croissantsinberlin

[croissantsinberlin]

Les Patisseries de Sebastien, Mitte

YOU GUYS--YOU GUYS--I’VE FOUND IT. I’VE FOUND THE ONE. OK, so given how many pictures I’ve posted of croissants, I feel like my iPhone 6s fails to capture the beauty of the most delicious croissant in all of Berlin (aka, the places that I’ve tried so far). 

BUT YOU GUYS. This is it. First off, made by a place called “Patisseries de Sebastien.” 1) If pastry is the name of the shop, you’re in a good place 2) French spelling 3)can you get any more French than the name Sebastien? (*ahem*)

I digress.

But that first bite, and I knew. Breaking it down: Unusually bronzier golden crust crumbled into much flakeage to my delight. The crust gave way to the delicious buttery center. Layers upon layers of utter butteryness that gave way to a delectable bite. Crunch then chew. And to top it off, there was a subtle, yet distinct, new flavour that blew my mind. I still can’t pinpoint what exactly it is, but I suspect it has something to do with the eggwash that makes the golden brown crust unusually dark. 

I couldn’t help but scarf it down, taking one bigger mouthful than the next, just so every taste bud in my mouth could relish in this magical pastry. But of course, all good things must end, and so did my croissant. 

I’ll be back. You butter believe it. 

[croissantsinberlin]

Oslo Kaffe Bar, Mitte

Good flakeage, but fell flat biting into the middle. Good taste, but lacks that extra deliciousness. Coming back to the coffee shop for the cappuccinos, free wifi, and hipster vibe, but I’ll pass on the croissants. 

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Kasch, Mitte

This is probably my favorite coffee/craft beer joint, that’s only down the street, and yet I only just tried their croissant. Previous inquiry had relayed they fly in their pastry dough from France, so I was hopeful it would deliver.

Delivered beyond my expectation. Seriously, what a surprising success! Good crispness to the outer crust, with delicious buttery taste. Really solid, and will be back for more.

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Balzac Coffee, Potsdamer Platz

Coffee shops never seem to deliver, and yet I still don’t learn my lesson. Another disappointing German styled croissant. More bready, than croissanty, if you’re into that kind of thing.

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Starbucks, Tegel Airport

When hunger calls for desperation... Breakfast before our flight to Rome, and starvation wasn’t going to be picky. Starbucks in the States oddly enough has a decent track record for me, given that they supposedly use French pastry dough and “heat” it before serving. This time around, however, it fell flat. Flavor and flakiness were fairly decent, but got too doughy by the time you bit in the center. Still, warm croissant does give it some bonus points.

[croissantsinberlin]

Packing fiend

Tmrw we’re off to Italy for 7 days. Agenda calls for a few days in Rome, then driving around Tuscany, zipping along the Amalfi coast and ending in Naples.

Packing goes from this...

to THIS:

Packed ‘er good.

[croissantsinberlin]

#domesticjazzy with hot n sour soup and chapchae.

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And the sourdough(ing) begins

It was time to get Sid a new roomier home...  

And I decided to take the opportunity to try out some of this Bread Station sourdough! Pancakes came to mind, so I followed this easy recipe.

Pancakes for lunch! A nice, light sourdough flavor, but texture fell flat. I didn’t have any eggs or baking soda, so hopefully next attempt will be better!

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Rose Garden Berlin, Mitte

I intended to go to coffee shop/bar Kaschk, but it was unfortunately closed (bc who’s drinking coffee at 9am...🤔). Went around the corner for a coffee at Rose Garden Berlin. The croissant was perfectly messy and flaky, but unfortunately was incredibly dry. Taste wise, it was pretty one-note, and fell short of the rich butter flavour I was craving. Bonus points for the cafe - atmosphere is super chic, with lots of different seating arrangements, and downstairs lives a pretty bathroom. Seriously, details people!

[croissantsinberlin]

Oslo Kaffe Bar, Mitte

FAILED ATTEMPT. Croissants sold out by the time I got here. Sufficed for an iced coffee, and attempt to finish some work in this super hipster cafe. Don’t you just love those stools?  

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Croissant with dat German swag

Bekarei, Prenzlauer Berg

Was too excited that I took a bite before the pix. Rustic approach? Anyhoo, first glance, expectations high. Shiny, golden, good volume. Then first bite... let down. I’m terribly biased towards French style croissants, so the ribbon endings of the croissant should have given this away as a German style croissant. It just isn’t quite for me. Quite dense, thick buttery layers, just more bread-like in general, but still very flavourful. In the croissant’s defense, I was planning on only eating half, and still commenced to eat through the whole thing. 

[croissantsinberlin]

I live for croissants

Some people understand my love croissants. To put it plainly, I LURV CROISSANTS 🥐. I’m always on the search for the perfect croissant. I’ve fine-tuned my search for them so well, that I can basically tell if it’ll blow my mind or not just by looking at it.

When it comes to croissants, I don’t kid around.

When I moved to Berlin, I decided to combine my love for these flaky pillows of buttery goodness and the need to get to know the city better, and created this beautiful Google map. It has no less than 26 bakeries around the city, each claiming their baked crescents as supreme. 

What is a perfect croissant, you ask? Good question. Two obvis: golden brown and delicious buttery taste. But here’s my personal break down of what makes an UH-MAZING croissant. First, biting into a croissant should be messy. It’s flaky in a way that it crackles and sticks to your lips, falls into the paper bag, and dusts your T-shirt. And once you bite through the flaky crust, you encounter the whole point of a croissant. Da buddahhhh. It’s an impossibly fathomable combintation of light yet rich center of pure buttery heaven, somehow contained in a delicate doughy center.  And after you set down the croissant to succumb to the buttery bliss that you’ve just encountered, your fingers should be shiny with buttery appreciation. Also, bonus points if it’s warm and triple bonus Mario points for pipping hot outta the oven. 

Did I mention I like croissants? 

[croissantsinberlin]

Du Bonheur, Mitte

Now this place had come with some strong advocation. Mainly friend Carlien saying “omfg it’s the best fucking place everrrrrrrr.”

Delicious croissant flavour, but because it’s coming from a patisserie, it had a i-decorate-with-fancy-chef-tweezers quality to it. Just a bit tooooooo perfect, if you get me. It’s as if each croissant had exactly 100 layers in this dense crust. Still, delicious and in the top.

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Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sid - my new sourdough starter! I was lucky enough to get my gummy little hands on some starter from Bread Station in Neukölln. Happy baking!

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#domesticjazzy thanks to Lucky Peach’s 101 Easy Asian Recipes

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Croissanterie, Neukölln

Now, I’ve been looking forward to this place for a while. #1, called Croissanterie, with the French spelling. #2, Friend said her French friend approved. Seriously, can you get any better stamp of approval? 

It’s also a 25 minute bike ride, and with my expert level of directions, having to take out my Google maps every 5 minutes turns it into a 35 minute ordeal. No worries, my first failed attempt only fueled me even more to get my ass down to try this croissant.

The result? Damn good, but not perfect. Buttery flavour there, but maybe bc it was after 9am, the croissants had lost its perfect flaky texture. Center had a nice, light doughy center that I love so much. So, I probably won’t be coming around here every day, but still worth the bike ride.

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American bfast with European taste.