Louis XIV patisserie: beautiful to look at, but not as impressive to taste.There are pastry shops that make sweet desserts that taste pretty good. Then there are pastry shops like La Cigogne that elevate desserts to works of art - a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. Louis XIV only satisfies 50% of my senses, but I'm shallow enough that its glossiness blinds me (I'd make a terrible metaphor about the Sun King, but I won't inflict my Jack Aubrey sense of humor on my blog).
The ganache was as shiny in real life as in this photograph, but in consistency, rubbery and gummy. It detached itself like a layer of sunburnt skin from the pastry, which was somewhat bizarre. I really like the elevation of the pastry on the purple platform...except the platform didn't really taste like anything.
The pastry is comprised of layers of chocolate mousse, pear, and a black currant (?) base. The pear flavour was lost among the layers so I had to isolate and sample several times in order to identify it. The black currant base was delightful and a great pairing with chocolate. The pairing of these two alone would have satisfied me and was reflected in the overall color scheme of the pastry as well.
Cross-section of Louis XIV
