One of my goals this Summer was to FINALLY make it to the Duchess Bake Shop, to try their French Macaroons - one of the only places in Edmonton you can buy them without ordering online!!
I do want to take Abigail there one day for a girls afternoon out - maybe this week....but I wanted to be sure to get there AND I wanted Laurence to go there to see the cafe as he is planning to become a pastry chef and if he studies in Edmonton, he will need to do work experience somewhere.
He is also keen to run his own coffee shop/ bakery - so it was very interesting to see his thoughts on Duchess. It isn't the style of cafe he wants to run - BUT he does want to bake his own products in-store, so it was good to go there!!!
There were good things and bad things about Duchess. I wasn't overly impressed - with the food or the cafe - BUT it is somewhere that feels kind of special and a bit of a treat compared to somewhere like Cafe Haven - which is more your every day kind of coffee place.
The coffee was great - although not as good as Fuss Cupcakes coffee which is still my favourite :)
The Macaroons are tiny - I had never seen them before, so expected them to be more your average cookie size!! No - they are bite size!! To be honest apart from the cream inside - which is the most incredibly light and silky cream, they were over-priced undercooked chewy meringues!
Still, I am really pleased we went - we had a lovely visit and got to chat about Laurences future plans a lot - AND I got to buy some macaroons to photograph :)
I am looking forward to taking Abigail there soon :)
Laurence bought this cake - which was covered in a very thin marzipan fondant and filled with a jam sponge and the lightest, fluffiest cream EVER!! Laurence needs to work there to learn about the cream!! :)
