Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan

Author:Dorie Greenspan [Greenspan, Dorie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-48939-5
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2002-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

keeping: Although the streusel can be made ahead, this tart is best served the day it is made.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS: In an act of culinary sacrilege, I sprinkled this streusel over Robert Linxe’s already perfect Chocolate Tart and found it nothing less than yummy.

LADURÉE

Ladurée is so much a part of Paris life that a handful of years ago, when the bakers reworked their recipe for croissants, there were protests from the chic clientele and headlines in the daily newspapers. While this was a problem for Ladurée—one they cleverly solved by keeping both recipes in their repertoire—it was a delight for me. I saw it as another vivid example of how seriously my neighbors in Paris take their food and how deeply they cherish their favorite places.

Even if you’ve been to Ladurée only once in your life, I think you’ll understand why the original shop is held so dear. In part, it has to with the pâtisserie’s long history: it was established in 1862 as a boulangerie and became a pastry shop and tea salon in 1871 when a fire forced Ernest Ladurée, its founder, to rebuild. And in part it has to do with its location: it is on the aptly named rue Royale, the imperial street that connects the Place de la Concorde, with its golden Egyptian obelisk and grand fountains, to the Place de la Madeleine, with its classic church and classy boutiques. But mostly it has to do with the shop’s interior and the many and marvelous pastries therein.

The instant you enter Ladurée, your eyes are drawn to the ceiling. Even the pyramids of macarons and the glossy chocolate creations can’t keep you from looking heavenward at the plump cherubs, rosy pink and properly toqued, pulling fat little cakes out of puffy clouds. The frescoes on the ceiling here and in the upstairs dining room date from the turn of the twentieth century and are the work of Chéret, a famous poster artist of the time, who was inspired by the Sistine Chapel and by Garnier’s newly built Opera House just a short walk away.

The angelic chefs preside over a room that is always full, no matter the hour. From their cloud-puff perches, they have a daily view of celebrities and tourists, neighborhood habitués and connoisseurs from every corner of Paris, all being served by waitresses in prim black dresses. This scene is repeated on the Champs-Élysées, where a larger, spectacularly decorated Ladurée, complete with a greenhouse dining room modeled after a Gustave Eiffel design, opened in 1997, and in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where the newest Ladurée patisserie and tea salon was recently tucked into a corner of this artists’ corner.

As beautiful as Ladurée is, it endures only in part because of its lavish good looks. It is in largest measure because of its perfect pastry that it remains a bonne adresse. Ever since Ernest Ladurée first manned the ovens of his eponymous pâtisserie, Ladurée has had talented pastry chefs leading its kitchen brigades. Today, it is Philippe

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