Being Religious about a "Religieuse" – part 2, the taste
Eating a Religieuse au Chocolat can be a unique experience… or not. 

First, there are several ways to eat it, depending on where you actually do it. If you go for a Religieuse “break” whilst on a hike between two museums, you could have it like a picnic: on a bench in a Parisian "square" (aka little public garden). You are likely to get a bit messy but you'll surely appreciate the childlike feeling of getting pastry cream and fondant icing all over your fingers – you might want to locate the nearest fountain before going for this approach.
You might want to go for the little top chou first. As a child, I would carefully eat the fondant icing first trying to separate it from the chou. I like when the texture of the icing is a bit sticky but and the taste of the chocolate predominates over the sugar one. The chou should be neither overcooked nor undercooked. It should have a light airy texture but still be consistent and not be too chewy nor too dry or stiff. It should be neither too thin nor too thick – now you know where the French sophistication comes from...
The chou has to be stuffed generously with cream but the cream shouldn't be stodgy. The pastry cream is actually tricky. Here again I don't like the cream to be too thick – some even have lumps in it which is a big "oh noooo" for me. A few years ago there was a tendency to replace the pastry cream by a creamy mousse – sometimes called a Chibouste cream. The thing is that theoretically this should change the name of the Religieuse, as the Religieuse is really supposed to be with stuffed with pastry cream. As far as I’m concerned, it really rather epitomizes the whole Religieuse experience. However, in the real world of the everyday Religieuse, the pastry cream is too often rather disappointing – sticky, with a somewhat eggy taste or not really tasting enough of chocolate… Last but not least, a Religieuse shouldn't be too cold.
Being this complicated cake with cream and what not, bakers sometimes keep them in very cold fridges, so when you buy them they can be too cold – and that's not the way they're supposed to be at all.

I wanted to try some French Religieuse for you (what a hardship!) and so decided to try out some international French Patisseries. Unfortunately though, international French boutiques such as La Maison du Chocolat (aka The Chocolate House) or Paul Le Boulanger (aka Paul the Baker), present in the US, all over Europe, the Middle East and some Asian countries, don't do Religieuse – they do have (rather poor) Eclairs though.
I tasted the ones they serve in Ladurée – you have Ladurée boutiques in New-York, Miami, London and Sydney. Ladurée is really famous for Macarons – attractive, sweet and delicious cakes that you can see plenty of in Sophia Coppola's film, Marie-Antoinette. Unfortunately, regarding the Religieuse, I finally understand why the French paper Figaroscope, when rating the best Religieuses in Paris, didn't even mention Ladurée at all.

Ladurée proposes Religieuses in three different flavours: Chocolate, Rose and Caramel au beurre salé (toffee with a touch of sea salt). I went for one of the more daring ones - the Caramel. When I was served, and upon seeing it, I was at first a bit doubtful about the chou dough but thought I was probably wrong – especially as Ladurée is a fancy place and the price of a Religieuse there is really quite expensive.

Well, first the fondant icing. Even if slightly too thick, it had a nice consistency and a somewhat strong caramel taste, which made it a richer experience than the plain sugar one, which was really quite nice.
The choux were slightly understuffed and the general feeling of the pastry was that it was lacking some generosity. The buttercream icing was also nice, as was the pastry cream – good consistency, creamy enough, though too strong caramel taste. Tasting the chou, I found out my initial reaction was correct and that I was right to be doubtful about it. It had this dry, over cooked taste and was a little too stiff. Last but not least, the pastry is probably too large in the Caramel version – or perhaps the Caramel they put in it is too strong. I had this particular Religieuse as an afternoon treat and couldn't quite get rid of this strong caramel after-taste for the whole rest of the day – which wasn't really pleasant.
So, as long as you are in Paris or in France, I wouldn't recommend you to have a Religieuse in Ladurée. Now that you know how they should look like and taste, I'm sure you can spot some good ones in a nice "boulangerie-pâtisserie".

Anne-Laure BELL










