Cruffins at The Bread Shop, Damansara Heights: Review

Cruffins have finally come to KL, courtesy of The Bread Shop, Bukit Damansara’s go-to place for pastries for the past six years. The inspiration to introduce these treats in Malaysia was triggered when The Bread Shop’s founder Peng visited Melbourne this month & found long lines forming at dawn outside bakeries that sold cruffins. As soon as she returned to KL, she began working out The Bread Shop’s own recipe for cruffins, which are being rolled out starting this week.

Cruffins are a cousin of cronuts, which Peng declined to serve at The Bread Shop. But she’s an advocate of cruffins, which are baked instead of deep-fried, making them comparatively less guilty a pleasure than cronuts. They’re no less enjoyable though – The Bread Shop offers three custard-centred variants, one with lemon curd, another with salted caramel, & the third chocolate.

As their name hints, these are croissant-muffin hybrids, baked into the form of large muffins & piped in with various fillings. Looks-wise, The Bread Shop’s are predictably a knock-out, with all the sugar-dusted, golden flakiness that foreshadows hearty folds of sticky-buttery, fresh-from-the-oven fluffy-crispness, at a bargain-hunter’s introductory price of RM6.80 each.

Bite into one, & all’s well with the world, as an irresistible flow of soft, smooth creaminess oozes out – our favourite is likely the lemon; its light, tangy subtleties supply an enlivening dimension of flavour that best complements the rest of the treat. But the salted caramel is simply lovely too (even for those of us jaded with salted caramel) – top-notch shadings for taste & texture.

It’s been years since we wrote about The Bread Shop, but in a world of inexorable changes, it’s remained comfortingly the same beloved neighbourhood bakery-cafe, bustling for weekday lunches & an oasis of calm for tea. You’ll still find the original Bananascotch pastry, plus lemony cupcakes, hot cross buns, croissants, scones, kouign-amann, various tarts & sandwiches (roast beef, smoked chicken, melted cheese & more, served with salads). Many thanks to The Bread Shop for having us here.