Dominique Ansel’s Christmas Morning Cereal – Worth it?
Christmas Morning Cereal?
It sounds very specific – Christmas Morning Cereal. It is a seasonal “cereal” that is offered in limited quantities in-store and online. The gourmet “cereal” blend consists of crispy puffed rice covered in Valrhona Caramelia (caramelized milk chocolate), smoked cinnamon Mini Me’s (miniature meringues), and candied hazelnuts. It’s recommended that you enjoy it with cold milk, over ice cream, with yogurt, or by itself. It’s also made in small batches, and is recommended to be enjoyed within a month of purchase.
My Exposure to Christmas Morning Cereal
I’ve been to the Dominique Ansel at The Grove to enjoy some cronuts (donut croissant hybrid) and the DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann), but I hadn’t heard about their Christmas Morning Cereal until a friend mentioned it to me. She had it the prior year (2019), and planned on ordering again in 2020.
Gift for Me and When to Order
My generous friend ordered many boxes when stock was in, and she shipped me a box for me to try. The bakery posts on social media when they stock Christmas Morning Cereal, and I think they started selling online early December. My friend was able to place her order then, but saw that it was all sold out later that day. They did restock a few days afterwards, but of course, it was sold out again the same day. A box in 2020 cost $19, and the minimum order to place is 2 boxes. Shipping is not free, and I think it costs close to $7 a box to ship to California, so even with a minimum order of 2 boxes, including shipping, you could be paying over $50 for 8 servings (4 servings per box) of cereal.
Packaging
OK, I was not impressed with the gourmet cereal packaging. It did come in a quart size milk carton shape, which was cute, but the material didn’t feel too special. It wasn’t a box that I would keep for display; I’d recycle it once I was finished with the cereal. The inside packaging was even less special. All the gourmet cereal was inside a non-re-sealable plastic bag, squished inside the box. It was a bit difficult to put the bag still containing cereal back into the narrow box, but it would have looked terrible keeping it out of the box instead.
Taste – the Important Part
The biggest component to the gourmet cereal was the chocolate covered crispy puffed rice. It was tasty, but what came to mind was “fancy Nestle.” It was very similar to a more concentrated Crunch bar mostly made of Crunch pieces, but with better quality chocolate. The small meringues were so adorable, and they were packed with flavor too – cinnamon and spices. I had not had a “Mini Me” from Dominique Ansel before, but I approve. It was a flavorful meringue. The candied hazelnuts were flavorful as well. I could eat the crispy puffed rice parts alone for a while, but I would need to have it all mixed together if I was having the meringues and hazelnuts.
With or Without Milk?
I prefer it without milk, but it isn’t bad with milk. It didn’t mix with the milk as well as other cereals I enjoy, but it does go extremely well with vanilla ice cream.
Overall Thoughts
It’s a bit tough for me to call it a cereal, but the more I think about it, it makes a bit of sense. Each serving (4 servings in total) contains 410 Calories, with 62g of Carbs. That’s a lot of sugar for such a small serving! Perhaps it’s called Christmas Morning Cereal not only because of the seasonal availability and Dominique’s tradition, but also as something to enjoy on a special day as it’s really indulgent! I expected a bit more based on the price (and shipping price, ugh, unbelievable). The packaging wasn’t great for the price, making the product looking less attractive than it should. I’m really glad I was able to try this cereal, though!
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