Yesterday our little family of three was cold. It was four o'clock and the logical thing to do was have some hot tea. As soon as I started heating up the water, my husband said "I'll be right back!" and walked out the door. A few minutes later, he showed up with a beautiful pink box - ribbon and all. In it were macaroons from Gerard Mulot. Please pardon yet another mention of this patisserie, but he couldn't resist. This little pink box was the perfect addition to our tea time.
Macaroons are heavenly little creatures made of almond paste whipped with egg whites into oblivion in order to create a kind of merengue cookie. Various ingredients are added, creating a seemingly infinite variety of these little pastries. It seems that every time I enter a macaroon shop, there is a new flavor they've come up with. For example, my favorite yesterday was the passion fruit basil macaroon. I would never have thought of these two ingredients together, but it works. Oh, it works very well. A bit of tang and a bit of earthy basil - almost minty and definitely refreshing.
After drinking our tea and eating the entire contents of the little box, we decided we were warm enough to face the chilly evening. We took the loveliest stroll to St. Sulpice, and looked up:
A fountain sitting elegantly under a magical sky.
A Gerard Mulot patisserie, which is considered the best in Paris, happens to be very conveniently around the corner from my flat. Please do yourself a favor and feast your eyes on their website. Just looking through the window, your heart skips a beat in about the same way as when you see the love of your life.
The window displays almost brought me to tears. This is the good stuff, ladies and gentlemen. This is artistry. This is sugar manipulation at its best - a perfected art form that I appreciate at an almost spiritual level. I mean, just look at this stuff:
What did I choose, you ask? Well, it was almost impossible to do so. I'm glad I live around the corner because it may just take me eight months to try everything in the store. Today, I took A-L's advice and ordered the crunchy orange tart, which had the right kind of tang and the right kind of sweet. I also chose the dark chocolate tart, an opera, and a millefeuille, a classic that never gets old. The best part about these little bits of pastry goodness were sharing them with friends. We visited a friend of mine who I haven't seen in about ten years. She now has a toddler son as well, and he and my son hit it off immediately - they'll be best friends living large in St Germain - eating pastries and frolicking in the Jardin du Luxembourg fields - what a tough life.
Macaroons are heavenly little creatures made of almond paste whipped with egg whites into oblivion in order to create a kind of merengue cookie. Various ingredients are added, creating a seemingly infinite variety of these little pastries. It seems that every time I enter a macaroon shop, there is a new flavor they've come up with. For example, my favorite yesterday was the passion fruit basil macaroon. I would never have thought of these two ingredients together, but it works. Oh, it works very well. A bit of tang and a bit of earthy basil - almost minty and definitely refreshing.
After drinking our tea and eating the entire contents of the little box, we decided we were warm enough to face the chilly evening. We took the loveliest stroll to St. Sulpice, and looked up:
A fountain sitting elegantly under a magical sky.
