Vandermeersch: King of the Paris Kouglof

I've been meaning to cross Paris to make the trip to Vendermeersch for months. Actually, make that years. Really. For some reason, I never made it. Maybe it's because they're closed at the wrong time. Maybe it's the idea of taking the Métro to a firmly, fairly distant residential arrondisement of Paris. I don't know. But lots of Parisians have made the trip to Vandermeersch. According to Dorie Greenspan in her superb book Paris Sweets, the year Le Figaro newspaper declared their Galette des Rois (a marzipan-filled puff pastry dessert, created to celebrate Epiphany) as the best in Paris, they sold 1600 that weekend alone!

When I first walked in, I was assaulted by the "wall of Kouglofs". There were tons of them, in every size, in every price. (Although I don't understand why places price things like 3.86€ or 7.51€... I know they're sold by weight, but can't they just add or subtract a couple of centimes? Like pennies, who wants centimes?)

Since it was just me (where is Pim when I need her?), I conservatively choose the smallest.

Although I previously declared the Kouglof at Ladurée the Best of Show, this was surely the late-breaking winner. The Kouglof at Vandermeersch is bready but rich, not-too-sweet, made in a cake mold which is called, appropriately, a Kouglof. Stéphane Vandermeersch studs each Kouglof with plumped raisins, the cakes are baked, then soaked in a flavorful orange flower-scented syrup. Afterwards each gets a generous tumble in coarse sugar giving each a crunchy coating. Although I had meant to take the little sucker home, the liquid seeping through the thin waxed paper wrapping made me quickly, and deliciously, alter my plans. I stood in front of the bakery wolfing down my little treasure. It was incredibly moist and delicious. Sorry, it defies fancy superlatives. You'll just have to trust me.

Although equally famous is their Millefeuille, layers of buttery, crispy pastry sandwiched with vanilla-enriched cream, I had my eye on the Tarte Griotte; squares of Vandermeersch's famous puff pastry smeared with soft pistachio paste, topped with a haphazard mosaic of whole, vividly-green pistachios and tart sour cherries. Each was topped with a cherry on a stem so large that it would dwarf many a lesser-fruit.

And did I mention the compact loaf of grainy bread I discovered nestled in their wooden baking molds?