Founded in 1761, A la Mère de Famille, is Paris’s oldest sweets shop. With its period exterior and furnishings, the store on rue du Faubourg Montmartre is like a time capsule, filled with traditional sweets of all kinds: artisanal chocolates, jams, candied fruit, calissons, marrons glacés and teas from around the world line its shelves … Continue reading “Bûche à Oreilles” from A la Mère de Famille
“I wanted this year’s collection to be simple and mysterious. A structured combination of crunch, crackle and smoothness in streamlined shapes,” Brussels-based chocolatier Pierre Marcolini writes on his website. And indeed it is. Pierre Marcolini has created a collection of “sphere-themed” Christmas chocolates, inspired, he explains, by the spirit of sharing and family get togethers during the … Continue reading Pierre Marcolini Noël 2012 Christmas Collection
Florentines (florentins), the crunchy almond cookies with a chocolate base, are said to have been introduced to France during the reign of King Louis XII (1462-1515). King Louis’s second wife was Anne, Duchess of Brittany (1477-1514). A master pastry chef who had worked for the Medici family in Florence came to visit the couple in … Continue reading The florentine, a 16th-century cookie fit for a queen
One of this year’s most distinctive bûches de Noël can be found at the upscale Hôtel Le Burgundy, in Paris’s 1st arrondissement. This limited-edition chocolate dessert is in fact an edible replica of the hotel’s colourful bar, painted by artist Véronique Charpy. It features a chocolate and chestnut sacher sponge, delicate mandarine jelly and cognac mousse topped … Continue reading Bûche de Noël “Le Burgundy”
Founded in 1802, Maison Dalloyau is one of the oldest pastry shops in Paris. Charles Dalloyau, personal chef to King Louis XIV, was the first in a long line of Dalloyau family members to master the art of pâtisserie, long before the company that bears the family name was born. In fact, the Dalloyau family’s descendants … Continue reading Dalloyau Noël 2012 Christmas Collection
Since his arrival in Paris from Tokyo in 1991, Sadaharu Aoki has established himself as one of Paris’s top pastry chefs and chocolatiers. His creations artfully combine the aesthetics and flavours of traditional Japanese confections with classic French pâtisserie. Chef Aoki has won numerous awards both in France and Japan. He was recently awarded 5 bars … Continue reading Sadaharu Aoki Noël 2012 Christmas Collection
The invention of madeleines, the small, rich shell-shaped cakes popular throughout France, is believed to date back to the 18th century, when they were first made in the town of Commercy (Lorraine region). In 1755, Madeleine Paulmier, a servant of the marquise Perrotin de Baumont, is said to have created some little scallop-shaped cakes for … Continue reading Petites Madeleines (madeleine cakes)
