Paris-Brest | Sugared & Spiced

2013/12/132015/08/05

[Paris] Jacques Genin (3)

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Jacques Genin

Add: 33 rue de Turenne 75003 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 77 29 01
Hours: Tue-Sun 11am~7pm (8pm on Sat, closed on Mon)
Website: jacquesgenin.fr
Price: [pastries] €6.50~13 [drinks] €4.50~11.00
Tasted on: Nov 2013

If it seems like I go to Jacques Genin all the time, that’s because it’s true. I’ve already talked about this chocolatier/pâtisserie/salon de thé here and there, but I just couldn’t resist putting up yet more photos of this place…

I mean, just look at this chocolat chaud traditionnel (€7). So rich that it seems to ooze out of the pot rather than flow from it. And no, it’s not too sweet or too thick. For me, it’s perfect.

And the Paris-Brest (€8), with its gorgeous hazelnut praline cream piped generously between two rings of choux pastry. Just divine.

I also tried Genin’s Saint-Honoré (€8) for the first time on this visit. What it is: three petit choux filled with vanilla pastry cream and glazed with crunchy caramel, lined with more vanilla pastry cream and chantilly cream, all sitting on top of a piece of puff pastry. Excellently done in all aspects – the choux, the pastry cream, the caramel, the chantilly, the puff pastry – but as I’m generally not a fan of pastry cream, this isn’t one of my favorites.

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2013/10/172015/08/05

[Paris] Jacques Genin (2)

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Jacques Genin

Add: 133 rue de Turenne 75003 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 45 77 29 01
Hours: Tue-Sun 11am~7pm (8pm on Sat, closed on Mon)
Website: jacquesgenin.fr
Price: [desserts] €6.50~13 [drinks] €4.50~11.00
Tasted on: Sep 2013

I could hardly believe it myself. I had been living in Paris for over a year, yet I hadn’t tasted Jacques Genin’s famous Paris-Brest. It’s not that I don’t frequent his shop – I’d already been there 5 or 6 times – it’s just that ever since Genin has cut down his pastry production (details here), the offerings at his salon de thé have been elusive. You are likely to see mille feuille and tarte au citron (both are must-tries, by the way) on the menu, but items like Paris-Brest are not always there.

On my visit last week, however, I actually had a chance to try some of these rarer items – and not just one, but three! We managed to get Paris-Brest, cheesecake, and l’éphémère on the table, in the addition to the frequently-seen mille feuille and tarte citron.

Since I’ve already raved about the mille feuille and tarte au citron in a previous post, let’s go straight for the Paris-Brest (€8). What it is: a ring of choux pastry studded with crunchy hazelnuts, sandwiching swirls of gorgeous hazelnut praline cream. Holy, moly, heavenly – I was not disappointed despite ultra high expectation. It’s not too sweet or overly rich, but the serving is generous so sharing is recommended.

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2012/12/172015/08/05

[Paris] La Pâtisserie des Rêves

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La Pâtisserie des Rêves

Add: 93 rue du Bac, 75007 Paris
Tel: 01 42 84 00 82
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 9am-8pm [Sun] 9am-4pm
Website: www.lapatisseriedesreves.com
Price: [individual desserts] €5.5~6.9
Visited on: Dec 2012

La Pâtisserie des Rêves, “the pastry shop of dreams”, is indeed a dreamy place. Colorful shelves, bell jar displays, and Christmas lights adorning the window year-round…cute, very cute. But what has been driving Parisians to La Pâtisserie des Rêves since its opening in 2009 is, but of course, the desserts themselves. The pastry shop is most famed for its Paris-Brest, but a few other of its deliciously crafted pastries are also worth getting fat for.

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2012/12/102015/08/05

[Ferrandi] Week 7: Pâte à Choux

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Following viennoiseries, we had a full week of pâte à choux, a light pastry dough for making éclairs, profiteroles, croquembouches, etc. Choux relies on steam trapped inside the dough to make it rise, and the technique used for making pâte à choux is designed to develop elasticity in the dough (to expand) while maximizing moisture (to generate steam when baking).

To make pâte à choux, melt salt, sugar, and butter in water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and add sifted flour. After mixing, add eggs little by little until dough is smooth and soft. Then, pipe batter using a pastry bag onto a lightly buttered baking sheet. Egg wash and streak with a fork.