Frederic Cassel et le vrai Fontainebleau

Sometimes I feel like a lucky duck. I sent off Monday's post to patissier Frederic Cassel of Fontainebleau and he invited me to visit his 'Labo'!

Feeling like Alice back in wonderland, these beautiful pastries are so inspiring.

Cassel says on Saturdays he has 150 different desserts in the shop and last Saturday when Louise and I visited there were 600 customers. WOW

With so many berry pastries, Cassel grows his own raspberries and strawberries around Fontainebleau and Nemours. I wish he had big pictures of the berry fields in the shop...no wonder the fruits taste so fresh and ripe!

Here is Cassel, like a general inspecting the troops.
Everything is absolutely parfait bien sur.

Norbert was kind enough to take me up to see the Labo on several floors - a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes.

A giant order of macarons was being made up. Miam

This is the framboise glacage that covers the beautiful Lulu gateaux.

Like a Venetian glass finish...

Later we sat down for a chat. I asked Frederic,

"What exactly is the story on the reknown la Fontainebleau? Is there Chantilly whipped cream in it? Is it Fromage Blanc? What?

He drew me this picture of a traditional milk can and explained the process.

Back in the day when the Fountainebleau marchands de laiterie brought their milk to Paris, it would get jostled on the bumpy roads and the cream at the top would mingle with the milk (I hope I got this right with my sketchy French) creating a thick but very light cloud of fluffy delicious cream. The clever milk  merchants skimmed this off and sold it separately. Voila = La Fountainebleau.

So there is NO Chantilly, NO Fromage Blanc in a true Fontainebleau.

Then Frederic escorted me across the street to Barthelemy where they have the correct Fontainebleau. All the others we saw on Saturday were whipped Chantilly and not authentic.

Even though Frederic provided me with a special freezer bag and cold 'bricks' my Fountainebleau was a mess by the time I got home in the extreme heat. They have a shelf life of ONE day. That is it. I went off this morning to Madame Nicole on 51, rue Grenelle 75007 to get a fresh one. Her niece has the shop in Fountainebleau so it's all in the family.

I showed her my pictures of the horse cart and asked how she achieved the same effect. Of course she would not give me her recipe but she said she uses a kind of 'pulsator' that pushes air up through the fresh milk and creates the Fountainebleau. I asked how do you eat it? With a bit of sugar or fruit coulis or fresh berries. She pulled back the muslin and said you can also eat it 'au nature' right out of the cup.

Ta Da!

As someone not keen on creamy things, I've changed my tune. The strawberry confiture is from Cassel's berry fields, and a perfect partner.

Yesterday I picked up an Apricot mousse and strawberry fraiser (long gone) at the patisserie to try. Working one's way through 150 desserts is an undertaking but one must keep at it mustn't one...

I'd been smitten by the mini 'Vacherons' in the freezer case last weekend but forgot to get one. This time I did not. Later in the station waiting for the Paris train I thought I'd try it. Mine was flavored Mango-Coconut. Honestly I've been to Brazil 5 times and if a perfectly ripe mango fell off a tree and hit me on the head it could not come close to the perfectly silky mangoness of this little dessert. I had half a mind to jump on the bus back into town and get another. But I guess it's a good excuse to return to Fontainebleau. And there are those other 144 desserts waiting...

You are now about to see the saddest picture I've ever shown on Parisbreakfast. Should I go back for more PBers? Will you make the trip to Fountainebleau too to try this? I hope so.

Bonne Weekend!