Talk about obsessions. My 1st two days in Paris were spent taste testing chocolate eclairs. I'd read Amy's eclair smackdown and felt some important chocolate eclairs has been left by the roadside - neglected - overlooked...
My idea of a tasting is small amounts of many, rather than large tastes of a few. I began at Fauchon - eclair experts par excellence.
I was a tad disappointed :(
The chocolate icing was fine.
The pastry creme inside -too Sweet for my taste buds.
One down - 10 + to go.
Galeries Lafayette with it's plethora of pastry shops was the next stop and Dalloyau...
This was one of the most chocolatey eclairs sauf La Maison du Chocolat. The pastry creme inside and the icing were a happy marriage in my humble opinion.
Sadaharu Aoki does not offer chocolate eclairs, just Matcha and Sesame.
I have learned to adore his sesame, but not the Matcha - too sweet inside again, but a very pretty looking eclair as eclairs go - and exceedingly nice striations on the sides indeed.
Le Figaro, master tasters of Paris, have deemed patisserie Stohrer owner of the best eclair chocolat.
I do not - too sugary on the pastry creme again. Maybe something's wrong with me, but when I'm in Paris I do not want sugar as a top note. Much as I adore your shop Stohrer I can not concur.
In my opinion the best eclair chocolat resides at La Maison du Chocolat and it's residency is short-lived. Twice I went in the afternoon and all chocolate eclairs were gone gone gone.
But before I had this La Maison epiphany I had to try...
Thin slices of a few others - Stohrer, Lenotre, Gerard Mulot and an anonymous no-name eclair chocolat. None of them came up to La Maison. I didn't taste test M. Jean-Paul Hevin's chocolate eclair and I have a feeling his would stand up nicely to LMDC. After all they are displayed on the outside of his cookbook, but by this time I could not look another eclair in the face.
Just give me a plain old marshmallow milk chocolate nounours/bear and I will be happy as a clam. In future I'll let Amy do all the smackdowns she wants and keep my thoughts to myself. I learned my lecon. HMPH
BEAR says he's sticking with the religieuse
My idea of a tasting is small amounts of many, rather than large tastes of a few. I began at Fauchon - eclair experts par excellence.
I was a tad disappointed :(The chocolate icing was fine.
The pastry creme inside -too Sweet for my taste buds.
One down - 10 + to go.
Galeries Lafayette with it's plethora of pastry shops was the next stop and Dalloyau...
This was one of the most chocolatey eclairs sauf La Maison du Chocolat. The pastry creme inside and the icing were a happy marriage in my humble opinion.
Sadaharu Aoki does not offer chocolate eclairs, just Matcha and Sesame.
I have learned to adore his sesame, but not the Matcha - too sweet inside again, but a very pretty looking eclair as eclairs go - and exceedingly nice striations on the sides indeed. Le Figaro, master tasters of Paris, have deemed patisserie Stohrer owner of the best eclair chocolat.
I do not - too sugary on the pastry creme again. Maybe something's wrong with me, but when I'm in Paris I do not want sugar as a top note. Much as I adore your shop Stohrer I can not concur.
In my opinion the best eclair chocolat resides at La Maison du Chocolat and it's residency is short-lived. Twice I went in the afternoon and all chocolate eclairs were gone gone gone.Enfin third try lucky and I ate it in the street, just in case someone grabbed it away from me. It met all my expectations. Chocolate of the finest quality was the top note inside and out. Super fresh with a bit of crunch to the biscuity outside = Perfection.
But before I had this La Maison epiphany I had to try...
Thin slices of a few others - Stohrer, Lenotre, Gerard Mulot and an anonymous no-name eclair chocolat. None of them came up to La Maison. I didn't taste test M. Jean-Paul Hevin's chocolate eclair and I have a feeling his would stand up nicely to LMDC. After all they are displayed on the outside of his cookbook, but by this time I could not look another eclair in the face.
Just give me a plain old marshmallow milk chocolate nounours/bear and I will be happy as a clam. In future I'll let Amy do all the smackdowns she wants and keep my thoughts to myself. I learned my lecon. HMPH
BEAR says he's sticking with the religieuseHe can have it.
I'm off chocolate for a while until Thursday at least...
BONJOUR PARIS ECLAIRS!