Lenotre holds an exclusive spot in my heart. My first encounter with Lenotre was in Paris. Walking into a shop could have sent me into convulsion from the sheer excitement of drooling over endless displays of desserts!! "Fromboyant" was carefully chosen as my lunch for the day. And the pleasure it delivered was simply exquisite... Yes, I'm talking about food!
When Mark Stone, the only Australian accredited by Lenotre, brought "Venus Fromboisier" to Summit for Good Food Month back in 2006 (raising money for National Breast Cancer Foundation - being pink & all) I was beyond ecstatic! It would be another year before the experience is repeated at Sofitel for Sugar Hit in 2007. "Opera" and a glass of Hennessy Cognac... I found THE Lenotre dessert menu, on top of the usual dessert menu and vowed that I would be back.
If you haven't had a Lenotre dessert, I urge you to visit Sofitel. The Afternoon Tea stand consists of 6 cakes (see below, corresponding with photo from top to bottom), scones & sandwiches:
Cone au Chocolat: rich dark chocolate cone filled with luscious berries, served with cream
Camaieu: layers of chocolate sponge flavoured with marzipan in between layers of dark & milk chocolate mousse topped with ivory Chantilly cream
Macaronades: macaroon made of soft almond meringue filled with fresh raspberries & lemon curd
Ambiance: layers of vanilla Bavarian cream, with fruits of the forest jelly & caramelised hazelnuts
Tarte au Citron: classic French lemon tart, sweet pastry filled with almond & lemon cream, topped with lemon meringue
Opera: chocolate pastry with layers of almond biscuit, decadent chocolate ganache with coffee butter cream topped with gold leaf
Ambiance received the most "mmm"s & nods. As usual, the art in eating dessert is to start light. But having a separate stomach & extremely sensitive taste buds, I cared not. Each piece was magnificent in its own right. Some like it heavy, some like it soft. I love it all!
Two desserts were chosen from a la carte:
Venus Fromboisier: fresh raspberries layered with rich vanilla mousseline, light genoise sponge, raspberry jelly, raspberry caramel & topped with a toffee swirl
Tarte au Peches: light puff pastry case filled with almond cream, peaches with a sprinkling of pistachios
The tea menu requires a special mention. The wooden box opens up to exhibit various Mariage Freres tea samples with descriptions (noted, by the future teahouse owner...). Very sweet. And according to the final bill - free! Perhaps no more luck next time :P
This has got to be the best afternoon tea experience I have ever had!!
KT
