Chocolates
That Comply
Payard Kosher Chocolates
By
Barbara Bowman
Payard
Pâtisserie & Bistro is renowned for its pastries
and sweet creations such as classic Parisian macarons, the
Eau de Rose confection (white chocolate ganache with rosewater)
and the Beaux-Arts Cake (cassis mousse, passion fruit cream
with sablé breton). After numerous requests from
clients, chef-owner François Payard has released
a kosher line of his famous chocolates.
The
Kosher Collection Chocolates ($35) by Payard come elegantly
packed in a soft yellow box. The pistachio almond paste
chocolate has a soft mouth feel, but neither the pistachio
nor the almond flavors are very apparent, which is also
true of the vanilla ganache covered dark chocolate. However,
the cinnamon ganache covered dark chocolate is a delightful
surprise. The cinnamon has a freshly grated, pure taste
that isn’t overpowering and balances the subtle flavor
of the dark chocolate. Then, there’s the honey ganache
dark covered-chocolate, which tastes like biting into fresh
honeycomb, making it a real pleasure. The ganache coffee
covered dark chocolate is slightly bitter and certainly
not too sweet. But the loveliest of all is the praline wafer
covered dark chocolate with its nice interplay of textures
between the crunchy wafer and the creamy chocolate and praline
filling. All of the chocolates are beautifully hand-crafted
with simple but elegant gold designs.
The
kosher collection also includes a flourless almond lemon
cake, flourless chocolate almond cake, vanilla dragées
and chocolate truffles.
Payard
Pâtisserie & Bistro, 1032 Lexington Ave.,
(73rd & 74th Streets), New York, NY 10021, 212-717-5252,
www.payard.com.
(Published:
12/02/05) |
