Best Hot Chocolate in the World (at the moment)

Any guesses what ananas means? Hint: It’s a fruit. (Scroll down to bottom for the answer.)

On Saturday I had the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my entire life!! Seriously, it was amazing. The chocolate was so rich and smooth and thick. It was essentially drinkable chocolate. Unfortunately, I think this has ruined me forever. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to think of hot chocolate in the same way again. So if you are ever in Angers, one of the places that you must visit is Origin’all Café ChocolaThé (the owners cleverly combined the words chocolate and tea). Not only does it sell the best hot chocolate ever, it is one of the few chocolate shops where you can sit down and enjoy yourself. The atmosphere is wonderful with its soothing brown and tan colors and the music of Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Bill Hayley and His Comets playing in the background.

Another delectable food item is the macaron. People had been telling me that I absolutely needed to try a macaron because they were “simply the best” and I finally got around to going. Macarons are sold in pretty much any chocolate or pastry shop, but I was told I needed to go to La Pause Gourmande because the macarons were made right there.

At first I thought people were trying to tell me about macaroons (the sugary star-shaped balls of coconut), but macarons are entirely different. They resemble miniature cookie sandwiches and come in a variety of vibrant colors and flavors. At a glance, they look hard to bite into, but I discovered that you really can’t trust appearances. It’s hard to describe what they taste like without eating one yourself, but I’m going to attempt it. The best analogy I can think of is that of a water droplet: if you touch the droplet the surface tension breaks and the water is released. So when you bite into the yielding shell of a macaron, the surface gives way to a soft cake layer followed by a smooth, flavorful crème filling.

C'est la perfection!

It took me a while to decide, but eventually I asked for a chocolate, raspberry and “pretty white one with pink sprinkles.” I had no idea what the pink one was till I bit into it because I had no idea what the sign barbe à papa meant. Turns out it means cotton candy. (Laurel, I promise I’ll bring this one back for you.) It also happens to be my favorite macaron flavor so far, which is weird considering I’m not a huge fan of cotton candy. I can’t decide what was second best: the chocolate tasted like a brownie and the raspberry like French’s raspberry cake. I guess they tie for second.

The shop itself was adorable and the lady behind the counter was very nice. I can’t wait to go back and try all the different flavors. Or better yet, learn how to make my own macarons. Attached is a link with a video of how La Pause Gourmande makes theirs and for the very darying, a recipe for chocolate macarons.

Bon appétit!

Heidi

Answer: So if you guessed banana…you are incorrect. In French, l’ananas means pineapple and it definitely fooled me the first time. La banane is a banana.

French’s pastry bakery--http://frenchspastry.com/home.html
La Pause Gourmande—place of the fabulous macarons: http://www.pausegourmande.fr/macarons.html
Chocolate macaron recipe pulled from this website: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/10/french_chocolat.html

Recipe for Chocolate Macarons
Makes about fifteen cookies
Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz
Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar
Chocolate Filling
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.
3. Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough.
4.In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).
6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
To make the chocolate filling:
1. Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.