The croissant has become so commonplace — and, often, so rotund — that one is apt to forget that the word means “crescent” in French. Now, the pastry’s shape has taken another hit with the introduction of the cube croissant, the latest social media craze sweeping the nation’s bakery cases.
Duck Island Bread Company in Huntington has hopped on the trend with two comely cubic confections, one strawberry and one chocolate. As Duck Island’s regular croissants are among LI’s very best, the bar was set high for what owner Robert Biancavilla calls his “croissant blocks.”
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The croissant has become so commonplace — and, often, so rotund — that one is apt to forget that the word means “crescent” in French. Now, the pastry’s shape has taken another hit with the introduction of the cube croissant, the latest social media craze sweeping the nation’s bakery cases.
Duck Island Bread Company in Huntington has hopped on the trend with two comely cubic confections, one strawberry and one chocolate. As Duck Island’s regular croissants are among LI’s very best, the bar was set high for what owner Robert Biancavilla calls his “croissant blocks.”
“I saw them on Instagram a few months ago,” Biancavilla said. “And I just figured out how to do it.” Basically, instead of rolling up a long triangle of dough into the traditional shape, he cuts the dough into four squares that fit, stacked precisely, into a lidded stainless-steel cube mold. Whereas a regular croissant can rise freely, the block is, well, blocked at the top by the mold’s lid so that all six sides are as flat and crisp as an army cot.
Impressive as it looks, a 3-inch cube croissant might be a bit ponderous to eat, but Biancavilla has solved that problem by piping in two layers of filling per croissant. The one filled with strawberry preserves and whipped cream is topped with more whipped cream and sliced fresh strawberries. Its dark consort is filled with whipped chocolate ganache and salted caramel and topped with ganache glaze and toasted pecans. Both are $7.50.
The strawberry and cream “croissant block” at Duck Island Bread Company in Huntington. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Biancavilla is happy to ride the cubic wave but regards these interlopers as novelty items. “We sell hundreds of croissants a day but only make a dozen each of the blocks — unless someone has special ordered them. It’s very labor intensive.”
Duck Island Bread Company, 212 Wall St., Huntington, 631-629-4848, duckislandbreadcompany.com. Open Wednesday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
