The day I went to La Maison du Chocolat‘s factory in Nanterre, I thought I was Charlie from Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The obvious differences were that I am an adult woman and I will not get a lifetime supply of chocolate (sadly). I would be, however, be bestowed by the presence of La Maison du Chocolat’s Creative Director, Gilles Marchal for pretty much the entire day.
Think of it as a fashion equivalent of meeting Chanel’s current head designer/creative director, Karl Lagerfield. Both design their products for their luxury brand, collaborate with the heads of their individual departments (in fashion: accessories, clothes, shoes, etc., collaborate to carry out the company’s vision), and they do create seasonal lines.
Pristine factory
Getting up bright and early, I waited at my hotel lobby for Gilles, surfing the web getting posted with what’s going on beyond Paris with my iPhone. When it’s about 6:30, a Frenchman dressed in a cropped trench coat, white button down, and jeans, walked in to speak to the concierge looking for me. I got up and we made our formal introductions. He struck me as a calm, very friendly and laid back person.
Getting into his car, starting our car ride out to LMDC’s factory in Nanterre, driving through the then-quiet streets of Paris (a rare sight to see) passing through the Manhattan-looking La Défense and soon enough, we’re right in front of the factory.
Last week, La Maison du Chocolat kindly invited me to their chocolate tasting session called Paracours Initiatique: Tamanaco. It’s a nice, intimate setting in the back of their Upper East Side boutique’s café; adorned in handsome warm wood and a marble topped bar off to the right.
Also, the adorable jungle-themed Easter decorations add a bit of playful flair to the grown-up setting. It’s edible, by the way. It’s made of molded, colored white chocolate with milks and dark chocolates. Continue reading “La Maison du Chocolat’s Chocolate Tasting” »
Do you love cheese and chocolate like I do? Artisanal Premium Cheese Center will be giving a class called “Decadent Chocolate and Sinful Cheese” with Pastry Chef Colleen Riley on Saturday, February 13th at 3 PM to 5 PM. Yes, it’s a dreamy class filled with beautifully crafted, aged cheese, premium chocolates, and wine. [...]
Happy New Year, Everyone! I hope you all haven’t partied too hard on New Year’s Eve…
To ring in the New Year, I wanted to make (not much baking involved in this particular cake) a showstopping cake. Since my GREs are done I had time to kill and might as well do something ambitious than the typical layer cake.
Around the beginning of November, my mom told me one morning that she wanted me to bake desserts for Thanksgiving. This wasn’t news to me since I’ve been baking desserts for my family over a decade. She requested a cheesecake (again, nothing new) and she wanted to indulge herself with a key lime pie. I rolled my eyes and said, “Sure. Just get me some ingredients that we don’t have in the house. I have the chocolate for the cheesecake.” She replied, “Chocolate? For the cheesecake?” I said, “Yes, I want to change things up. I’m tired of making the same [raspberry] cheesecake I’ve been doing for the past several years.”
I still had the bittersweet chocolate baking bar and the cocoa powder from Scharffen Berger (from the previous event they’ve invited me a few months ago) so I should be set. Thing was, I wasn’t planning on making the cookie crust from scratch since my mom kept harassing me multiple times not to waste time by baking – a blatant oxymoron (How can anyone expect desserts made from scratch NOT take time?).
The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, my parents went to their local supermarkets and told me that after visiting three different stores, they don’t carry chocolate wafer cookies. Obviously, I have no choice but to make the cookie crust from scratch now…
My dad, being a sweetheart, offered his help to get his hands dirty for the cookie crust, kneading and mixing the dried ingredients of flour, cocoa powder (admittedly, I used a combination of Valhrona and Scharffen Berger), sugar, baking soda, salt and lots of butter, until it becomes a large blob of cocoa scented dough. Then I sealed it up in plastic wrap, place it in the fridge until Wednesday evening when I have to bake everything off so it can be consumed on Thanksgiving.
Making the TKO cookie dough and the dough blobs
On Thanksgiving eve, I had to roll out the cookie dough into sheets (it’s from the TKO cookie recipe found within the Essence of Chocolate book) and bake it off until it’s hardened and dry but not burnt.
I read about a week ago from Grub Street about Payard re-opening and ogled at their dessert menu. I am a sucker for desserts and Payard’s is no exception. I was shocked when they did have to close their Lexington Avenue restaurant/café the past June or so and it’s about time for us Payard fans to rejoice and have his desserts and chocolates.
On the day of opening (yesterday, November 4th), I went there with Helen after work. I was curious and dying to have a good cup of hot chocolate since it was cold and I craved for a chocolate-y indulgence. When we entered Maboussin jewelry store on Madison Avenue, we were greeted both by the doorman and a woman who stayed in the back, I requested to go upstairs to the Chocolate Bar and she guided us to the posh and plush elevator that was lined in three sides, a beige quilted wall (maybe leather? I’m too scared to mar the surface) and on the side was a dark wooden table filled with a tray of delicate perfumes, the jewelry store’s hardcover book and a mirror that’s right above it.
Once we exited the elevator, we’re greeted by a woman who works for the Chocolate Bar and I’ve asked about their verrines and she took us over to the display case.
After I’m done with my photo-taking, I’ve asked if we could have a verrine. They would like to but they can’t. The reason why is because they’re still waiting for the permit to sell their goods. So, as a way to make up for our time they comped us with a (generous) sampling of white hot chocolate with red berries and hibiscus flowers. Though I’m not a big fan of white chocolate (I personally just use it for cake or pastry decorations rather than ingesting it), this isn’t bad. As one might expect, white chocolate is sweet but the tart, luscious red berries and hibiscus flower tones down the sweetness a bit. This is something Helen enjoyed more than I have since it’s sweeter than I’d personally like.
Several weeks ago, Norman Love Confections graciously sent me a sampler box of their upcoming limited holiday edition. Sure, it seems early to shop for Christmas but time is passing a lot sooner than I’d like these days. The next thing I know, I have to rush to the stores and start shopping for [...]
Bunch of Scharffen Berger chocolates & The Essence of Chocolate book
Last weekend was quite busy for me, as I baked two cakes from Scharffen Berger’s Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate. To those of you who follow or actually look at my Flickr photos, I did attend to their luncheon several weeks ago. I followed up with Scharffen Berger and they were generous to send me two cake recipes worth of chocolate. Awesome…
Why the hell I want to bake in the hot, humid New York City weather? It’s for the sake of my brother’s 22nd birthday and my mom’s congratulatory cake(s) for being done and over with cancer. (My mom had her last planned surgery about 3 weeks ago, reversing her ileostomy. All is well now after the minor complications.) Continue reading “Chocolate Cakes Weekend” »
[I'm interrupting the dinner portion of my belated birthday post. Hopefully, it'll be up early next week.]
The invite…
Early last week I’ve received an invitation from La Maison du Chocolat. I thought “ZOMG!” If you haven’t known this by now, I love everything from LMDC, especially their chocolates, so it’s a reflex for me to RSVP. But I have to wonder, isn’t this considered bad timing to open a new luxurious boutique in this awful state of our economy? I wouldn’t know but I can’t say “no” a party.
As promised from the previous post, here’s the recipe for my mom’s chocolate cake. It’s decadent, chocolate-y and nutty from the use of almond flour. Again, I had to make my own almond flour since the grocery stores I shop in don’t carry it. The other changes I’ve done was to add on the chocolate glaze that was left over from my brother’s cake and used Lindt’s Excellence 85% Cocoa Bar for the chocolate solids. What surprised me was the fact that it was easy to make.
. To those of you who follow or actually look at my Flickr photos, I did attend to their 
