World Travel 2013-2014, Deliciously Decadent French Pastries

Ok, so this one is going to be a long post.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a serious weakness for anything that contains one of two things – chocolate or cream. Needless to say, it’s not really the best thing for you and recently I’ve been trying to retrain my tastebuds not to love sugar as much to stabilise my energy levels with all of the running around we’ve been doing (I’ve learnt the hard way it’s probably not so good to nearly faint when you’re roaming around).

Well, we had been wandering around Paris on our first day, checked into our accommodation and sleepily wandered around the area in search of food when we stumbled across the local boulangerie/pâtisserie.

Oh… my…

Plans ruined, and I don’t think my waistline will ever be the same again! Not all pâtisseries are made equal (hint: look for a long queue, it’s a good sign) but after a bit of hunting around we were able to find a number of pâtisseries filled with delicious goodies. So here are some photos of the delicious morsels we tried:

Trois Chocolat
This was the first dessert we tried in Paris, and I think it set the bar pretty high for everything else to follow. It was basically a triple layered chocolate mousse with dark, milk and white chocolate layers covered in a rich dark ganache. Super decadent and definitely not subtle with the flavours (this was a ‘punch in the face’ strength tasting chocolate, not delicate at all) but super delicious. Could have eaten it all… it was a shame I had to share…

Cost: 3.5 Euro.

Trois chocolat, Paris, France

Trois chocolat, Paris, France

The One Which Had No Name (we shall call you jam filled creamy cake)
I have no idea what this cake was called as it had lost it’s little name card by the end of the day when we picked it up. It was an interesting cake though with a pannacotta like consistency to the ‘shell’ exterior, and then inside was a biscuit layer, followed by something similar to whipped cream, a jam centre, more cream and finally the biscuit base again. Much more subtle flavour than the chocolate… but I have to admit I loved the chocolate one more!

Cost: 3.5 Euro.

Unnamed Cake, Paris, France

Unnamed Cake, Paris, France

Pistacho Eclair
Had to try this one just for the difference to a normal eclair. You just have to look at it to see why we had to buy it… it’s bright green! Not only that it was electric green inside! Personally, I didn’t really like the flavour, it tasted too much like marzipan but fortunately Takeshi liked it. A bit more pricey than other eclairs we’ve seen, but entertaining to eat.

Cost: 2.7 Euro.

Pistacho Eclair, Paris, France

Pistacho Eclair, Paris, France

Charlotte du Cafe (Coffee Castle Cake)
A special cake for Easter, this was definitely a treat! This cake easily fed both Takeshi and I and was spectacular to look at. Sugary sponge fingers on the outside surrounding a biscuit base topped with chocolate mousse, cream and coffee cream followed by easter eggs on top. Yum!

Cost: 4 Euro.

Charlotte du Cafe, Paris, France

Charlotte du Cafe, Paris, France

Millefeuille a la vanille Bourbon
Described as layers of caramelised puff pastry with a light Bourbon vanilla cream this cake was by far the most expensive cake we tried, but also one of the most delicious. This was definitely a special treat while we were indulging ourselves with hot chocolate at Angelina’s. The caramelised pastry was incredible and paired with the cream made for a deliciously indulgent dessert. Would be fantastic with a nice cup of coffee enjoying a beautiful view of Paris.

Cost: 8.9 euro

Millefeuille a la vanille Bourbon, Paris, France

Millefeuille a la vanille Bourbon, Paris, France

Chamonix
Had to try this while we were in Chamonix, after all it’s named after the town! This was a chocolate mousse cake sitting on a nougat base with praline and nuts on top. The mousse and toppings were delicious, but have to admit I wasn’t as keen on the base. Would have been nicer in my opinion with just a plain biscuit base.

Cost: 3.4 euro

Chamonix, Chamonix, France

Chamonix, Chamonix, France

Flan Natural
Rather nice, even if it is a more plain tasting dessert (custard with pastry) in comparison to others we tried. It had a rather nice texture and soft flavour making it very edible.

Cost: Around 2.5 euro (was included in a lunch set)

Flan Natural, Chamonix, France

Flan Natural, Chamonix, France

Chocolate Eclair
Can’t say I was super impressed with this one. It was alright, but the chocolate cream centre had been piped from the bottom of the eclair and hadn’t been covered by the icing, which for me meant that I kept poking my fingers into the creamy centre. Whoops.

Cost: Around 2.5 euro (was included in a lunch set)

Chocolate Eclair, Chamonix, France

Chocolate Eclair, Chamonix, France

Nutella Banana Crepe
Our last treat which we tried out was the infamous nutella banana crepe. This particular dessert had been recommended a lot by various people, and I have to admit it tasted pretty much how I expected it to – not that exciting. I’m not a huge fan of nutella though and find it far too sweet, or maybe there are better versions than the one we tried. Would definitely prefer one of the cakes over the crepes though, and have to admit after trying this one I’m not keen to try crepes again.

Cost: 3.5 euro

Nutella Banana Crepe, Chamonix, France

Nutella Banana Crepe, Chamonix, France

And just because I can, here are a few more photos of bakeries and chocolatiers that we either visited or saw during our time in France.

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