La Patisserie Francaise, Arvada
I was on a mission. A coffee mission, of course!
Have you ever thought you knew where you were going, and ended up driving all over creation, only to realize that you’ve been circling your destination like a demented vulture? I have. Many times. Especially when I’ve been to a place and thought I remembered the landmarks. Normally this kind of time-wasting unnerves me past the point of pet peeve to utter frustration. Not so on this particularly gorgeous Saturday afternoon.
How could I be upset knowing that I was about to enter the hallowed pastry nirvana of La Patisserie Francaise? It’s a quiet, unobtrusive little shop, unnoticed and quite probably ignored by most passers by. Inside, luxurious goodies are displayed invitingly, encased in glass like gems of inestimable value. I was on a mission. A coffee mission, of course! I selected three coffee pastries and took them to my carefully (spur-of-the-moment) selected review committee.
The first was a Couronne: a 2-layer chocolate cake, with a mocha-chocolate buttercream icing, covered in walnuts. Rachel – not me – said that is was ok if you like coffee. She also suggested that it would benefit from a bit of coconut to make it sweeter. El Conquistador de las Truchas* thought it to be a bit dry, had good flavor, bold with a hint of whimsy. He somehow detected a hint of oak, apples, and mushrooms. I personally think El Conquistador* may have spent a bit too much time with mushrooms of the psychedelic kind. I found the Couronne to indeed be slightly dry, and a bit nasty due to the coffee flavor. I also thought it tasted a bit like paper. Yes, I have tasted paper – as I’m sure many secret-keeping children have – in accordance with requests to “eat this message after reading.” I can’t say that it was horrible, but certainly not my favorite.
The second delight was called a Mocha Square. It consists of three layers of white cake with mocha buttercream frosting, topped with nuts and two coffee beans. Rachel deemed it to be, “pretty blah.” El Conquistador de las Truchas* said he liked it better than the first, but was unsure why. He said it had a bit more coffee in the flavor, which was for him a good thing, with hints of maple, vanilla and perhaps some cocoa. I thought it was very strongly coffee flavored. Unfortunately, it was that flat, stubborn coffee taste that has no depth or intricacy. I found it to be sweet, yet somehow flavorless; not the worst I’ve ever tasted, but not something I would go out of my way for.
Lastly, we indulged in a Café Bombe. It was described as a Bavarian Mocha, with a brownie bottom and raspberry. The kindly woman behind the counter extolled its superiority over all other pastries feigning to be coffee based. Repeatedly she told me that it was by far the strongest flavored and best tasting of all its fellow desserts. It seemed to be a round chocolate cake, on a chocolate brownie-cookie, with a layer of coffee mousse and raspberry covering it, topped with a sort of chocolate ganache icing. Rachel immediately declared, “This is the top.” El Conquistador de las Truchas* said, “The coffee mousse is a nice touch, and the raspberry is superbly sublime – a nice surprise – like Christmas morning. A most pleasant experience.” Lissa added a very profound opinion, “It was fruity, yet chocolaty.”
After hearing all of the various comments, I finally took my first bite. The coffee flavor was very strong. I was a bit surprised, considering how little of the coffee mousse there seemed to be. The raspberry was surprising and almost sour. It complimented the sweet chocolate very well. I’ve not found that I really like raspberry and coffee together. Come to think of it… I don’t much like coffee. I’ll bet you never could have guessed that. Haha. Though the coffee seemed to contradict the other flavors, I would like to try it again. I feel like I didn’t do it proper justice. I was too busy enjoying the company and outrageous comments.
I am grateful to La Patisserie Francaise for a very enjoyable experience.I was lucky to have such a beautiful day on which to experience its goodness, but even if the day had been horrid, what day could remain sour in the presence of such sweetness?
*Some names have been changed, but not necessarily for protection or for any other good reason. Haha.
ORIGINAL COMMENTS
Anonymous, July 5, 2011 at 5:32 PM
I love La Patisserie, excellent French pastry when fresh! I will have to try some of the ones you mentioned. I love their Mocha Torte. - Lonnie
