The Village Grocer is renowned for its weekly themed bakery specials. As this last (long) weekend was Canada Day, they went with one of the most certifiably Canadian ingredients: maple! As a patron of almost anything puff pastry related, I purchased their maple mille-feuille.
👀 Appearance
The mille-feuille was enormous enough that I was able to split it into two still-satisfying portions.
Presentation-wise, it did not have a great first impression. Upon taking it out of the box, the slab of icing sugar that was dusted on top was missing about 20% of what should have been there. After closer examination, I was disappointed to discover that there were only two layers of puff pastry: the top and bottom. There was always a third middle layer in all of the mille-feuilles that I’ve had in the past. In place of this third layer was a collection of candied pecans in the middle, which was ensconced by whipped cream above and a massive maple custard layer below.
🍽️ Taste
I have almost always found maple-flavoured desserts to be superfluously sweet for my palette. As such, I was pleasantly surprised that the custard component of this mille-feuille offered the optimal amount of sweetness and a perfectly pronounced maple taste.
Conversely, the candied pecans and puff pastry exterior were both muted, missing the requisite candied and buttery profile.
⚖️ Execution
After trying it however, I was glad that this mille-feuille did not have a third layer as it was fairly forgettable. It sorely lacked the trademark flakiness characterized by a high quality puff pastry. Meanwhile, the candied pecans did not provide the classic crunch that fresh nuts offer.
Luckily, the cream component had terrific thickness and consistency, as it did not melt or become runny even after an hour and a half out of the fridge.
💰 Cost
This mammoth mille-feuille cost only $2.99. Considering I’ve had slices of cake that were about a third of the size and cost three times as much, this was superb value!
🏆 Verdict
I would strongly consider buying this again the next time it is available, if only for the maple custard/cream.
Maple Custard/Cream ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Puff Pastry and Pecan portions ⭐️⭐️
Overall: 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Day Long Weekends out of 5.
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