The Merveilleux, my favorite cake, more often made in the North, is nonetheless a classic of my childhood on the Côte d’Azur.
Even though the recipe seems simple, a meringue topped with chocolate cream, half mousse and half ganache, and sprinkled with chocolate shavings, requires real expertise to achieve a delicious and incomparable taste.
When I first tasted, by chance, the Merveilleux from Benjamin Marquis, it was pure pleasure.
The Pastry Chef:
Benjamin Marquis, originally from Picardy, grew up in a small village where he would enjoy a pastry from the local bakery every day. That is where his desire to create cakes was born.
Having been trained by a Chef from Fauchon, his pastries remain traditional, though reinvented.
What makes the difference: he is a true artisan, meaning he makes everything himself, the pastry cream, the various doughs, the coatings and the glazes. Benjamin uses basic ingredients to create his cakes. He also works with seasonal products, trying to rediscover the flavors of his childhood.
The Chocolate Merveilleux:
A light mousse with a very homemade chocolate taste, a melt-in-your-mouth meringue and chocolate shavings that burst with flavor on the palate. A true delight.
The White Chocolate and Speculoos Merveilleux:
A charming and, above all, delicious variation on the classic Merveilleux: a white chocolate and speculoos mousse, a melt-in-your-mouth meringue here too, and white chocolate shavings. Truly surprising and delicious!
Benjamin also offers a wide variety of cakes, including classics such as the chocolate éclair, as well as very good tarts.
To enjoy them, on site or to take away, two addresses:
- Le Saint Antoine, 6 Place Bernard Cornut Gentille, Cannes. Tel: +33 493 99 34 51.
- Boulangerie de la Californie, 96 Avenue Maréchal Juin, Cannes. Tel: 09 67 33 34 12.
« In the childhood memories of every good cook there is a great kitchen, a cook at work, a cake baking and a mother » Barbara Costikyan
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