I will admit that one of my biggest bugbears when I moved to Beijing was that I never seemed to find a good bakery. I was never fully able to indulge my sweet tooth. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying there are no bakeries with supremely delicious pastries. There are. But were always too far away from me or too rich for my blood (aka my wallet); and of the affordable stuff, it didn’t quite taste right. It always felt like an interpretation of the idea of sweets, rather than the authentic thing.
Then I discovered Comptoirs De France. Now, it might just be a “me” thing, but my automatic association between food, especially pastry, and French-owned establishments is that of sheer decadence and an innate understanding of superlative cooking, rising to the level of a religious experience. To put it simply, Comptoirs De France is my guilty pleasure dream come true.
As I sauntered through one of their outlets in Sanlitun, that pesky “do you wanna build a snowman” song kept playing in my mind (sorry but I am not a fan of Frozen). Shelves upon beautifully decorated shelves of nothing but dark, milk and white chocolate creations ranging from snowmen in red hats and scarves, to brown Santas in a white beard and little jolly mushrooms sprouting festively from colorful stands. Each of these creations was a taste sensation, with the dark chocolate taking on a milder flavor rather than the harsher bitter taste we tend to associate with 95 percent chocolate.
Then came the chocolate cookies, lightly dusted in icing sugar which instantly transported me back to my childhood, and all the memories of watching Christmas movies, counters dusted lightly with flour while my mother kneaded dough for one treat or another and Christmas carols playing on the radio all came flooding back. There is something about a cookie that snaps in just the right way, or crumbles in your mouth as soon as your lips touch it that shouts “Christmas.”
However the one thing which truly brought back my childhood was the possibility of making my own gingerbread house. Comptoirs de France this festive season is offering kids the opportunity to build their own gingerbread houses and put together fun gift baskets for themselves.
Don’t fret, if you and your little one are unable to join the gingerbread house-making fun. You can have your own gingerbread house pre-assembled and delivered to your door step, or you can visit one of Comptoirs de France’s numerous stores in the city. Their products are also available on Taobao. Talk about a guilty pleasure. This is truly the treat to complete the season.
Photos: Courtesy of Comptoirs de France, thespruce.com
