Ladurée‘s holiday theme is to transport you to a tropical, exotic place, away from the cold climes that one would associate for the high holidays.
Some of their beautiful holiday pastries are the individual-sized Bûche Marie-Antoinette Rose-Framboise ($10) made of rose macaron biscuit, rose cream, raspberry jam, raspberries and lychees, and the Exotic Baba ($12), a baba soaked with rum and vanilla syrup filled with keffir lime and vanilla pastry chantilly cream and roasted pineapple. The rose-raspberry bûche is the Parisian house’s traditional flavor and it’s delicious. The Exotic Baba is striking and it does transport you to a tropical paradise.
To impress the person who wants gilded, luxurious macarons, Ladurée’s edible gold leafed chocolate macaron ($5.60 each) would possibly catch her eye cradled in the whimsically shaped Exotic basket gift box.
At home, I can’t help but pair Ladurée’s flavorful macarons of vanilla rum and pineapple with the lightly spiced and chocolate TWG Noël in London black tea. The gentle spicing of the tea works with the tropical flavors of the cookies.
The pièce de résistance of my table though is the large Bûche Exotic ($85). This gleaming cylinder of baba soaked in vanilla and 5-year old rum, filled with vanilla chantilly cream, roasted pineapple and covered in a gilded chocolate shell in the pattern of the pineapple. This striking cake takes two days to create! Most of us felt almost guilty to slice and eat this beautiful pastry. But once we get past that point, every bite was divine.
Information:
Ladurée SoHo
398 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (646) 392-7868
Official website
