Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Neige aux Framboises

The French seem to have an almost insane addiction to the color RED (Calling Dr. Gabriel Byrne SVP!) They refuse to leave the house without some smidge of red showing. They eat their meat raw/a point. There are endless examples I could pull up to prove my theorie. To boot they insist on eating RED desserts year round.
To hell with Locavores!
Where French pastry chefs come up with this endless supply of fraise et framboise is beyond me other than a jam jar...
But come up with it they must or their goose is cooked.
There can be no doubt about this since you see it every patisserie vitrine.
Add to that their addiction to quatre fruits rouges.
Right! It isn't enough to have ONE red fruit in your dessert.
You must have FOUR! (cerises, groseilles, framboises et fraises)
I admit to being fond of confiture de quatre fruits rouges (merci Bonne Maman)
Well RED being such a Christmasy color I thought I'd show you some RED Paris petit fours...
Gerard Mulot has a thing with RED desserts that cannot be denied...
Or maybe I'm the one with the RED problem seeing RED where ever I look...
One red fruit dessert I cannot live without is Paille Framboise. Two glossy layers of a palmier-like cookie 'sandwich' a thick layer of raspberry jam. Then topped off with tell-tale confectionary sugar that makes you look like you were just out in the snow or else eating a paille framboise. This thing is impossible to eat discretely.
It's a fairly traditional pastry so you'll have to look in at your 'local' corner patissierie to find it. I've yet to see it in the fancier Paris joints.
Really you can't go wrong at Boulangerie Rollot. They've won all kinds of prizes and competed with la creme de la creme at the concours Meilleure Patissierie de France - no mean accomplishment indeed. And it's awfully nice to be served your snowy paille by the pastry chef's wife...
48, rue Madame 75006
Do you have a favorite RED dessert in Paris?
~
BONJOUR NEIGE AUX FRAMBOISES!
PS Neige aux framboises is a dessert but since there's snow on the ground in Paris I thought I'd take a few liberties...

19 comments:

  1. Awesome! Now I'm seeing the world through rose colored glasses. Those desserts just rock.

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  2. Elizabeth11:19 AM

    Maybe you've already seen this from ParisDaily Photo. The red coat reminded me of your blog...and then you wrote about red today!
    It's a wonderful shot.


    Elizabeth

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  3. I am confident that Dr. Weston would feel that red is a cheery color & wouldn't read toooo much into it. lol

    Off today in mostly neutrals w/a red bag & gloves. Of course. (I can't wear red dresses...they make me uncomfortable. Even when at fighting weight. Which I'm not. At moment.)

    xoxo

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  4. M. in Paris12:13 PM

    jAH mais c'est ma rue !
    Je préfère le rose ou l'orange ou le beige... mais pourquoi pas le jour, pour le printemps peut etre ?
    ici c'est la panique les reveillons, les parents l'ami americain la neige qui va tomber... bref les Francais !!
    A+C++++++

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  5. What's not to love about reds, anyway?

    Dr Weston would no doubt benefit from a bit of red himself, oui? He's been very down in the dumps this season, and he could use a jolt of color.

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  6. You know, being a locavore is a great thing and I do it heartily and with much dedication in the summer an autumn in Minnesota. But in the winter, I unashamedly contribute to global warming and MUST devour my grapes and strawberries and oranges and apples from far-away lands for the purpose of my sanity. Otherwise, you wouldn't want to know me.

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  7. Where is that shop Carole .. I know one shop looks like the other :-) Oh yes they certainly know how to tempt you don't they.

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  8. Since strawberries and raspberries are my favorite fruit, maybe I'm part French and don't know it! Ha!
    Lovely post, as usual Carol.

    I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  9. Justine4:14 PM

    I guess it's Christmas all year round in Paris to hear you tell it like it is.
    Wonder what the Frenchies think of this theorie???

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  10. J'adore les framboise anytime of the year!
    BIG MERCI
    xxAnnie

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  11. Everything looks so good, Carol :)
    Not like what is sold in this old town!
    I'm not sure about red, though - some of the pastries are just TOO red!
    I'll take all of the rest, though....

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  12. Anonymous5:09 PM

    Oh Carol - I blogged about the lovely Gerard Mulot after I went to Paris. Fond memories of sitting by the Seine eating one of his creations.
    Perfect! Yes the colour red is abundant and the good thing is I LOVE red! x

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  13. I love your post on red right before Christmas!! I just went and bought red roses and berries for the holidays!

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  14. Carol, this post is such a fine example of the flavor that your paris breakfasts give to your viewers.

    Thank you so much for all the pleasure that pb has given this reader during 2010. I still yearn to get to Paris again, and so hope that 2011 might be the year.

    Merci!

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  15. Red fruits really set desserts off don't you think? I love them all. But is that a bright red éclair I spot :o

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  16. That photo of "tentation"is a highly suspicious looking red...however, do not worry about seeing red everywhere. Now if you were seeing rabbits everywhere...

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  17. Sumptuous, and Scrumptious at the same time...Ah, Carol you have me adding more food to my bucket list...yums. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to you!

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  18. Anonymous8:11 PM

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts about printer. Regards

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