On The Town: Treats in Paris

(treats from Gerard Mulot)

I ate a LOT of desserts in Paris.  When I saw “a LOT” I mean a whole whackload!  There were no rules about when I could have dessert, if a pastry caught my eye I went in for the kill.   I had eclairs, apple tarts, chausson aux pommes, chocolates – you name it, I tried it.  The primary focus of my dessert consumption while in Paris were macarons since it’s hard to find amazing ones in Toronto.
Macarons  seem to be everywhere in Paris at varying levels of deliciousness.  I fell in love with macarons either during my study abroad stint or maybe even before… I just know that I consumed my fair share of macarons while studying abroad.  Macarons are at the most basic level a cookie sandwich.  What separates them from an oreo is that the cookie part is made from almonds and egg whites and the centre is usually a rich ganache.  Macarons come in many flavours from traditional varities like chocolate or pistachio to some more extreme ones like passionfruit or rose petal.  This time around I made a list of a few popular/well rated macaron spots and decided to check them out.

Gerard Mulot
6, rue du Pas de la Mule (3rd), at rue des Tournelles
Tél:
Closed Monday

This came as a recommendation from the fabulous David Lebovitz.  It’s a bakery in the Marais with fabulous macarons.  I had the chestnut and the salted caramel and both were fantastic.  so fresh, the perfect crackle on the outside, the perfect softness on the inside… totally delicious and the flavours were fantastic.  I also tried some gellied fruit squares in mango and peach and they were like little bites of heaven.  The fruit flavours were so concentrated and so intense… absolutely amazing.  I also went back and had a Tarte au Citron (lemon tart – pictured above) and a Quiche Lorraine.  Both were also delicious but the macarons and the fruit squares really stole the show!

Laduree
16, rue Royale (8th)
Tél :

Laduree was my macaron spot when I did study abroad in Paris.  Yes it’s crowded, yes, it’s touristy – BUT they have such good eats!  So of course I had to pay a visit during this trip.  I opted for a pink grapefruit macaron and a praline macaron.  The pink grapefruit was kind of a wildcard pick… it sounded interesting and was actually pretty yummy.  The praline was one of my usual picks so I knew it would be delicious and it was.  I had to admit, waiting in that line at Laduree for macarons is likely not worth it.  Out of my stops for macarons this was my least favourite. Still delicious but others do it better and with less drama.

Pierre Herme
4, rue Cambon (1st)
185, rue Vaugirard (15th)
72, rue Bonaparte (6th)

I ended up at Pierre Herme on my final day of gluttony.  I had a lot of loose ends to tie up and ending up having treats from Poilane, Gerard Mulot AND Pierre Herme.  After reading so much about PH I knew I couldn’t leave Paris without a visit.  BEST.DECISION.EVER.  I decided to go all out at PH and order 4 different macarons: pistachio, salted caramel, passionfruit, and one called chuoac (i didn’t know what was in it but liked the name and was willing to gamble).  These were definitely the best macarons of the bunch.  PH really clinched it for me with the salted caramel.  Salted caramel tends to be one of my usual picks so I’ve had a lot but none like these.  It was like a caramel square was in my macaron.  So salty, so creamy, so amazing.  Turns out the chuoac was chocolate and some berries.  Who knew.

Side note: even McDonald’s has macarons.  I meant to try them but never got around to it.  Next time.