Picasso of pastry | cheriecity.co.uk

Afternoon tea, London, Patisserie, Stores

Pierre Hermé Fetish Infiniment Vanille

March 13, 2015 by cheriecity

Pierre Hermé’s creativity never fails to amaze me, but his innovation goes far beyond presenting unexpected new flavour combinations. Even classic tastes are elevated to divine new levels.

Last week, I visited the gorgeous new Pierre Hermé store on Covent Garden’s Monmouth Street for an exclusive preview of the new Fetish Infiniment Vanille collection.

Vanilla often undeservedly has the reputation for being safe and unadventurous, but Pierre Hermé sees vanilla as a ‘diva’. When done right, vanilla can be indulgent, sensuous and very luxurious. It is the second most expensive spice after saffron, of course.

Fetish Infiniment Vanille celebrates the fragrant spice with an extensive collection of gourmet vanilla treats. The tasting started with examining the appearance, textures and aromas of three different vanilla pods from Madagascar, Tahiti and Mexico. Vanilla from these three origins make up Pierre Hermé’s ideal vanilla flavour (his signature ‘house’ fragrance).

The most striking use of this specially composed vanilla is in the macarons. The delicate yet robust flavour is intoxicating and the macaron is punctuated with tiny, crunchy vanilla seeds. This is pure, velvety luxury and I’ve never tasted any vanilla macaron as exquisite as this.

I’m always a fan of Pierre Hermé’s delectable pound cake and the new Cake Infiniment Vanille is very satisfying with subtle flavours of almond and vanilla. I liked the sweet vanilla ganache studded with crunchy pieces of almond and the decorative vanilla pod on the top.

We also tried a rich and mellow Bonbon Chocolat Infiniment Vanille with a velvety vanilla-infused ganache and a buttery little Sablé biscuit left a pleasant sea salt taste in the mouth.

The star of the collection for me is the green tea fragranced with vanilla. I’ve tried black tea with vanilla before, but the green tea had a fresh, clean flavour and worked perfectly with the vanilla.

Also in the Fetish Infiniment Vanille collection is a glazed croissant filled with almond paste, Paris Brest, millefeuille, Rum Baba, tart and choux. Pierre Hermé’s signature vanilla flavour is a sensation that all pastry lovers should try at least once.

The Pierre Hermé Fetish Infiniment Vanille collection is available now in-store and online until 19th April. For more information, visit: www.pierreherme.com

Patisserie, Stores

Pierre Hermé Breakfast & Lemon Fetish

September 4, 2012 by cheriecity

‘Picasso of Pastry’ Pierre Hermé brings the decadence of his exquisite treats to the breakfast table. Granola Ispahan (£13/300g) is a reinterpretation of a classic with the elements that make up Hermé’s signature Ispahan pastries and macarons. The crunchy breakfast cereal includes oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, puffed rice, grated coconut, pistachios, pecan and almonds, flavoured with honey and rose, dried raspberries and lychees.

Nutella fans will be excited by the Pâte à Tartiner Pietra (£15/200g) – hazelnut praline spread with bits of caramelised hazelnut. Inspired by Herme’s Pietra praline, the smooth pâte à tartiner is punctuated with crunchy praline and has a fruity underscore from the bitter chocolate – perfect for slathering on toasted baguette or brioche.

The Breakfast products are rather decadent for everyday munching (unless you have Marie Antoinette aspirations), but they are a great Sunday morning treat as part of a big brunch or a lazy breakfast in bed.

Pierre Hermé’s Lemon Fetish collection (which makes me want to sing Serge Gainsbourg’s Lemon Incest) brings intense citrus zest to the entire range, including the Infinitement Citron meringue cake, baba cake, cheesecake, millefeuille, chou, emotion, tarte, ice cream, macaron, bonbon de chocolat, waffle, pound cake and biscuits.

Pure lemon is a world apart from the typically wild flavour combinations that we’ve come to expect from Pierre Hermé, but perhaps the secret is in simplicity.

Breakfast and Lemon Fetish collections are available now at all Pierre Hermé stores and online at www.pierreherme.com

London, Patisserie, Stores

Pierre Hermé’s New Macaron Day in London

February 28, 2012 by cheriecity

Pierre Hermé brings Macaron Day to London for the first time, following the likes of Paris, New York, Toronto, Budapest and many other macaron-loving cities.

Initiated by Pierre Hermé Paris seven years ago, Macaron Day celebrates the pleasure of a macaron while raising awareness for serious causes. For the inaugural London Macaron Day, Pierre Hermé Paris is offering each visitor to the Selfridges or Lowndes Street stores a free macaron, in return for a donation to Ambitious About Autism.

This national charity helps support children and young people with autism at TreeHouse School while also raising awareness and influencing policy.

On Macaron Day, Pierre Hermé enthusiasts and first-timers will have a rare chance to sample an extended range of flavours created by Pierre Hermé over the past decade – like an art retrospective (well, he isn’t named the Picasso of Pastry for nothing)!

Macaron Day will take place in cities around the world on 20th March, the day before Spring officially arrives (or on 20th June in Japan to coincide with Summer Solstice). What better way to start the new season than with a delicious macaron and helping to sustain the good work done by Ambitious About Autism.

For more info, visit: www.pierreherme.com and Ambitious About Autism.

London, Patisserie

Pierre Hermé Paris in Belgravia, London

August 28, 2011 by cheriecity

Heralded by Vogue as the ‘Picasso of pastry’, Pierre Hermé is known for creating exquisite pâtisserie, leading the way with innovative flavours and experimental pairings.

Carrying forward the family trade of Alsatian bakery and pastry-making, albeit with a more libertine approach, Pierre Hermé trained at Gaston Lenotre and worked with Fauchon before setting up his eponymous company with Charles Znaty. The first Pierre Hermé boutique opened in Tokyo in 1998, followed by his return to the gastronomy scene in Paris, where his creations were met with immense praise.

I was invited to try the new macaron flavours and explore the Pierre Hermé store in Belgravia.

My experience of a Pierre Hermé store has been limited to the counter at Selfridges, as the Paris stores have always had queues out of the door. The Belgravia store is a petite jewel box of edible treasures, tucked away on a quiet row just off Sloane Street. The loyal clientele are generally macaron enthusiasts on a pilgrimage, rather than passers by clicking away at the displays.

Macarons are the main feature of the boutique and exciting new summer flavours include liquorice and violet, apricot and pistachio and and pea and mint. My personal favourites from the classic collection that I usually choose at Pierre Hermé are Rose and Mogador – milk chocolate and passion fruit.

The chocolates are just as exciting as the macarons and I couldn’t resist the Ouvre-Toi – sesame praline, sesame nougatine, enrobed with milk chocolate. The Tsuki was also a pleasing new taste discovery – a dark chocolate with roasted and salted corn and orange fruit paste.

The Bonbons de Chocolat au Macaron are a delicious compromise between a macaron and a chocolate, for when you can’t decide. I tried the Pietra – hazelnut praline, chocolat macaron biscuit and almond paste, enrobed in dark chocolate. It was crunchy, dense and velvety, an absolute delight.

One of the pleasures of Pierre Hermé are the beautiful presentation boxes and this year they have collaborated with illustrator Soledad Bravi on a limited edition London Landmarks box.

If you’re after a gift that lasts a bit longer, Pierre Hermé offers a selection of rare aromatic teas and indulgent hot chocolate presented in colourful tins.

I also loved the boxes of chocolate-covered candied fruits and the candied fruit paste sweets that reminded me of Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, a Pierre Hermé cookbook or one of the divine scented candles would make a wonderful gift.

Another exciting discovery was the selection of jams created by Christine Ferber for Pierre Hermé. The delicious combinations include Strawberry and Pistachio, Violet Pears and Blackcurrant or Ispahan – Raspberry, Rose and Lychee – which I selected to take home with me.

I was kindly given a London Landmark box filled with seven classic and new macarons to take home. The absence of the Rose macaron was the result of not enough will-power at the end of a long, rainy day!

I was also given an elegant box of assorted chocolates, which was well-timed for impressing my friend visiting that weekend. The slim, rectangular chocolates are petite but with intense flavours. One of my favourites was the Azur – bitter chocolate and lime and yuzu ganache enrobed with dark chocolate.

My third delightful gift from Pierre Hermé was a pot of Confiture Ispahan – a delicate combination of raspberry, rose and lychee.

The jam was the best I’ve ever tasted, bursting with fruit and fragrant rose. It wasn’t overly sweet like other jams and had an ultra smooth, refined texture. For me, it’s too exquisite to just slather on bread, so I’ve tried it on Madeleines and various cakes and on top of ice cream. It would also make a perfect cocktail ingredient, so why try it as a Raspberry, Lychee and Rose Martini.

The staff at Pierre Hermé are so passionate about his creations and love to share their knowledge and experiences with customers.

The two London outposts are the only ones outside of France and Japan, so we can feel proud that Pierre Hermé has chosen to share his dreamy patisserie with us before the rest of the world.

For more info and boutique locations, visit: www.pierreherme.com

Thank you to Pierre Hermé Paris in Belgravia for such a memorable afternoon.