Get ready friends to have your mouth-water with today’s post! If you read my last post from my ‘Around Town’ series, I ventured out to Lawerenceville, PA over the weekend and another place we went to visit was La Gourmadine French Bakery. My better half knew before hand about this bakery and pastry shop – this is the place that my mini pastries and Tartelette Aux Fruits were purchased from on the night I was proposed to (if you missed it, you can read all about that in this post).
As we pulled up to the La Gourmadine, we found ourselves standing on a long line with other patrons who must frequent there often and knew how delicious the baked goods are. As we walked inside the french bakery, we were enticed by the distinct smell of fresh baked bread, flakey butter croissants, scents of almond, vanilla and butter cream. I felt like my four-legged Cockapoo pup, ‘Bailey’, just standing there, licking my lips and staring at which treats I will get to eat! Not only did everything look so fresh and tempting, some of the pastries were so artfully-designed too! We regretted to have arrived to the bakery late afternoon, only to find that most of the trays were scarce but luckily there was enough goodies for us to pick out and take home with us and to share with our moms! So be sure to arrive early…like my sister always says, “Early bird catches the worm.”
As much as I wouldn’t mind admitting to eating each of the baked goods we purchased, I didn’t – as I needed the will power not to go off my “healthy eating” goal. So cutting out a few sample pieces from three out of the six baked goods, was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth craving and not feel so guilty!
MACARONS FRAMBOISES
Macarons filled with raspberries and custard
If you’re in the mood for something sweet, you will love this dessert treat. One bite of this macaron had me bobbing my head, tapping my feet and humming a tune – it was so darn good!
FEUILLETÉ AUX POMMES
Puffed pastry covered with sliced apples
Oh, how I could have sunk my teeth into this one but we gave this to my future mother-in-law who loved it and wants us to take her to the La Gourmandine.
ECLAIRS AU CHOCOLAT
Choux dough filled with cocoa chocolate pastry cream and topped with chocolate fondant
Mmm! We gave my mom these chocolate filled eclairs and you know she enjoyed it if you receive a text… “Delicious eclair. Thanks.”
CHOUX À LA CRÈME
Choux dough split in half and filled with whipped cream
While I did enjoy sampling this, I have to admit, it was a bit rich and very filling but good in taste.
CROISSANT AUX AMANDES
A Croissant filled with almond cream and sprinkled almonds
I’ve had my share of tasting different almond filled croissants and this by far is my absolute favorite!
LORRAINE
Bacon and caramelized onions
This quiche was saved for the next morning and my better half told me it was “so damn good – the egg was light and had a custard texture!”
If you are ever in Pittsburgh and visit the neighborhood of Lawerenceville or Mt. Lebanon, I highly recommend making a stop at La Gourmandine French Bakery.
Bon Appétit!
-Photos by Rose Angel
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