Apr 26, 2010

French-style [Lite] Almond Croissants in TO

A recent fascination with French-style almond croissants had me traipsing around Toronto getting high on almond paste. Lightness, sweetness, puffiness, flakiness — each patisserie offers a different style of lite almond croissant. Here are but a few of the patisseries in Toronto that offer the dainty pastry.


Patachou Patisserie
patachou
almond filling — sparse / an unevenly distributed paste of some sort / huh? where'd it go?
flake — crispy exterior / tastes dry overall / lacks soft, buttery flakiness within
say anything — not for the almond filling lovers, nope
price — $2.21


Rahier Patisserie
rahier
almond filling — a short, meagre squirt of bland almond paste / blahhhhhhhzay
flake — thin, crispy exterior / pleasant texture/ moist and buttery within
say anything — satisfyingly light but that almond paste's just wonky!
price — $2.20


Jules Patisserie

almond filling — tastes like real ground almonds / sweet but not overbearingly sweet
flake — extremely moist, airy and puffy within / flaky layers are uber evident
say anything — won't leave you feeling greasy / of the 3, the best bang for your buck
price — $2.10




The search for French-style Almond Croissants in TO continues! This time, it's a whole other ballgame. That's right, almond croissants that are HEAVY on the almonds. You know, the ones that are slapped with an extra layer of almond paste on top or injected with almond cream instead of paste... kinda like the one above? Muahaha. Watch out now.

4 comments:

  1. GREAT photography and love the idea. May I recommend ICI's almond croissant? They changed them recently and they are heavy on the filling. I get them at Sam James Coffee Bar since ICI isn't open to the public.

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  2. My favorite almond croissant is from Petit Thuet (Yonge & King). Tastes almost like the almond croissant I once had in Nice, France!

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  3. Andrea — Thank you! I haven't heard much about ICI's almond croissants, which makes me more anxious to try it now. Thanks for the suggestion.

    *chels — A few peeps have recommended I try Petit Thuet's (infamous) almond croissant... it's next on my hit list. And I'm sad because I never tried any almond croissants when I was in Nice.

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  4. A very interesting Chowhound thread on French-style Almond Croissants in TO:

    http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703887

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