Like my FACEBOOK PAGE or follow me on TWITTER / 微博!
Pain de Sucre
Add: 14 Rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris
Tel: +33 1 45 74 68 92
Hours: [Thu~Mon] 10am~8pm (closed on Tue & Wed)
Website: www.patisseriepaindesucre.com
Price: €5.40~6/pastry
Tasted on: Nov 2013
Pain de Sucre is meant for the adventurous. The flavor combinations at this pastry boutique are daring to say the least, and the collection changes every two months to keep customers on their toes. It’s not one of my favorite patisseries in Paris – I’m all for experimentations, but some creations here are just not meant for my palate – though it’s always fun to swing by to get inspired by what goes on in the little kitchen.
I had been here a few times before this blog post was written but never managed to get good photos, so I will just share the most recent tastings to give you an idea of what can perhaps be expected.
Pretty, aren’t they?
Merlin (€5.40), a glass dessert composed of vanilla curcuma mousse, chestnut cream, fresh grapefruit, pear “eau de vie” jelly, and chestnut vermicelli. What I didn’t particularly like about this one was the jelly of eau de vie, literally “water of life”, which is a fruit brandy that is produced by fermentation and double distillation. It was so strong that it overwhelmed the flavors of other elements in the glass (e.g. I could barely taste the curcuma). But you see what I mean about daring flavor combinations, yes?
Fleur de thé (€6), almond shortcrust pastry with quince pulp and Earl Grey cream. I’m usually a big fan of anything Earl Grey and was really excited about this tart, but the flavors didn’t seem to mix all that well. The tart shell, the quince pulp, and the Earl Grey cream tasted like individual parts rather than one single pastry. Interestingly, I actually liked this tart better the second day, perhaps because the flavors had melded together a bit more overnight.
Lucile (€6), a layered cake composed of almond biscuit, chocolate hazelnut croustillant, Bergeron apricot pulp, and a mousse of fresh white cheese. Light and pleasant, but overall not too memorable.
Macarons (price by weight, 4 macarons was about €6) at Pain de Sucre are quite popular. Pictured below are lemon, walnut, pistachio, and mint chocolate. I had never seen a walnut macaron before and quite liked the intensely nutty flavor, and the mint chocolate macaron came with a piece of dark chocolate in the middle, which was a nice surprise as well.
If my comments in this post seem very critical, well, you’ve not been mistaken. As mentioned at the beginning, I’m not always a fan of the creations at Pain de Sucre, but I like to swing by anyway to see the possibilities out there. For those who are up for something different, do pay a visit.