LAURENT BERNARD chocolatier

I was shocked by this super big box!

Baby surprised me with a sudden delivery of "LAURENT BERNARD chocolatier" pastries at my doorstep today, forcing me to write my first post. This is for our 298th day together. I wonder why it wasn't on 300th day?

Anyway, baby knows that I have a very sweet tooth and I like chocolates. Weirdly, she's the one who doesn't like chocolates.

Trianon - Hazelnut biscuit base and chocolate cream.

The chocolate cream is not very sweet, coupled with the slightly salty biscuit base it makes this easy for people who doesn't like stuff that are too sweet. There's a layer of chocolate cream on the top, with a middle layer of hazelnut and the biscuit at the bottom. There is still a slight bitterness in the chocolate which gives another layer of taste to this pastry. The biscuit is porous but crunchy, making it pretty nice to chew on. The hazelnut taste is not very strong and it comes the strongest as an aftertaste after being stuck in between my teeth. I would had liked the hazelnut taste to be a little bit stronger but overall it is still pretty good.

Raspberry Cheese cake - Cheese cake with raspberry filling.

The cheese layer does not have a very thick cheese flavour, making it not so enjoyable for people who loves cheesecake for that cheesy taste. Although I don't really like cheesecakes, I would have liked the cheese layer to be thicker and stronger due to the fact that the raspberry filling is very sour. At the bottom is a biscuit layer. This also helps to neutralise the sourness of the filling and as such, extracts every bit of sweetness that the biscuit contains. Overall, this could be the lightest pastry in their menu which are mainly chocolate based. It would definitely make a good ending to a heavy meal.

Banana Cake - Hazelnut feuillantine, milk chocolate layer, banana cooked in passion fruit juice, chocolate glaze flavoured with ginger.

This cake has the most interesting taste of all. Although it is named a banana cake, there isn't much of a banana flavour when I first tasted it. The first taste that I noticed was the ginger in the chocolate glaze. This is the strongest taste of the cake. After it subsides, that little banana flavour emerges from somewhere in between the mix of flavours and it'll only be noticeable if I left the cake in my mouth to let it melt. If I chewed on it, this banana flavour will not appear at all. Maybe this has to do with the fact that the banana is cooked in passion fruit thereby reducing the distinct taste of the banana. In my opinion, the passion fruit enhances the ginger thus making it the predominant taste of this cake. Then lastly, the hazelnut comes as an aftertaste. If you love bananas, this cake may disappoint you due to the serious lack of any banana taste. It may make a very good item if you are playing any "guess the food" games though.

Pure - Made with chuao, a rare variety of chocolate from Venezuela, this long finish dessert is a delight for dark chocolate purists.

The description said it all, this really is a delight for dark chocolate purists. The outer layer is a slightly sweet milk chocolate, but the core is pure dark chocolate with a layer of chocolate cake at the bottom. At first bite, I was confused - Is this heaven or is this hell? The dark chocolate is both too bitter and not bitter enough. Coupled with the slightly sweet milk chocolate, it feels like I'm being torn apart between two extremes. As with some dark chocolates, there is this powdery texture that disintegrates very quickly in my mouth. The bitterness doesn't come as a whole but a little at a time as the "powder" comes apart. Finally, the cake adds some volume and holds together the elusive dark chocolate while chewing. Pure is the most emotionally engaging pastry I've ever tasted.

Pleasure - A splendid combination of chocolate sheets, whipped chocolate cream, ganache, hazelnut dacquoise and praline. Simply delicious..

This is a nice looking pastry and that's all to it. Each ingredient used is an individual and doesn't gel well. I guess its probably because there is nothing to hold on to the flavours. The chocolate sheets only make things worse as they are not easily broken and serves to separate each component. I'm disappointed with this after having tasted the rest which are interesting in its own way.

Chocolate Tart - The chocolate tart is a must-try. Made of a creamy chocolate layer on a crispy hazelnut biscuit, it is simply delicious.

The last piece that baby bought for me. A soft, creamy layer of milk chocolate at the top and a layer of hazelnut at the bottom. When tasted together, if feels like the ganache in a chocolate truffle. This is a basic chocolate tart. Having said that however, there's no way other chocolate tarts will taste good ever again.