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Pastry News

Pastries at bakery in Southlake look as good as they taste

D'Caramel Patisserie
D'Caramel Patisserie lh3.googleusercontent.com

A new bakery in Southlake is sweetening the local pastry game. Called D'Caramel Patisserie, it's doing beautiful croissants and French desserts, as pretty to look at as they are to eat.

Located in a former medical office at 2211 E Southlake Blvd., the shop is from Anna Narinian, a former HR pro said to have studied with notable European chefs who is bringing a combination of classic touches with innovative twists.

She started out selling her goods at Kellers Farmers Market before opening the storefront in late October.

The goal is to offer a wide selection of Viennoiserie products, including croissants, Danishes, kouign amanns, and brioches in the mornings, and French desserts throughout the day. Their menu includes eclairs, macarons, croissants, and three-dimensional tarts.

There are almond croissants, apple-yuzu croissants, hazelnut croissants, pain au chocolate, pear tarts made with croissant dough and topped with an entire pear half glazed with syrup, and "cinnamon rolls" made with croissant dough and dusted with sugar.

Prices are not cheap, with croissants ranging from $4.50 to $6.50 and pastries averaging $8.75.

A few things make this shop stand out from the rest.

One distinction: Their process for making croissants incorporates a long fermentation of the dough. This is a recent development in the croissant world that originated in France (and is also being embraced locally by pastry chef Amy LaRue at Carte Blanche Bakery in Dallas).

Longer fermentation can add a welcome complexity to the flavor of a baked good, and is a requirement in sourdough bread, contributing to its resilient texture and tangy flavor. But it requires monitoring, as fermentation affects the flour and can make the baked product chewier, not a favorable result in croissants.

A second distinction, one not found anywhere else in DFW, is their showpiece pastry collection, in which the pastries are molded to look like food objects such as raspberries or tacos, the pastry equivalent of the trompe l’œil technique in fine art.

This is a technique pioneered by Cédric Grolet, dubbed "the best pâtissier in the world," and with whom Narinian has reportedly studied, along with a trio of other internationally-famous chefs including Stephane Glacier, Daniel Alvarez, and Francois Brunet.

Her trompe l’œil selection includes one pastry that looks like a giant raspberry; another that resembles a giant chocolate-dusted coffee bean; and a cute one that looks like a cookie taco.

Inside, the desserts feature a cloud-like mousse, a crunchy layer, and creamy fillings in flavors such as chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, caramel, tropical, and berry.

Lastly, D'Caramel uses good ingredients: butter and fruit purees from France, Belgian chocolate, and Madagascar vanilla.

The bakery features an open kitchen, with seating areas still to come. There is no phone, and they don't respond to messages on social media, but they do offer ordering online. For now, it's open four days a week: from Wednesday-Saturday 8 am-6 pm.

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