Dominique Ansel’s famous, swiftly selling Cronut paved way for more creativity, inspiring London bakers to create dessert hybrids and unique treats for adventurous sweet tooth seekers. From cruffins to crodoughs to titty cakes and squishies, these strange-sounding London desserts are seriously one-of-a-kind…
Biskie: Cutter & Squidge
A cross between a cookie, cake and biscuit, Biskies are small sandwiches filled with buttercreams, refreshing jams, sticky-sweet sauces and even whole brownies. Cutter & Squidge offers many different flavours but the billionaire biskie wins the gold medal: two chocolate biscuits wrapped around digestive biscuit buttercream, salted caramel and a crunchy chocolate bar in the middle (known as the dream bar), the finishing touch is nothing other than another slice of that dream bar with 24k gold.
Address: 20 Brewer St, London W1F 0SJ
Crodough: Rinkoff Bakery
The East London take on the Cronut (a croissant-meets-doughnut concoction), Rinkoff Bakery brings out Crodoughs in extra fun flavours. Nutella and marshmallow, toffee apple crumble with a comforting filling of apple compote or dulce de leche with an abundance of white chocolate chips – it’s crispy on the outside and all gooey in the middle.
Address: 224 Jubilee St, London E1 3BS
Birthday cake truffles: SE Cakery
All the flavours from birthday cake in a tiny, two-bite treat, SE Cakery makes it happen with their birthday cake truffles. Baked with lots of sprinkles into the truffle, it’s soft with a crunch, sweet and so more-ish – with a thick coating of white chocolate and more sprinkles to finish.
Address: 20 Upland Rd, London SE22 9EF
Cookie Cup: Blondies Kitchen
Not a cupcake nor a cookie, cookie cups are like a hybrid of both yet completely unique in flavour and appearance. No frostings swirled on top, but Blondies Kitchen creates seasonally-changing fillings from apple to mince pie, in a cup made from cookie dough – soft and chewy, buttery with crunchy edges, it’s cookie-and-pie in a cup.
Address: Selfridges Food Hall, 400 Oxford St, London W1C 1JT
Titty Cake: Chin Chin Dessert Club
Shaped like a boob with a silver leaf on top, the Titty Cake is Chin Chin’s take on classic birthday cake flavours. A soft vanilla cake covered in Tonka bean buttercream and a thick layer of super sweet, pastel-pink fondant, it has chunky raspberry jam in the centre and whichever Chin Chin extra you want on the side — it’s time to let your titty swim in raspberry sauce.
Address: 54 Greek St, London W1D 3DS
Squishy: Pearl & Groove
Gooey like a brownie, crunchy like cookies with all the goodness in between, Pearl & Groove does so-called squishies that are completely gluten free. It’s a multi-layered sandwich unveiling surprises bite after bite, from the soft brownie-like biscuits to the refreshing cream cheese buttercream to the spread of seriously glossy chocolate and biscuit crumbs to boot – it’s squishy and rich.
Address: 341 Portobello Rd, London W10 5SA or 30 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE
Cruffin: Caravan
On the counter in Fitzrovia for coffee pairings to go, Caravan creates ever-changing cruffins – a muffin-shaped pastry that is flakey and crisp like croissants – in fancy flavour combinations. Coffee stout chocolate with orange marmalade or almond pastry cream encased in rose jam, it’s either seasonal or created in collaboration with other London chefs.
Address: 152 Great Portland St, London W1W 6AJ
