Taste spotting in Paris! French dessert and pastry

[naf]

Cake overdose yesterday! Ate 4 of them! I skipped lunch, while walking around rue Montorgueil, I ate 2 éclair au café (coffee éclair), the first one from Stohrer. It was a heavy weight éclair, the coffee cream filled the choux. The choux was well done, not too soft and not hard. The taste was more classic, on the sweet side. Price - 4,2 €

Photo: Foodspotting

Much lighter in weight (75g according to their website) than the éclaire from Stohrer, I found this éclair from L’Éclair de Genie had a comparative more complex taste than the first one, a mixture of coffee from Salvador and chocolate. I found the choux was slightly hard. While the taste was not bad with chocolate, it was not a 100% coffee éclair. Price - 5€

Husband brought home 4 cakes from Pierre Hermé.
Another pastry with coffee. Tarte au café was sublime, the coffee cream not only had the essential sweetness, it had also the necessary bitterness to give robust and lasting coffee taste. I would said compared to the other 2 éclairs, the PH coffee was a winner. The tart base was imbibed with coffee. Good balance of texture. This tart is always my favourite chez Hermé.

Tarte infiniment café Iapar Rouge du Brésil

Chantilly cream and ganache, both flavoured with coffee from the Brazilian Iapar Rouge.

Vénus - Breton shortbread biscuit, cake, confit of quince and apple flavoured with rose, rose mascarpone cream

Apple were thinly sliced, imbibed with lemon juice (quite acid) and a soft reminder of rose. Nice, but the lemon taste overwhelm a bit the apple taste, I like the crunchy apple and the contrast of the rest of the pastry and the spicy note of rose/quince.

Sensation - Crunchy meringue with hazelnuts, praline cream with caramelized hazelnuts, brioche pastry moistened with old gold agricultural rum.

Very nutty taste, for a while, we were confused if it was nut or peanut. The cake was a baba au rhum style moist brioche, it was a very sweet cake with a big slice of milk chocolate. Not my personal favourite, but I guess somebody likes nuts would love this pastry. I appreciate the use of baba as the base. Interesting.

Envie - Tender biscuit with almonds, blackcurrant compote, vanilla mascarpone cream with violet

The cake collapsed with the transport, it was the lightest among the 4 pastries, in terms of weight and sensation. Nice balance of the vanilla cream and the acid taste of the blackcurrant and raspberries.
PH cake is 7,20€ each.

Stohrer
51 Rue Montorgueil, 75002 Paris
Tel: 01 42 33 38 20
www.stohrer.fr

L’Éclair de Génie - Christophe Adam
2 rue des Petits Carreaux
75002 Paris
Tel: 01 40 15 61 07
www.leclairdegenie.com

Pierre Hermé
185 rue de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris
Tel: 01 47 83 89 97
www.pierreherme.com

[ElsieDee]

@naf - a French bakery recently opened in Pasadena, CA. I have yet to go (their hours don’t match mine) but friends say the savory eclairs (shrimp/avocado mousse and one with smoked salmon) are very good.

Are savory eclairs common in Paris?

FrenchiFornia - Pasadena, CA

[naf]

@ElsieDee

Are savory eclairs common in Paris?

I saw them in my éclair cookbooks, salmon, or recipe with cheese, but I have yet to see them in shops or in restaurants here.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

The Observer, my Sunday newspaper, today announces its annual food awards.

And winner of the “Best Producer” category is Bisous Bisous, a few minutes drive from me (and which I think I’ve mentioned a couple of times on other threads). Now, bear in mind, this is best producer, not just best patisserie.

Bisous Bisous | About

[naf]

Thanks for sharing, I found the price very correct, especially the pastries. The essential is that it isn’t far from home.

[naf]

I am lagging in write-up. Here you go, mid November’s visit in the 15e shop by Mr. naf. Des Gâteaux et du Pain, resemble more a jewelry shop than a cake shop. All black interior and the spotlights made the pastries look precious. From the name of the shop, you know they sell bread as well as pastries.

(Photo credit: atelierscreation.canalblog.com)

Mont blanc cassis - Shortbread, blackcurrant crisps, chestnuts, crispy meringue, whipped cream, chestnut. Usually Mont Blanc is quite sweet, the acidity of blackcurrant confit in this version contrasted with the sweet chestnut. A nice interpretation of a classic. My favourite

(Forgot to take picture, image from patisseriesparis.com)

Kashmir - Soft biscuit with almonds base, compote of orange and date perfumed with saffron, crème brûlée with saffron, and vanilla mousse.

Lemon tart

Claire Damon’s version with meringue beneath the lemon curd. Not for faint heart, her curd is very lemony, the sugar is found in the meringue. Usually French dessert is more of a balance of flavours, this one shows instead contrasts. I think it’s either you love or hate it.

Bread Couronne tradition - I like the burnt crust, smoky taste, excellent

Des Gâteaux et du Pain (2 shops)
63, boulevard Pasteur
75015 Paris - France

89, rue du Bac
75007 Paris

[naf]

Another Pierre Hermé autumn pastries collection visit, back in November, in his Paris 15e shop.

Tarte infiniment praline noisette - if you love hazelnuts

Shortbread pastry, hazelnut cake, crunchy and ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ hazelnut praline, smooth hazelnut cream, hazelnut Chantilly cream, roasted Piedmont hazelnuts.

Carrément chocolat - Layer of tender chocolate cake, rich chocolate cream, chocolate mousse and chocolate crisp, thin wafers of crisp chocolate.

Likewise, for super chocolate fans. (I will try to investigate which chocolate he uses.)

Satine - Pierre Hermé isn’t a cheesecake fan, this is maybe the only cheese cake in his collection -
Shortbread pastry, biscuit imbibed in passion fruit juice, fluffy cheesecake, orange marmalade, and light cream cheese cream

The hazelnuts and the chocolate pastry stand out among all the 3. Both are of intense flavours. Me too, usually not a big supporter of cheesecake, I usually find them too soft. This one is subtle, light and refreshing.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

@naf

her curd is very lemony, the sugar is found in the meringue. Usually French dessert is more of a balance of flavours, this one shows instead contrasts. I think it’s either you love or hate it.

Oh, I’d love it. The more lemon the better for me. And the pastry looks excellent

[naf]

Philippe Conticini is considered as an important figure in the modern French pastry. Back in 1994, he has invented the pastries in verrines, the presentation of vertical dessert inside a transparent glass using a spoon to scoop the layers of flavours and texture and have that in 1 bite. He is also known for his reinterpretation of classic pastries like Paris Brest or éclair. Chef Conticini opened his first shop Pâtisserie des Rêves in rue du Bac 2009. I remembered hearing a lot of him back then, his shop and the media has promised he would be as great as Pierre Hermé with his creativity. Then suddenly silence radio. I have read later that during this time he has been very sick. He recovered eventually but need a cane to walk.

Back around in 2014, I have bought his pastries in the rue du Bac shop, I found them alright but not exceptional, and didn’t quite understand the buzz. It was only reviewed later: for a few years he had became only the brand of his chain of shops, he was not involved with quality control of his creation. He was disappointed with the owner vision of business, and left the company in 2015. Towards the end of 2016, a new buyer took over the chain and re-invited Conticini back to involve in the company’s creation and daily operation.

Mr naf bought the pastries from the Beaugrenelle shop in the 15e, left bank of the Seine.

Russe - chestnut sponge cake, praline cream, liquid pure praline centre.
Love this, nutty in every bite with a silky cream, good balance with different texture

Tiramisu - the best I have eaten. Unusally, Tiramisu contains mainly of ricotta and can find a bit heavy. Here, you can see the consecutive layers, with crispy praline moka, caremelised crunchy almonds and slight touch of salt (fleur de sel) and didn’t feel heavy at all as a dessert. I would like to find the recipe.

Orange tart - not an easy pastry, orange doesn’t have strong character as other citrus fruit and was usually very sweet or bitter. You found a crunchy tart biscuit on it a thin layer of nutty sponge, on it with crystallized sweet and sour orange, with a smooth orange flavoured cream. Not bad at all if you like the fruit.

Paris Brest - A French Classic that you can find in nearly all the bakery. Here the Conticini version: with the extra melting praline cream and a liquid centre, the texture of chou pastry with streusel made this common dessert exceptional.

Grand cru chocolat noir - one bite and you can feel the different texture of chocolate, silky, smooth, spongy, crunchy…

I was impressed with Pâtisserie des rêves’ pastries, especially my first experience was quite flat and I didn’t expect a lot this time. A very pleasant surprise and a good one.

Pâtisserie des Rêves
Centre Beaugrenelle
12, rue Linois
75015 Paris

Other addresses in Paris:
lapatisseriedesreves.com/en

[naf]

After our last enjoyable treats from Pâtisserie des rêves (see last post), we would like to try the other creations from the same shop.

Mille feuilles - beautiful puff pastries with intense vanilla cream, simple and yet one of my favourite dessert, quite light and not too sweet.

Chocolate tart - Crunchy pastry filled with an intense and smooth chocolate cream, with a layer of hazelnut biscuit hidden inside the cream. Nice, but I preferred the Chocolate Grand Cru consumed last time.

Vanilla bûchette et citrus - Madagascar Vanilla was used in this Christmas dessert, citrus insert covered by vanilla cream

Vanilla grand cru - the base was subtly crunchy duja vanilla, on it a layer of vanilla sponge, then a black layer - creamy black vanilla filling, topped with white chocolate and vanilla mousse - a must for vanilla fans!

All of the 4 desserts were well executed, my preference were Mille Feuilles and Vanilla Grand Cru, both with intense vanilla flavour, light and a balance of sweetness. Great to confirm that in both degustation, we have no deception with any of the cakes (even though some flavours aren’t usually what I like), but the skills and the attention given to each dessert, thumbs up.

[naf]

My last 2 Christophe Michalak experience were positive (see post here and here). I was expecting to repeat the same magic with this degustation, but I have a mixed feeling this time.

Tarte K Gianduja - base was a soft chocolate biscuit, with a Gianduja ganache, topped with chocolate chips, caramel hazelnuts 7,2 €

The texture of this ganache had a wierd jelly feel as if I was eating a “flan”. Not a fan.

Note that on their site, the pastry has much more toppings. Their marketing team made splendid photos, but I feel they should be more honest and show the pastries they are really selling, the caramel cubes on the website photo was missing in reality.

Kosmik Yuzu - 6,90 €

It was alright, not particularly exciting. But I have to admit that I was never a big fan of Michalak’s verrine, I don’t know if it was because of the plastic packaging vs glass, I never had the same sensation as with Hermé’s verrines, for example.

Burger sucré - sweet burger: hazelnut and sesame biscuit (top), vanilla puff cream, caramel, chocolate glaçage, vanilla cream and crispy sesames - 7,50 €

My favourite this time, sesame taste was interesting and stood out, worked well with the chocolate and caramel.

Religieuse caramel beurre salé - 7,50 €

They shrank my favourite chou dessert, now they are miniscule! It used to be 150 g selling at 9 €. Of course I know that they have reduced the price, with 26 g less made a significant difference in feeling when eating. Now it felt like a normal religieuse found in a good pastry shop, the feeling of magic was gone. I feel they should exist in 2 sizes, maybe the bigger one on weekend. Give it a chance, I want it back!

See the original size here:

Taste spotting in Paris! French dessert and pastry

These days, I’d like to eat more traditional food, than new creation. Today - salted butter caramel caramel religious by Christophe Michalak. I know, now it’s the month of galette des rois. But doesn’t particularly want that today, want some normal cakes than another festival cake. The religious is simply E X C E L L E N T. We are very impressed by the pastry, it is done just right, not hard, not dry and airy, with the big choux filled with cream. I like this cake not too sweet and actually qu…

Overall I couldn’t say it was bad, but the “wow” effect I found in the past was missing, maybe I had too much expectations.

Christiophe Michalak Saint Germain
8 rue du Vieux Colombier
75006 Paris

[naf]

What I like about the dessert of Philippe Conticini, the flavours are frank yet they are still classical: for example if it is a vanilla dessert, it would taste maximum vanilla than you can think of (at times with different types of vanilla) and in different form and texture, pushing the ingredients to its limit but yet still remind loyal by not changing the fundamental of the classical aspect of the dessert. Good ingredients is essential, and a deep understanding of the classic to develop this reflexion. Good examples to illustrate this: Le Saint-Honoré, Tarte tatin and Calisson.

Le Saint-Honoré - A flaky pastry at the base, the chou were filled with caramel pastry cream, topped with a silky vanilla cream contrasted with crunchy caramel

An excellent classic revisited in form.

Lemon Meringue Tart - Soft and sweet meringue top contrasted with sour lemon cream. 6,80 €

I always find the meringue too sweet in a lemon tart, not this case, it was at the same time harmonious and complimentary.

Le Salambo

Tarte tatin - very impressive layer of melty apple with a flaky puff pastry 8 €

Opéra - intense taste of chocolate and coffee contrasted with an ultra crisp base, one of my favourite - 6.90 €

Calisson - More pleasant than a calisson, orange blossom favoured marzipan, orange compote buttercream and Swiss meringue with a lower crunchy almond cake. Complex yet good balance in taste. 8 €

(photo credit: lapatisseriedesreves.com)

Vanilla flan - flaky pastry base with vanilla pastry cream, a classic. 4.70 €

(photo credit: lapatisseriedesreves.com)

Pâtisserie des Rêves
Centre Beaugrenelle
12, rue Linois
75015 Paris

Other addresses in Paris:
lapatisseriedesreves.com/en

[winecountrygirl (Gwenn)]

@naf

The last cake is from Jean-Paul Hevin, a Goncourt Chocolat -

This looks so good I can’t even breath!

[naf]

I tried to find more information on this cake, I believe it was similar to Hévin’s famous Guayaquil. You should taste it if you can find a Jean-Paul Hévin shop, they exist now in many countries. The texture was interesting, not only the look.

[winecountrygirl (Gwenn)]

That opera cake looked great too, but I know where I can get that here!!!

[naf]

We were visiting La Goutte d’Or Patisserie by Yann Menguy, in the 18e. The talented pastry chef has worked in Masterclass of Christophe Michalak and as pastry conception chef in Ladurée before venturing in his own shop in 2016.

La Pavlova - lychee, rose water, raspberry, meringue and chantilly - 5,50 €

Le Citron Yuzu - lemon tart with yuzu. Yuzu added a complexity to the classic lemon tart, topped with meringue - 5,30 €

Le Gianduja - chocolate hazelnut - sublime! 5,50 €

Gianduja choclate icing, with a hazelnut cream, a disc of milk chocolate, moist chocolate cake, hazelnut praline, with a chocolate hazelnut biscuit as the base. Under the disc, there was a thin layer of chocolate chantilly.

La pomme soufflé - almond vanilla cream, pomme soufflé, almond praline - refreshing - 6€

Not to miss is La pomme, which is in the form an apple, which we didn’t see it this time. You can also eat in the shop, which is also a tiny salon de tea. Flan is only available on weekend.

La Goutte d’Or Patisserie
183 rue Marcadet
75018 Paris
Tel: +33 7 60 35 10 13

[naf]

The hottest “rock star” pastry chef in town, Cedric Grolet has just opened his first shop on 20 March, while keep his job pastry chef at Dalí, Meurice, which is quite rare. Don’t be surprise that the waiting line is at least 30 minutes minimum to get into the shop of Hotel Meurice.

Jewellery-like packaging

La pomme verte - 11 €

Granny Smith apple tart, aneth almond cream, apple granche, apple compote…

Tarte au café - 9 €

Very aromatic coffee cream

Citron vert - 17 €

Lime mousse, lime confit and marmelade with tarragon - quite acid, and not very sweet. You have the impression of eating a lime.

Noisette - 17€

Milk chocolate shell, caramel, hazelnut praline, cream of hazelnut with skin, dacquoise… very nutty taste, my favourite

Visually speaking, they are very impressive, that comes with a very high price tag.
Grolet signatures are sculptured fruit pastries which made him world famous in Instagram. The pastries selling in the shop were the past collection serving in the restaurant at teatime. Depending on your point of view, you need 50€ + to taste his cakes at the tea salon, so we might said it is a bargain now!

Taste wise, it is a bit complicated to describe and need some thinking. They are quite different from the usual taste from other pastries I had. Mr. naf liked them, noting the taste to be not too sweet. I find them very fine, delicate and original in taste, but I would have preferred the pastries to be sweeter, especially the lime. The apple tart I found it a bit bland. The coffee tart was good, but my favourite is still of Pierre Hermé. With the recent price tags getting higher and higher, it looks like Pierre Hermé is now a bargain! Personally, I would say the pastry of Grolet seduced more visually than the taste. If you like his pastries and up to some challenges, there are quite some French pastries blogs posting the recipes.

If you are going, be beware of the 4 pm closing time.

La Pâtisserie du Meurice par Cédric Grolet
6 Rue de Castiglione
75001 Paris

[Thimes]

Those are beautiful.

[naf]

Food porn!

[bcc]

For me food porn is jaozi.