Croissants can come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the cronut, a doughnut made with layered croissant dough, and there’s the cruffin, made with laminated dough baked into a muffin pan. Now there’s the croissant cube, the latest descendant of shaped pastries that has made its way to Dallas.
One Wednesday every month, Empire Baking Company sells a limited number of golden, flaky croissant cubes out of its East Dallas location. Owners Meaders and Robert Ozarow and bakers Liz Bliss and Chris Cutshall were inspired by the Suprême, a puck-shaped croissant filled with cream from New York City’s Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery. But Empire’s version stands on its own.
Two faces of each croissant cube have perfectly layered swirls—so there isn’t a bad angle—and it’s filled with a decadent chocolate, berry, or vanilla cream. Toppings can vary, but each one is guaranteed to look exceptionally beautiful and taste delicious, according to Bliss. Let’s take a look inside.
• The cream filling: The pastry cream or crème diplomat flavors vary each month; Bliss says she likes to alternate between vanilla and chocolate. This one is blueberry.
• The dough: Making it is a three-day process. On the first day, the dough is mixed and left to proof overnight. The second day, it’s laminated with butter and proofed again. On the third, it’s rolled, shaped, and baked.
•The topping: Bliss makes use of whatever is available in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s dark chocolate with gold leaf flakes; pictured here, it’s white chocolate and blueberries.
•The pan: Bliss found the cube-shaped pans online. It took several weeks of trial and error to figure out how to perfect the bake and clearly display the swirled pastry from at least two sides.
•The drop: Croissant cube drops are usually once a month on a Wednesday. There are only 20 or so available at a time, and they’re all first come, first served. For the latest updates, follow their Instagram
(@empirebakingco). All cubes are available only at the East Dallas location for now. $15. 5614 E. University Blvd.
This story originally appeared in the July issue of D Magazine with the headline, “Gleaming the Cube.” Write to [email protected].
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