Dubai chocolate bar trend.


 The daintiness of this item, priced at US$8, is stuffed with pistachio buttercream and has a crunchy texture.
 kataifi
 , or thinly sliced phyllo pastry, topped with white chocolate ganache and garnished with crushed pistachios and additional
 kataifi
 .


 When ZoE Kanan launched her New York-style Jewish bakery called Elbow Bread, she chose challah – a favorite in Central European and Jewish cuisine – as her signature dough.


 "This opened up a fresh perspective for me on how to experiment with it," she mentions, which includes crafting challah using the lamination method.


 The highest-demand item is Elbow Bread’s US$7 Honey Bun, weighing in at approximately 25 percent butter. She crafts each portion as a single-strand challah braid and finishes it off with a topping of vanilla honey caramel.


 At Sweet Rehab, Zaquine combines a rich American brownie with a delicate croissant. The outcome is a delectable brownie blossom crafted from intricately woven layers of gently chewy, alternating brown and white pastries, encasing a luscious, gooey chocolate custard core.

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<h3>
 Savoury improvisations
</h3>

 Moreover, there are some savory innovations. At Hani's, which features an American-themed concept created by pastry chef Miro Uskokovic, the upscale version of pigs-in-a-blanket stands out as the ultimate party snack.


 This item consists of a beef frankfurter encased in flaky layered pastry, complemented by a dash of zesty mustard and topped with a sprinkle of poppy seeds. At Time and Tide, their revamped lobster roll offered during lunch features a crunchy and light brioche bun that highlights its rich, buttery texture.


 At Somedays Bakery located in Long Island City, they have recently started offering the Sicilian pizza croissant. This substantial, square pastry is quite heavy.
 as a loaded slice
 made from laminated dough scraps that would usually be thrown away.


 Featuring pockets filled with flavored ricotta and smothered in marinara sauce, topped off with melted Cheddar cheese and fresh basil, this dish merges the sweet, zesty, savory depth of a traditional pizza slice with the exceptionally buttery crispness of croissant dough.


 If you're searching for a perfectly crafted, traditional croissant that isn’t trying to pass as a pizza, Somedays offers one as well.


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 The number of transactions with buyers from outside Hong Kong has increased over threefold.


 The article initially appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), which is the premier source for news coverage of China and Asia.


 Copyright © 2025. South ChinaMorning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

From Cronuts to Croissantries: Pizza, Cookies, Brownies, and More in NYC

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, cuisine, culinary arts, foodies, pastries

Is the bagel really the star of New York’s pastries? Think again. Have you considered the croissant variations, ranging from pistachio fillings to pigs-in-a-blanket? Manhattan is known for being a ba…

Meet the Baker Who's Making Millions With His $2 Sourdough Loaf

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, baking, bread, bread baking, cooking

Jason Geary has his mother confined in a secure, climate-regulated chamber. She resides in an enormous enclosure weighing around four tons when stationary.
 vat
 And is given a rigorous regimen of flour and water every four hours.


 He joyfully points out that she is approximately 45 years old and goes by the name 'Sidney'.


 Of course, he is referring to his 'mother' dough – the sourdough starter that serves as the lifeblood of his 119-year-old family bakery in Leicestershire.


 Or should that be grandfather dough as Sidney is named after Jason's late Grandpa, the man from whom he learned his craft, and it is something to behold.


 Volcano-like, it's an oozing, sticky mass of beige-coloured bubbles that seem to be trying to escape the cavernous container holding it all in.


 Every day, Jason and his team put aside 'enough to fill four family cars' – which they then combine with dough to kick-start fermentation for the next batch of bread. 'It's like a real-life Tamagotchi,' says Jason, 53, with a grin. 'Remember them? You have to feed it and really look after it, give it some love.


 'If you don't, it won't make the right bacteria, which would be a disaster for the bread.'


 You may not have heard of Jason, or indeed his mother dough, but you'll certainly know his bread: one million loaves of it are sold in supermarkets up and down the country every week.

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 Within a few short years, Jason's Sourdough has become the fourth-biggest brand in the nation, after Warburtons, Hovis and Kingsmill.


 But this is no lowly loaf. Such is the hysteria, it's become something of a bread-lovers' obsession – and a status symbol in middle class pantries.


 On TikTok, videos abound of empty supermarket shelves, as fans bemoan the bread – which comes in seven varieties – regularly selling out. Some admit to bulk-buying it when they find it in stock and freezing it, so they never run short.


 So what makes Jason's Sourdough so special?


 At £2 a pop, it's a far cry from the artisan breads sold at independent bakeries, with their hole-studded fluffy centres and golden crusts, which retail for between £4 and – if you want a 2kg sourdough from Gail's bakery in London – £13 apiece.


 Nor could it ever be classified as 'sourfaux'; the name given to budget sourdough breads commonly found in supermarkets, which use artificial yeast, preservatives and sugar to extend shelf life. Rather, Jason is making proper sourdough for the masses: using three basic ingredients to achieve the same tangy flavour but on a much bigger, more accessible scale.


 'My objective was to get a small percentage of the British public moved from everyday bread, full of chemicals and additives, over to proper sourdough,' he says.


 'I wanted to create sourdough for every day; not just for the odd occasion, an evening meal or a weekend treat.'


 As Britain's sourdough boom – part of the turning tide against ultra-processed foodstuffs and a return to wholesome, nutritious ingredients – continues apace, it's no surprise to see this speciality bread outselling sandwich loaves.


 Sourdough differs from other breads because it uses wild yeast and bacteria – found in the starter – rather than added yeast to make it rise, through a slow, natural process of fermentation.


 There are no added ingredients – just flour, water and salt – meaning it's linked with better heart health and blood sugar management, and the live bacteria is said to make it easier to digest.


 The UK sourdough market is expected to reach £230million by 2030, with spending rising 10 per cent year-on-year.


 The key to marketing it to the masses, however, as Jason discovered, was making slight adjustments to the product. His first challenge was reducing the size of the holes – a result of bubbles of gas during fermentation – found in sourdough bread.

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 'If you're making toast in the morning and you're spreading butter on it, the last thing you want is for it to drip through on to your trousers or your dress,' he says. 'We tried to minimise those holes by making the bread closer-textured. Some butter might still drip through, but it's not going to ruin your outfit.'


 He was also determined his sourdough would be sold sliced – music to the ears of anyone who's ever wrestled a bread knife through a stubborn, unbreachable crust. The crust itself was another focus. With supermarkets requiring a five-day shelf life, Jason's bread has to spend slightly less time in the oven than classic sourdough – making it less likely to dry out, but at the expense of that distinctive outer crunch.


 Jason isn't bothered by the tender crust; he mentions this as do many of his fellow enthusiasts who prefer toasting their sourdough. According to him, toasting brings new life to the components involved.


 Seeing how big the brand has become, five years after he launched it two weeks before the Covid-19 lockdown, is, he says, 'very surreal'.


 Currently, he has 770 employees, including 650 bakers, working at his two - and shortly to be three - multimillion-pound bakeries located in the East Midlands region. His business boasts an annual revenue surpassing £67 million.


 However, the Geary family’s ambitions were not initially as lofty. The initial bakery came into existence in 1906 through the efforts of Jason’s great-grandfather, Charles, who established it at their residence in Ratby, a small community close to Leicester. Following him, Jason’s grandfather, Sidney, managed the business before passing the torch to his own son, also named Charles. Raised in the same abode, Jason recalls that baking had been ‘part of the DNA’ within their lineage.


 "I would return home from school daily, leave my backpack behind, put on my white clothes, and head over to assist at the bakery." To him, the delight of his trade lies in this transformation. "It has an element of magic and mystery," he confesses.


 'Take a collection of components, blend them together, and after many hours, you'll have created something remarkable. That sense of awe still thrills me nowadays.'


 In 2005, he assumed the role of Master Baker and, aiming for growth, relocated the family enterprise to a new location in the neighboring area of Barrow upon Soar in 2009.


 By 2013, Geary's was making loaves for Aldi and had grown to employ 83 people. In 2017, they invested £15million in a second site in Leicester.


 And then, the following year, inspiration struck. 'I felt there was a gap in the market,' he says.


 'Sourdough was getting big, but not everyone has the time – or the money – to go to a bakery to get their loaf. I wanted to make it properly, the traditional way, but deliver it at scale.'


 The brand quickly grew beyond Jason's 'Straight-Up Sourdough' to rolls, protein-packed bread and the popular 'Ciabattin', a mash-up of ciabatta and sourdough designed to fit in a toaster.


 Today, on an industrial estate near Leicester, the bakery is busy.


 The process starts with Sidney, which Jason acquired from another baker 15 years ago, when it was already 30 years old.


 'The temperature and humidity, and how we ferment the final dough, is one of the secrets of the business,' he says. 'Everybody does it in slightly different ways.'

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 The procedure concludes once the bread loaves have cooled down, been cut into slices, inspected using automated cameras, and then sent off for packaging.


 It's a remarkably smooth operation, and it’s slated for replication at a new £35 million bakery facility in Leicester, where production will double starting next month.


 Regarding the person in charge, they enjoy taking the train to London and walking around pastry shops, gathering inspiration.


 I'm not only consuming our bread; I purchase various types of sourdough," he explains. "I enjoy talking with fellow bakers, observing their techniques, and understanding their methods.


 No matter what unfolds for this family enterprise, it appears destined—much like Jason's supermarket sourdough—to continually grow and prosper.

Read more

Meet the Baker Who's Making Millions With His $2 Sourdough Loaf

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, baking, bread, bread baking, cooking

Jason Geary has his mother confined in a secure, climate-regulated chamber. She resides in an enormous enclosure weighing around four tons when stationary. vat And is given a rigorous regimen of f…

Meet the Indian Baker Who's Making Millions With His $2 Sourdough Loaf

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, baking, bread, bread baking, cooking

Jason Geary has his mother confined in a secure, climate-controlled chamber. She resides in an enormous enclosure weighing around four tons when fully contained.
 vat
 And is given a rigorous regimen of flour and water every four hours.


 Jason happily mentions that she is approximately 45 years old and goes by the name 'Sidney'.


 Of course, he is referring to his 'mother' dough – the sourdough starter that lies at the core of his 119-year-old family bakery in Leicestershire.


 Perhaps it should be called "grandfather dough" since Sidney was named after Jason’s deceased grandpa, the person who taught him his trade, and it truly is something remarkable.


 It resembles a volcano, oozing out a thick, adhesive mixture of pale bubbles that appear to be struggling to break free from the spacious vessel confining them.


 Each day, Jason and his crew set aside an amount equivalent to filling four family-sized vehicles—this mixture is later combined with flour to initiate fermentation for the upcoming loaf production. "This process reminds me of a real-life Tamagotchi," remarks Jason, who is 53 years old, smiling broadly. "Do you remember those? It needs regular feeding and care, lots of attention and affection."


 'If not done correctly, it will fail to cultivate the proper bacteria, leading to a catastrophe for the bread.'


 You might not be familiar with Jason or even his mom Dough, but their bread is well-known: each week, one million loaves of it are sold across various supermarkets throughout the nation.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1Ck4CQ" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1Ck4CQ.jpg"/>

 In just a few brief years, Jason's Sourdough has surged to become the fourth-largest brand nationally, following behind Warburtons, Hovis, and Kingsmill.


 However, this isn’t an ordinary loaf. The excitement around it has turned into an obsession for bread enthusiasts, becoming a mark of prestige in middle-class households.


 On TikTok, numerous videos showcase barren supermarket aisles due to people lamenting the scarcity of bread, available in seven different types, which frequently sells out. Many confess to purchasing large quantities whenever it’s in stock and storing them in freezers to ensure they always have some on hand.


 What sets Jason's Sourdough apart from others?


 For £2 each, these loaves are quite different compared to the handcrafted breads found at local bakeries. Those special breads come with soft, airy centers and crisp golden crusts, selling anywhere from £4 up to as much as £13 for a 2kg sourdough loaf from Gail’s bakery in London.


 It can never be labeled as 'sourfaux,'—the term used for affordable supermarket sourdough loaves that employ synthetic yeast, preservatives, and sugar to enhance their longevity. Instead, Jason aims to produce genuine sourdough for everyone: utilizing just three fundamental components to capture the desired tartness while scaling up production significantly to make it widely available.


 His aim was to shift a small segment of the British population away from conventional bread filled with chemicals and preservatives towards authentic sourdough, he explains.


 I aimed to make sourdough part of my daily routine rather than reserving it for occasional use, such as dinner or a weekend indulgence.


 As the popularity of sourdough in Britain keeps growing—part of the broader shift away from highly processed foods towards more natural and healthy options—it’s not surprising to observe that specialty breads are now outperforming sandwich loaves.


 Sourdough stands apart from other types of bread as it utilizes wild yeast and bacteria present in the starter instead of adding yeast for leavening. This process relies on a gradual, natural fermentation method to achieve rising.


 It contains only three basic components: flour, water, and salt — which is associated with improved cardiovascular health and better regulation of blood sugar levels. Additionally, the presence of probiotics is believed to enhance digestion.


 The British sourdough market is projected to hit £230 million by 2030, with annual spending increasing by 10 percent each year.


 The secret to reaching a wider audience, as Jason learned, lay in tweaking the product slightly. His primary task was decreasing the size of the holes—caused by gas bubbles during fermentation—that appeared in his sourdough loaves.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CkihG" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CkihG.jpg"/>

 If you’re preparing toast early in the day and applying butter, the last thing you’d want is for it to seep through onto your pants or skirt," he explains. "To reduce these issues, we aimed at crafting bread with a tighter crumb structure. While some butter may still make its way through, it won’t spoil your attire.


 He was equally set on having his sourdough sold pre-sliced — a delight for those who have struggled with stiff, impenetrable loaves using a bread knife. Additionally, he paid close attention to the crust’s texture. Given supermarkets demand a five-day freshness period, Jason’s loaf needs to bake for a shorter duration compared to traditional sourdough, reducing the risk of drying out but sacrificing some of that characteristic crispy exterior.


 Jason isn’t concerned about the softer crust; he mentions that, similar to numerous fans, he likes to toast his sourdough, claiming this process ‘refreshes the components’.


 Seeing how big the brand has become, five years after he launched it two weeks before the Covid-19 lockdown, is, he says, 'very surreal'.


 Currently, he has 770 employees, including 650 bakers, working at his two - and shortly to be three - multimillion-pound bakeries located in the East Midlands. The business boasts an annual revenue surpassing £67 million.


 However, the Geary family’s ambitions were not initially as extensive. In 1906, Jason's great-grandfather, Charles, established their initial bakery from their residence in Ratby, a small community close to Leicester. After him, Jason's grandfather, Sidney, managed the business before passing it down to his own father, also named Charles. Raised in the very same house, Jason mentions that baking had been ‘a part of the family heritage’.


 'I would return home from school daily, leave my bag behind, put on my white clothes, and head over to assist in the bakery.' To him, the delight of his trade lies in the transformation process. He confesses, 'It has an enchanting and enigmatic quality to it.'


 'Take a group of ingredients, combine them, and after many hours, you'll have created something amazing. This thrill remains for me even now.'


 In 2005, he assumed the role of Master Baker and, aiming for growth, relocated the family enterprise to a new location in the neighboring area of Barrow upon Soar in 2009.


 By 2013, Geary’s was supplying bread to Aldi and had expanded to include 83 employees. In 2017, they committed £15 million towards establishing a new location in Leicester.


 The next year, inspiration hit him. "I believed there was an unmet demand in the market," he explains.


 Sourdough was becoming popular, yet not everybody has the time—or the funds—to visit a bakery for their bread. I aimed to prepare it authentically, using traditional methods, but also distribute it widely.


 The brand rapidly expanded from Jason's 'Straight-Up Sourdough' to include rolls, high-protein bread, and the beloved 'Ciabattin,' which blends elements of ciabatta and sourdough for a perfect fit in a toaster.


 Today, at an industrial area close to Leicester, the bakery remains bustling.


 The procedure begins with Sidney, whom Jason obtained from another baker 15 years back, at an age of 30 years.


 The climate conditions like temperature and humidity, along with our method for fermenting the final dough, form part of the trade secret," he explains. "Each person has their own distinct approach.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1CkdF6" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1CkdF6.jpg"/>

 The procedure concludes once the bread loaves have been cooled, cut into slices, inspected using automated cameras, and then sent for packaging.


 It's an exceptionally smooth operation, and it’s slated to be duplicated at a new £35 million bakery facility in Leicester, which will double production starting next month.


 Regarding the person in charge, he enjoys taking the train to London and walking around, checking out bakeries and gathering inspiration.


 I don’t merely consume our bread; I purchase various types of sourdough," he remarks. "I enjoy talking with other bakers, observing their techniques and methods.


 No matter what unfolds for this family enterprise, it appears destined -- much like Jason's store-bought sourdough -- to continually grow and prosper.

Read more

Meet the Indian Baker Who's Making Millions With His $2 Sourdough Loaf

DIWIDA.NEWS bakeries, baking, bread, bread baking, cooking

Jason Geary has his mother confined in a secure, climate-controlled chamber. She resides in an enormous enclosure weighing around four tons when fully contained. vat And is given a rigorous regime…