We’re coming to the end of the Paris adventures now, folks. Saying that makes me sad, as I feel as though the trip is ending all over again. Thankfully I still have a few Italy posts up my sleeve, so on occasion I can close my eyes and pretend I’m back in the land where people frequently say “bella” without ever referring to the Twilight phenomenon. And that, I must say, is A Good Thing*.
On my second-last full day in Paris, I met up with Camille for an expedition to one of her favourite pâtisseries, Blé Sucré, which can be found in the 12th arrondissement.
After our canal amblings and Vietnamese lunches, I knew I could trust Camille to lead me to deliciousness. And lead me to deliciousness she did.
Unlike the workers at Pierre Hermé, the Blé Sucré magicians were happy for me to take as many photos as I wanted.
Oh, beautiful pain! How to choose? The treats displayed here offered up flavours such as pear + licorice, mango + coconut, fig, salted caramel, peanut + chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate…
And yet, for me, there was only ever one option. The creation that I first tried in Japan, the creation that (in Japan) made me long never to eat anything else, the creation that I had been keeping an eye out for throughout my Paris explorations and finally, finally, found a worthy manifestation of at Blé Sucré.
The Mont Blanc.
Typically a mounded combination of whipped cream, chestnut cream, and a contrasting textural base such as sponge cake or pastry, Blé Sucré upped the ante of its Mont Blanc by firstly hiding meringue beneath the pipings of dense, true, chestnut sweetness, and secondly bookending the piece with glossy sheets of high-quality chocolate.
I cannot say much about this beyond that it was magnificent. The chestnut flavour came through brilliantly, the chocolate was lovely and complex, the meringue was perfectly sweet and the pastry perfectly crumbly, and even the cream on top was valued by this avowed pointless-cream-hater.
See the hidden cream, meringue, and pastry shard beneath the chestnut cream? (And in a distinctly non-edible tangent, this photo reminds me of a particular breed of dog with long shaggy hair, but I can't for the life of me think of the name. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?)
The clever ones amongst you might be thinking “but there were two of you on this afternoon tea adventure… what did the other lovely lady order?” Well, your over-the-internet question shall be answered with the following photo:
Camille opted for Le Vollon, an intensely dark, glossy dome of chocolatiness that I hadn't given a moment's thought when peering into the pastry case.
Dear Camille, thank you for choosing this gloriously rich sphere of unctuous chocolate. Had you not, I might have continued on in my misguided belief that all Solely Chocolate desserts are dull. I’m not saying that my Lemon Delicious love has been replaced, but it is good to know that, in the hands of the masters, chocolate desserts can be winners.
Oh yes I did.
And if you’d like a little more Blé Sucré food porn in your life, make sure to head over to this post of Camille’s, which only accentuates my sorrow at no longer being in Europe.
*I watched New Moon for the second time on my flight to LA and was astonished, as I always am, by how much worse the series becomes the more I read/see/think about it. “Twilight and Its Nauseating Social Message”: Vague PhD Idea #425.
OK you’re going to think I’m mad (and that’s ok BTW) but the chestnut cake reminds me of a Puli dog!
I am drooling, honestly drooling. THANK GOD it’s now official chocolate time (ie when I pretend it’s the first time I’ve had chocolate for the day) in the Lockett household!
it reminds me of “Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy”
Hannah I believe your Mont Blanc is channeling Dougal from the Magic Roundabout. You perhaps are too young to know of it, although there is a newer incarnation. I’ve never had a Mont Blanc, but would like to give it a go sometime. I’m not certain that I like chestnut but well, I’m a brave soul. I agree that chocolate desert looks astounding. I’ll have to work out where Ble Sucre is and check it out soon.
wow, those are some great looking pastries!
Dear Hannah, thank you for playing hooky with me, and for reminding me what fun we had that afternoon! (I know the dog you’re talking about, but I have no idea what the breed might be named.) And for future reference, Pierre Hermé’s chocolate dome dessert is equally intriguing – there’s salt involved!
oh my word.
i die.
I didn’t know you had a Mont Blanc there. Looks wonderful – even though like Louise I’m never fully convinced about chestnut. I want to love it but it so often disappoints.
Love the Puli reference Lorraine.
Are you sure those desserts are actually real?! They look more like art (especially the glassy sphere one which looks like a fancy paper weight until you see the inside shot).
That is such a beautiful chocolate sphere. Though I agree with Vaala. It looks more like a fancy paperweight than a dessert. I wish we had a fancy, vegan patisserie in Townsville right now. I really feel like a fancy sweet.
Lorraine: *grabs you and dances you around the room* Not mad! That’s EXACTLY the dog I was thinking of but couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of! (“Dog with ropey long hair” does not a good google search make.)
Kath: There are at the very least three separate Official Chocolate Times in the Hannah household. 1. Upon waking. 2. Mid-afternoon. 3. Last nibble before bed. I am glad to have led you to one of yours
Amy: Hercules Morse, as big as a horse!
Louise: After a quick google… aww, cute! And this place is relatively near the Bastille and, if you time it right, the Bastille markets, so you can certainly coalesce sight-seeing and sight-eating!
Simply Life: They tasted even better!
Dear Camille, being too sick to go to work but not too sick to enjoy chocolatey amazingness is the best kind of malaise, I think!
The dog I was thinking of was the puli, as Lorraine identified – was that what you were thinking of too?
Shannon: Don’t do that! Although I’m sure this kind of treat could be found in heaven…
Whisperinggums: I think it’s just never done well, as a dessert, here in Aus. Lorraine has a chestnut cake on her blog that I dearly want to make – has rosemary, and isn’t too sweet. You and I should try it!
Vaala: Oh, they were real. Soooooooo deliciously real. And that’s what you get in Paris’ patisseries… edible art
Theresa: But you do! It’s called Theresa’s Kitchen, right?
And this would never do for me as a paperweight – I’d never get anything written, as I’d be too busy eating…
LOL I actually asked Mr NQN “what is that rope fur dog called?” and he gave me that look like “What on earth are you talking about?” (a look I’m very used to)
Lorraine: Teehee, love it! Life would be far simpler had someone chosen to name the breed Rope Fur in the first place
I would take the chocolate dessert over the mont blanc but I love the look of the latter – the chestnut strands look like pasta
It is sad to say farewell to the paris posts but how lovely that you have them all here on your blog to visit when you need a little paris feeling
Johanna: That’s a really lovely perspective – to use this blog as a pastry-lined memory box. Thanks Johanna
I have seen similar-looking chocolate domes at shops around here. (Including certain Korean bakeries!) I have always overlooked the chocolate domes, assuming they were boring chocolate ganache all the way through. HOW WRONG I WAS. YUM.
I too immediately thought “dog” upon seeing your Mont Blanc! Second thought: “Spaghetti!” I can barely even imagine what that tasted like…which only increases my jealousy!
Jealousy at both of you…because wow, that is THE shiniest chocolate I have ever seen, and oh my god, WHAT is inside that beautiful bomb of lusciousness?!
Lauren: SHILLA! I still doubt I’d choose a chocolate dome when there are crazier flavour options out there, but it’s good to know the basics needn’t disappoint
And you’ll start making things like this yourself soon, right? 
Amber: Spaghetti dog! It was ridiculously shiny, but so soft and melty and chocolatey and moussey and mmmmm…. (excuse me a minute, raptures coming on).
So last night, I was paging through other Hannah‘s cookbook My Sweet Vegan, looking for something to make (eventually settling on self-frosting peanut butter chocolate cupcakes), and I came upon her vegan Mont Blanc. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve flipped through that book and never stopped on that page. Now, someday, I must make that.
Amber: Self-frosting peanut butter chocolate cupcakes and a Mont Blanc recipe? I think I’m going to have to check out Book Depository!
I just love the shine on that last one