Holy Bavarois!
So it’s time to round out the 222 Artisan Bakery free ad campaign with the obligatory comments on the open house. If you were hoping for pictures, well that’s just too bad. I didn’t take any. You should have gone.
I merely sampled, enjoyed, and was quickly blown away once again.
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what an open house at a business would entail, but upon arriving, I quickly saw that for 222, it’s a congregating of their loyal fan base in a three hour window to (a) drool (b) taste and (c) drool some more.
Specifically what that meant was that Matt and Deb got to show off some seriously rockin’ pastry skills as the gist was basically that we got to try most of their holiday creations, sample what I assume were a couple new additions to the bakery, and place orders for whatever our hearts might want need for Thanksgiving. Amazingly, they’re actually going to be working from 7-11AM Thanksgiving morning to “ensure maximum freshness of your Holiday Treats.” How awesome is that? Seriously?
The new offering appeared to be macaroons. They had pistachio, raspberry, and although I’d assumed it was chocolate, coffee. They were all of the good, chewy macaroon variety, as apposed to the crunchy ones, or the almost glue like ones that threaten to keep teeth as souvenirs. The pistachio was especially interesting, and it appeared to be the unanimous favorite by all those in the shop while we were there.
We also tried the Bavarian Apple Tart which had a sort of a crumb topping sprinkled atop apples that had been layered into a cream cheese filling.
And then — oh then — there was the Apple Caramel Bavarois. This is the kind of thing that will threaten to plump me back up again, because I can just about guarantee I’ll be dreaming about it at some point. I’m not sure how they make their bavarois, but traditionally it’s basically a whipped creme anglaise that’s been stablized with gelatin. As a result, thought it’s a custard, it has a much lighter almost mousse like mouth feel. It was an incredibly elaborate dessert as it had been assembled in a tube mold such that the bavarois completely surrounded what appeared to be a smaller rectangular apple terrine down the middle. They’d have to comment more on how they did it because I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Honestly, I wish I’d taken a picture, so you could appreciate the skill involved, because my description can not do it justice.
Its taste brought to mind a caramel apple but in a more subtle way because of the lightness of the custard. I can’t recall if it was completely surround by pastry, but the bottom was for sure, and the entire thing was then coated with chocolate after being turned out. It had to have taken forever, and my only regret is that we don’t have more people to share it with this holiday season, as we only needed to buy one.
I’m not sure if they’re still taking orders or not, but here’s the complete list of what they’re offering for the holidays. I’m sure you could twist their arms if you call this week.
Breads
- Cranberry Walnut $5
- Sourdough $5
- Hard Rolls (12) $7
- Brioche Rolls (12) $8
Breakfast Treats
- Quiche (10″, Cheese or Vegetable) $26
- Cinnamon Rolls $2.75
- Croissants $1.95
- Chocolate Croissants $2.50
- Pumpkin Bread $4
Desserts
- Bavarian Apple Tart $16
- Caramel Nut Tart $16
- Pumpkin Pie $12
- Apple Caramel Bavarois $18
- Cranberry Apple Strudel $12
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