When you're invited to someone's house for dinner, you shouldn't arrive empty-handed. Wine is obviously the foolproof offering, but sometimes a show-stopping dessert is more fun. Plus, what's better than being known for having excellent taste in treats? That's a pretty dope reputation to have.
When it comes to Montreal's confectionary scene, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable. We are lucky to have so (so so sooo) many places to shop for terrific dessert. Today, I'm going to share two of my absolute favorites.
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| PATISSERIE RHUBARBE (1479 LAURIER EAST) |
Rhubarbe
Rhubarbe truly makes some of the prettiest pastries in town.
Better than being lovely to look at -- they also taste divine! The confections at Rhubarbe are incredibly well-crafted and high quality, but never stuffy or boring. Everything I've tried has been a near-perfect harmony of taste, texture, and lightness. They use fresh and flavorful ingredients to create interesting flavor combinations, and sometimes even make fun plays on conventional desserts.
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| Rhubarbe's lemon tart in all its glory. |
Hands down, my favorite thing on Rhubarbe's menu is the lemon tart. It might be the best one I've tried anywhere, ever. The curd strikes a good balance between sweet and tart. The bottom crust is light, cookie-like, not too sweet. And don't get me started on those dollops of meringue! They are small, plush, sugary pillows. Look, I've tried more than a few lemon tarts in my time, and this one continues to be the one to beat.
While you're at the counter, you should also grab a few pistachio dacquoises, mille-feuilles, and chocolate pear cakes. Thank me later ;)
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Bar à Beurre
Bar à Beurre is a little spot in Old Montreal, serving the most perfect pastries for people who like their treats very, very sweet. (I say that with all the love in my heart -- after all, I'm the one who named her blog after Betty Crocker.) Their desserts are a lot more playful than what you'd find in a traditional pastry shop. Lots of cute colors and fun flavors. For me, Bar à Beurre's calling card is their buttercream. It's unreal -- thick and creamy and sweet AF, like an upscale version of the old school stuff you find in a jar from the grocery store.
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| These are butter balls (wish I had one IRL right now). |
If you're only ordering one thing, get the boules de beurre (translation: butter balls). They are two domed sugar cookies, fused together with that incredible frosting, then rolled in sugar. Bar à Beurre makes them in a TON of different flavors. Yes, they are ridiculously indulgent and probably so, so bad for you. Yes, you should absolutely eat them anyway.
Their sandwich cookies are also beyond. Imagine two huge scallop-edged sugar cookies that are dense and chewy, never cakey or dry. Sandwiched between them is a generous layer of (you guessed it) the bakery's signature buttercream. The thing literally feels heavy in your hand. Eating one is an intense experience -- one that I've never regretted ;)
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There are at least a dozen more fabulous pastry shops to tell you about, but I'll just save them for next time. Where does your favorite dessert come from?
Image credit (top): Top With Cinnamon
Image credit (Rhubarb): Oh The Places She'll Go, Burpple
what,no cannolis??
ReplyDeleteThose are for another day! :)
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