Last December, my social networking feeds were abuzz with breads and pastries from Eric Kayser. Now I’ve seen the shop in Rockwell. It’s located at the Concourse Level of Power Plant Mall right were the supermarket is. I haven’t tried anything from there yet though, but that’s about to change.
Last week, Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger Paris’ first outlet in the Philippines was formally launched in Rockwell. Eric Kayser himself flew in from Paris for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and official opening.
Eric, a 5th generation baker, talked about bread-making and passed around a sample of the dough they used. He asked us to smell and taste it. It smelled like sourdough. I didn’t have a taste because I found it gross that a lot of people already dipped their fingers into it to do so, lol.
He also passed around a sample piece of bread for us to check out.
This is the Eric Kayser Manila team, there are five bakers/pastry chefs and three of them are from Eric Kayser Paris. They are and will be training the Manila-based ones since Eric Kayser will be opening more outlets in the Philippines.
Eric Kayser himself demonstrated how they make bread.
So right after program I visited Eric Kayser Paris in Power Plant Mall’s supermarket area.
Although we were already given some samplers during the event, I looked around for some additional goodies I could bring home for the kids. I was like wow when I saw the Brownies (P150). I’m sure they’re good but I thought P150 per piece was kinda too much.
I did get a Monge Fromage (P75). I love cheese so cheese bread with chunks of Emmenthal sounded good to me. One of the staff members at the store told me monge breads are sugar-free so I was attracted to it. Anyhow, I popped it in the oven toaster the next morning and had it for breakfast. I think you need to toast it longer than usual so that the exterior would be crisp and easier to bite into. Taste was okay but I think I under-toasted.
I saw these shiny Apple Danish Tarts (P85) but didn’t get any.
This is one of Eric Kayser’s more popular pastries, the Chocolate Croissant (P85). Can I tell you a secret? I don’t really like croissants which is probably why I never got addicted to cronuts so I gave it a miss.
Here are the staples: a variety of Pan de Mie (prices range from P130 to P240). Pan de Mie is a type of sliced packaged bread. The French use it as their regular sandwich bread. Eric Kayser’s come in loaves which you have to slice yourself. I figured if I wanted to roadtest Eric Kayser’s bread I had to get Plain Pan de Mie (P130 above leftmost) so I could appreciate the difference from regular supermarket-variety white bread. The most expensive kind is Japonais Pan De Mie (P240) since it has hazelnuts and orange peel.
The kids had sandwiches using Plain Pan de Mie for their baon the next day. My daughter said it was very soft and nice. I tried a piece and well yes, it is a lot different in terms of taste and texture to the mass-produced supermarket white breads. It does however yield half the number of slices at more than double the price. Good to try though and good to stock at home once in a while.
Here are Mini Monge Baguettes (P80 per piece). Not a fan of tough breads, lol.
I think Eric Kayser is known for their Financiers, almond cakes that come in a variety of flavors. I got a small bag of assorted mini Financiers from the event but a full-sized one like the Chocolate Financier (P125) on my photo is about the size of a cupcake or muffin. I loved Eric Kayser’s Financiers — I got to try chocolate, pistachio, and plain. They really taste like almonds, I think a certain grittiness characterizes each bite. They smell heavenly too. I felt I was eating a cake made with marzipan (almond paste) and I love marzipan!
Aside from those lining the shelves, there are more cakes and fancy pastries inside Eric Kayser’s chiller.
I took home a Chocolate Mi-Cuit (P150) for my daughter who’s a chocoholic. It’s chocolate cake with a dark chocolate center that’s supposed to ooze if you warm it. At home we tried eating it as is and then eating it after zapping for a few seconds in the microwave oven. It’s better zapped as the center becomes very soft and rich so it’s kinda like molten chocolate cake. Thumbs up for this one!
I also got a Salted Caramel Eclair (P125) because I wanted to try an eclair that’s actually made by French dudes, lol. I liked it a lot! The caramel on top of the eclair is the sweet kind while the filling is the salty kind, it’s a very nice contrast of flavors all housed by the perfectly baked pastry base.
Eric Kayser has a variety of cookies retailing for P90 each. I got a small box of this from the event too. The sizes vary, so if you want to get your money’s worth go for the huge ones, lol. They’re like a hybrid — not soft and chewy but chewy, not dry and crunchy but they do have that crunch. I can tell from the taste that they’re made with lots of butter. The kids liked them! Well, I liked them too!
So these are what I took home in addition to the samplers I got at the event — Plain Pan de Mie, Fig Monge, Cheese Monge, Salted Caramel Eclair, and Chocolate Mi-Cuit. Everything totaled to P500+. And yes, I would buy from Eric Kayser again.
If you’re trying Eric Kayser for the first time, I highly recommend the Financier (any variant, they’re all good), the Eclairs (any flavor), and the Pan de Mie (any variant). Of course, I pretty much liked everything I took home but these are my top picks. 🙂
Eric Kayser
Concourse Level, Marketplace by Rustan’s
Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati City
890-0850
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