Patisserie Valerie is at the top of High Street. I have passed it many times and stopped to admire the cakes in the window (a good excuse to get my breath back before tackling the steep climb to the top of the town). There were slices of Black Forest gateau, mille feuille, chocolate honeycomb and caramel slice, strawberry gateau, cheesecake, mixed berry mouse… all looking delicious. I decided that post Christmas resolutions could be ignored in the pursuit of evidence for Silver Travel.
They offer both a take away and eat in service. It was a sunny day so I went for the take out option, choosing a slice of Black Forest gateau. This was placed in a small box inside an old fashioned paper carrier bag with string handles. They did miss a trick though as they didn’t provide a paper serviette as I discovered to my cost when I ended up with a blob of cream on my nose end and cherry jam on my chin.
It is years since I had Black Forest gateau – they were all the rage when I was in my 20s. The chocolate sponge was light and tasty with a generous filling of cream and morello cherries, which cut across any sweetness. There was another layer of cream on top with a big swirl of more cream and a chocolate spiral decoration. It was a generous size portion and sheer indulgence.
Patisserie Valerie opened in 1926 when Madame Valerie, a Belgium came to England to introduce fine continental patisserie to the English. It was an instant success and there are now shops across the country. As well as cakes, they offer an extensive “menu”:https://www.patisserie-valerie.co.uk/pv/file/2014menus/2016/WEB%20Patisserie%20Valerie%20-%20Menu%202.pdf at reasonable prices for eating in.
I can see I’ll be stopping again to sample the rest…
