Baking with Marianne

Whenever I am in Paris, I have a long list with bakeries and pastry that I want to visit. I never end up visiting all the bakeries and pastry stores on my list which makes me very unhappy every time. I know that my list is simply too long for a short visit and it also does not help that my lists gets longer and longer with every Paris visit. It upsets me that there are so many bakeries, in particular pastry stores, that I have not tried in Paris and I feel I am missing out on delicious cakes. In those moments I console myself that one day I will move to Paris for a few months with the purpose of visiting a different pastry store every single day and try all the delicious gateaux that Paris has to offer.

My bill of my cake purchase. In comparison to other pâtisseries, Aoki's cakes are to my surprise cheaper than cakes from other pâtisseries in Paris. On average, I paid 7 € for one petite gâteau in Paris.

It does not matter how long my list is but there is one pastry store that I visit every single time when I am in Paris and this is Sadaharu Aoki. In fact Sadaharu Aoki is one of my favorite pastry chefs; I adore Aoki's pastry creations and they inspire me a lot. As you might guess from the name Sadaharu Aoki he is not French but Japanese. Aoki was born in Tokyo and he was trained as a pastry chef both in Tokyo and Paris. In the 1990s he moved to Paris and in 2001 he opened his first boutique in Paris. By now Aoki has five boutiques in Paris and four pastry stores in Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka) and Taiwan (Taipei). Many of Aoki's creations are inspired by Japanese flavors such as Matcha and Yuzu. Aoki's pastries are elegant and the decorations of the cakes are not extravagant. The cake itself and the flavor combinations are the center of each cake. This reflects the interior design of his pastry stores as well which are clean and simple but very chic at the same time. I like Aoki's philosophy and I have a similar approach. You may have noticed that I keep my photos and the design of my blog very simple and minimalistic because I want the cake or any baked goods to be in the center. I am so passionate about cakes and this is - for me - the most important feature and this is why I prefer a minimalistic design.
I bought two cakes from Sadaharu Aoki on my last trip to Paris : the "Citron praliné" petite gâteau and the "Tarte Caramel salé matcha". I tried Aoki's Citron praliné cake for the first time a few years ago and I was blown away by utterly delicious lemon cake. The base of the cake is a lemon macaron biscuit with a thin layer of lemon cream, followed by a layer of crispy praliné and another layer of lemon macaron biscuit; the layers are wrapped up in a lemon mouse. The texture and the different flavors are incredible and the cake is so, so, so delicious. I have one minor point of criticism that the praliné flavor could be a little stronger for my taste.
The Tarte Caramel salé matcha (all of Aoki's tartlets are an eye catcher) is equally delicious. The tartlet consists of a matcha shortcrust shell which is filled with salted caramel and on top of the caramel there is a beautiful spiral of matcha mousse. The cake is more on the sweeter side because of the caramel filling but the matcha mousse balances out the sweetness of the caramel.
If you are in Prais I highly recommend visiting one of Sadaharu Aoki's boutiques. I like the small pastry store on 35 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arroundisment. The store is a five minute walk from the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg park where you can take a rest and enjoy the treats of Aoki. I also recommend visiting the boulangerie "La Parisienne" (48 rue Madame) which is literally a minute away from the Aoki pastry store. "La Parisienne" won the competition for Best Baguette in Paris for the year 2016.  Unfortunately, the bakery was closed when I stopped by, so I cannot tell you anything about the baguettes but I am sure the bread is delicious.