Sweets are also haute cuisine, the ingredients, flavors and textures have gained in complexity and creativity, and are no longer relegated to the last place in a glorious agape. Cakes, pastries, mousses, macarons, ice cream, pastries, cookies, chocolate… the universe of pastries gains prominence in the new hotel proposals that, with their sweetest preparations, aim to offer a unique experience to the sweetest diners.
Master chocolatier Lluc Crusellas, World Chocolate Master 2022, opens a window to his sweet world on Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia with a menu of five cakes that can be tasted every afternoon until the end of April at the Mandarin Oriental. All of his proposals include, to a greater or lesser extent, chocolate among his ingredients, from the traditional Sacher to the Ferrero Bombón.
On the menu, to accompany a coffee or a glass of cava, there is also a solid version of tiramisu, the Xocosú, and an apple tatin with a chocolate base, as well as a sweet designed for the occasion, the Mandarin, made of chocolate. black, hazelnut and shortbread, delicately prepared.
“My sweets are classic; You will not find surprise ingredients or flavors,” explains Crusellas. The young chocolatier is the second pastry chef to install his pop-up at the hotel, invited by Josep Esturi, head pastry chef. “The hotel makes a commitment to pastries; All sweets and cakes are made in our kitchens. We want to give value to quality sweets and create special moments of consumption, like the Mandarin experience in Barcelona,” argues Esturi. The sweet snack is served every afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Blanc restaurant until April 26.
A few meters away, on Passeig de Gràcia, the Majestic Hotel
Among its proposals are such delicious options as the caramel finger, the famous Jean-Marie Hiblot cake, the lemon cake, the pistachio cookies, or those with praline and chocolate caramel and the Savoie gateau, among others. And the drinks that accompany these desserts are adapted according to the occasion and time of year, in this way coffee, tea or hot chocolate will be served for cold days, and cava or champagne for special celebrations. In addition, depending on the season, traditional local products will be offered, such as coca de Sant Joan, which is typical to welcome summer.
