Vancouver Good

I was treated to a breakfast of champions last week when I participated in a morning tasting of the delectable confections from pastry chef Paul Croteau and the recently announced Paul Croteau (PC) Confections.

The back story:
Paul hails from Quebec, spent time working in France, and is currently the pastry chef for Refuel and Campagnolo. PC Confections was created primarily because his confections were so delicious and popular that Paul and his partners wanted to let the general public have access to purchasing them.

Paul’s confections are created with French technique and everything is handmade from scratch daily using all the good ingredients.

The sweets:
Here’s a view of our tasting plates, though my iphone does not do these treats justice:

What I sampled, as shown L-R in the above picture:

Passion fruit & Raspberry Jellies (“Patés de fruit”) – I’m not generally a fan of jellies, but these were outstanding. I particularly enjoyed the passion fruit, which was so fresh, bright, and almost refreshing while the jelly melted easily in my mouth. The Raspberry jelly was also delicious, but with a sweeter, stronger raspberry jam like flavour.

Nougatine – Similar to a sweet Italian meringue, this is the French version, made with egg whites, honey, sugar, hazelnuts, pistachios, and cocoa nuts. Light, sticky, chewy, and sweet.

Almond Square – This sweet tasted like a Florentine, but with a  softer texture. The base was a sweet dough, topped with a  mixture of almonds, caramel, fruit, sugar, and butter. The combination was a rich and buttery dessert. Paul said this is one of his favourite confections from the collection.

A soft salted caramel - wrapped up in simple white parchment, a perfectly sweet & salty bite. Great smooth texture as well, there was no caramel getting stuck to my teeth – it melted beautifully.

Hazelnut Grignotine- this was my favourite from the tasting. A hazelnut toasted, salted, and covered with dark chocolate and cocoa powder. These are addictive little treats. Crunchy, salty, sweet – you cannot eat just one. Like the equivalent of popcorn for dessert lovers.

French Macarons – the ultimate French cookie – beautiful, chewy, sweet, and requiring expert technique to make. At the tasting, Paul detailed the keys to a truly good French macaron:
- The bottom & top should be a uniform size size to properly seal the filling
- The macaron should have a glossy finish
- The texture should be crunchy as you bite in, but soft as you taste the macaron

While the ingredients for a French macaron are relatively simple, there is technique to proper execution – it’s easy for something to go wrong. As Paul makes between 800-1000 macarons each week, he says this is a craft where practice does make a difference.

PC Confections makes Macarons with seven different fillings, I tried three:

- Macaron with a salty caramel filling. Can you think of anything better? The filling is amazing, a smooth combination of whipped butter, caramel, and maldon sea salt.
- Macaron with a Valrhona chocolate ganache filling. Rich, bitter, and sweet – like a little chocolate sandwich.
- Macaron with a pistachio filling. This flavour will be available in stores soon, a delicious and nutty centre.

My half-enjoyed macaron’s on the plate here, don’t they look scrumptious?

Additonal macaron flavours include lemon, coffee, and vanilla pistachio. Paul mentioned he’ll probably do a pumpkin flavour this fall too.

Where & how to buy:
- The PC Confections kiosk at Oakridge Mall, atrium entrance
- 49th Parallel Coffee on 4th avenue sells them in the afternoons at the cafe
- Selected farmers markets

Paul Croteau Confections Price List
Grignotine – $6.95
Soft salted caramels – $7.95
Pat̩s de fruits Р$9.95
Nougatine – $5.95
Almond square – $9.95
Macaron – $1.50 each, $4.50 for 3

These will make great hostess gifts and a great dessert option for dinner parties. My friends can expect these come holiday season.

For some better photos of Paul and the sweets, visit the PC Confections Flickr page.

Thanks again to Julia, Katharine, Paul, & Refuel Restaurant for hosting the tasting!

Paul Croteau Confections
Second floor at 1020 Main St, North of Terminal Avenue
Upstairs from Campagnolo Restaurant