La Cerise sur le Gateau

Thanks Rachel! My better half stood at my elbow and hollered STOP before it was too late.

The beginning - I always dive right in to any big area of RED, like eating dessert first. So hard to resist...

An earlier version.

First go including both cherry desserts but maybe too complicated? You tell me.

The suspect in question - la Lipstick Cerise from Des Gateau et du Pain, 63 bd Pasteur 75015 Metro Pasteur

En famille in the jewel case...

La maman Lipstick Cerise...

I got a Saint Honore Pistache Griotte that traveled on the way home. How to design desserts that ne bouge pas/don't move in the box? Patisserie des Reves has them nailed down with little pink stakes that keep the pastries in their place!

Inside:pate sable, pate a choux, compote de griotte, crème onctueuse a la pate de pistache, Chantilly a la pistache - a very delicate and in fact light dessert with hints of pistachio and the surprise of cherry preserve inside. Delish even if it did go slip, sliding away.

Le 'lipstick' dome was more intense, more cherry. The base was delightfully croquant/croustillant à la cassonade. On top, crème légère fouettée au kirsh, compotée de cerises et griottes mi cuites, crème onctueuse à la vanilla.

A few blocks away Herme's cherry tarte/crumble also with pistachios.

I painted it a few years ago...

At Maison Pichard a classic clafoutis - we're having this for lunch today. Basically a good handful of fresh cherries thrown into a flan base - perhaps the truest cherry dessert.

You can not avoid the cherries in all the marches ripe and ready to gobble and I haven't.

I thought la Princesse would be cherry through and through. It was not. Still a delicious light meringue-almond crunchy dome. A true example of 'La cerise sur la gateaux'/"the icing on the cake". Just decoration. A bit misleading in my opinion...

Will we eat our clafoutis on cherry china today? I'm always flirting with this pattern from Comptoir de Famille.

Paris' patisseries are mostly closing end of this week or beginning of next, so I've been tearing around gathering up the spoils while they are there to be enjoyed. Whatever will I paint in Aout/August?
A petite Solde next week of the watercolor demos on Etsy!

Gateau Fromage Blanc

One advantage or maybe disadvantage of recording step-by-steps of a watercolor is you realize you should have stopped painting much sooner, like at this point.

See. I should have stopped sooner shouldn't I?

But you can always try again even if it isn't much of an improvement...

I had my first piece of French cheese cake today - Gateau fromage blanc.

Just a small piece to try out and to paint

From Fromagerie Leautey 81/83 Avenue de Saint Ouen 75017

300 different cheeses on offer.

In one very small shop

These pictures made me want to try anything

A street further on these terrific old ads on the walls

Across the street an awfully nice duck goose guarding an epicerie.

At La Sardine A Lire around the corner I found a new poule/hen and her chicks to add to the PB bird collection. This is what happens when you decide to eat French cheese cake.

L'orange d'abricot

Tarte Abricots Frais by Gerard Mulot by me.
 

It's the season (July - August). Gorgeous orangey-red apricots everywhere in the marche. It's my favorite childhood fruit . The color orange. These really taste intense. Ripe and ready to eat au moment. You better eat them fast. Mostly from Provence and the Rhone valée.

Coming from the pool I spotted a tarte d'abricot. It called my name.

When they packed my pastries at Frederic Cassel, the server popped in an apricot-colored hatbox full of Macarons planting a seed in my mind - I've been eating apricots nonstop since.
 

Even though it was 4pm and no one with any sense should be out in this blasted heat, I went looking for Patisserie Rollet-Pradier to get some apricot desserts to paint. I ended up at apricot-colored Metro station Duroc to change trains.

On board I was staring inappropriately at this business man’s deep apricot-colored man-purse. He clamped his hand on it protectively. I wonder if it was by Hermes? I must look like your average Metro thief, especially wearing my macaron T-shirt.
 

Rollet-Pradier was CLOSED even though the website said they were open on a Monday. OK so everyone is closed on Mondays. God only knows what I'll do in August :(
 

I passed this apricot sign in the Metro. This Anthelios XL (get the lotion) is a terrific sun screen if you're into protecting your skin.
 

You can always depend on Gerard Mulot, to be open on Mondays Pierre Hermé is also open but not big on apricots.
 

Mulot is at 76, rue de Seine, 75006 close to Odeon where you can stop in an air-conditioned movie house. I did yesterday.
 

Here's a perfect example of a mini version of the summer tarte base piled high with your 5-fruits-a-day portion. Just don't take this anywhere offsite or your 5 fruits will separate like crazy - happened to me so I know from experience.
 

I picked the fresh apricot tarte to eat at the counter in the back.

Voila. Excellent though I left the crust. That's nothing new being a non-crust eater. I need an assistant who loves crust! I got an excellent apricot macaron for company.
 

Here's your weekly DIY watercolor demo PBers. I am surrounded by apricots here. Warm shadows are dropped in first - Bt Sienna.
 

Then a touch of cool French blue on top while still wet.
 

My setup. I'm loving my new mini paintbox on the left. You can run your brush across the top and get a nice mix of yellow + red + Sienna on your brush at one go. Note the basket of apricots on the right. I'll probably turn a pleasant shade of orange sans soleil. Well I hope so. Who needs sunbeds?
I guess you could say I've got on my orange-colored glasses.
 

Paris Summer Fruit tartes

Les Tartes de l'Eté

Today's post is strictly for your edification so don't start salivating. I was running 🏃‍♀️ by my local boulangerie (Alsacian R.Maeder) on the corner.

And I noticed a ton of fruity tartes glowing in the window. I went back for a second look.

I met Veronique Marot and Carla Carlson for tea last week (none of us had fruit tartes or any dessert by the way). They mentioned, in passing, how French summer desserts were so much better. They are just a pâte sablée base (like a shortbread cookie) piled high with fresh fruit and not much sugar. Hmm, interesting.

This seems to be the case. Could they pile any more fruit on these things? I doubt it.

This picture was shot by the young man behind the counter! 

He took pity on me,

'Give me your iPad".

I think he was thrilled to try out the new mini.

I asked for a box for my 2 small fruity pastries. No way. You have to buy more than two.That's how it goes in a boulangerie. They don't just give away their boxes and fancy ribbons like that.

My pastries made it home safe and sound but take a good look. These are a bit 'plain Jane'. The fruit is a tad uniform and ordinaire.

Unlike the architecturally constructed works of art by Frederic Cassel Head of the French team that won at Lyon. Definitely haut couture in the pastry world. The point being there is quite a difference in quality and design between a boulangerie and a top patisserie. The price tag is different too. But in both cases you're getting a lot of fruit and not a ton of icing or other sugary stuff.

Something else came to mind. How come Parisian pastries get to stay nice an cool in glass cases, but Parisians suffer the blasted heat sans cesse?

After looking at fans all week and deciding on none, late yesterday I went foraging. It was cooking out there. But Castorama, the Home-Depot of Paris was cleaned out.

"Oh we had 100 fans this weekend but they went. We hope to get more on Monday or Tuesday".

What? 100 fans only? When I returned to the apartment I noticed among the renovations rubbish next to the building what looked like a perfectly good fan. I took it upstairs.

 'Ca marche'. It works! OK so it does make a TERRIBLE racket.
Any hints how to fix a noisy fan? Does it need A-1 oil or is that steak sauce?

I spotted the Dog-of-the-day on the Metro looking relaxed on the very cool aclimatizatee #2 train. 

*Leçon learned: Don't wait for a heat wave to buy a fan. And eat fruity French tartes. It can't hurt.