Dominique Ansel Bakery Is Selling Cronuts You Can't Eat

Are Cronuts still a thing? They sure are. If you thought that Dominique Ansel's famous Cronut, which soared to popularity in 2013 after he launched it for Mother's Day, was out, you'd be wrong. While the patented Cronut first inspired hours-long lines of sweets-seekers in New York, it spread across the U.S. with iterations in Nashville, Las Vegas, and Baltimore, among others.

While you may question if a Cronut is just a croissant, the answer is that it absolutely is not. As The Week explains, frying croissant dough in the way that doughnuts are fried is extraordinarily challenging and that's just what is necessary to achieve the doughnut-croissant hybrid. While the deep-fried dough would likely be delicious all on its own, the inside of a Cronut changes each month at Ansel's spot (via Insider).

Ansel makes a banging banana bread and a perfect pâte à choux, but his iconic Cronut reigns supreme. So what's all this about Cronuts that you can't even eat?

According to Food & Wine, after nine years of fame, the Cronut is now being reimagined in art form. On May 4, at 9 am EDT, there will be about five dozen non-fungible Cronut tokens available. Not only do buyers get the NFTs, but also special privileges like line-skipping, inside access to launches, and information about events. While this may be a way to lengthen the lifespan of beloved Cronuts, chef Ansel also believes it's a way to build community through hospitality.

Open Sea is the forum through which buyers can purchase NFTs. Chef Ansel's NFTs are available starting on Wednesday. The site is offering the NFTs with pictures that feature fan-voted favorites that they advertise as being amongst the most popular of the bakery's month-to-month options for the last nine years. Salted Dulche de Leche and Burnt Vanilla and Smoked Cinnamon are among the top options. Other choices are Meyer Lemon and Wildflower Honey and Strawberry Lemon and Verbena.

Sixty NFTs will be available, around the price of $50.