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Friday, October 1, 2010
I opened a Pandora's box yesterday, in fact 2 of them...
I went to a preview tasting at La Maison du Chocolat for their Nov 3 La Nuit du Gateau event and you are ALL invited. So PLEASE mark your calendars !
They are celebrating their 20th anniversary by inviting you for a free tasting of their cakes including the New York launch of their divine eclairs
You will get to taste their exquisite 'Salvador' cake of chocolate + framboise. This is every bit as good as it looks and simply melts in your mouth...miam-miam
And the chocolate ganache tarte...
A plate of what we tasted...
And of course there will be MACARONS on Nov 3!!!
I left La Maison floating on a chocolate cloud...
Everything was chocolate as I walzed down Madison Avenue like this belt- a reminder I must show some restraint this weekend...
Dreamy chocolate shorts at Juicy Couture, with an emphasis on the keep dreaming...
Stacks of chocolate dresses at Morgan Le Fay-I must be dreaming...
Dior has chocolate boots, bags, leggings...
A chocolate mommie as wall decor...
A celebrity mom (Serena's mom, Kelly Rutherford of Gossip Girls) with her kids in tow wearing a chocolate feathery coat!
And a chocolate New York dog bien sur...
I'll remind you again when Nov 3 draws closer, but do mark your diaries.Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Correct me if I am wrong, but you will not see many white cakes in Paris. True I bought this creamy affair from Castelblangeois, thinking I would paint it. But your standard American white cake with icing (we're not talking wedding cakes) is hard to find in Paris.
Whipped cream up the whazoo like this pile of creamy delight from Angelina is another matter. This will never deflate instantly like your everyday Ready-Whip either.
For me, all these glorious whipped cream-filled Gerard Mulot creations do not count as white cake...
White eggs abound in Paris - here a giant white chocolate Easter egg at Pierre Marcolini. And the French are more prone than we to have an oeuf dur every morning with nary a thought.
Now the Japanese know how to make a good white cake and they aren't afraid to give it a French name like this St. Honore at Mitsuwa Marketplace in New Jersey.
The French can do no wrong when it comes to white porcelaine of course...
Mariage Freres' white teacups are perfection as is the tea within.
This bebe blanche too is la creme de la creme. Only the Italians can run neck in neck with the French in the area of exquisite baby clothes.
White cheese is another area of expertise the French have mastered from day one. Fromage frais de campagne sounds so much better than our Cottage Cheese does it not?
I'm inclined to say the French make the best yogurts or yaourt on the entire planet, but the Greeks might take umbrage with such a statement...
Wall after wall of white yogurt varietals are available in any French super marche. How anyone can choose is beyond me. PB readers often ask me to reccommend a nice Paris bistro. Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The famous l'opera gateau is not exactly unrelated to my Paris trip.
Sadly, I cannot report how it tasted.
The cake was first created by Louis Clichy in 1903.
But Dalloyau renamed it after the grand Paris Opera
and is reknown for their version.
I stole a shot at Galerie Lafayette Gourmet...
Every French patisserie makes a version of this popular multi-layered chocolate decadence.
L'Epicerie has their monster versions...
I would love to figure out why a squared cake in the US connotes an
office party birthday or a banana cake?
Where is the panache?
Where's the ganache? Humm...
Pierre Herme makes what looks like an opera cake but he changes the equation.
Called the Carrement Chocolat, it is not layered.
Inside is:
(biscuit "molleux chocolat", creme onctueuse au chocolat, mousse au chocolat, fine feuilles de chocolat craquant)
Well I see the word feuille / leaves, so maybe it is layered?
Help me out here..
I brought the petit four version home to paint...
There's nothing like the challenge of painting a square
on a rectangular piece of paper.
But I think I forgot to taste it...
Uh oh
These (20!) step-by-step demo pictures are from
the Meilleur du Chef.dom..
In case you're thinking you'd like to make this cake,
Dorie Greenspan has carefully documented Dalloyau's recipe in her yummy book,
Paris Sweets.
Here's what's inside the cake:
Giaconda biscuit
Coffee syrup
Coffee buttercream
Chocolate ganache
Chocolate glaze
Not exactly "a piece of cake" to make!
I think I better focus on the 20+ layers going inside my little suitcase...ahem
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