It wasn’t until we were in Lourdes that we got the opportunity to try out France’s popular baba au rhum (or rum baba) at Little Flower resto-café. It is essentially a yeast cake (usually portion-sized) that is soaked in a rum-based syrup and topped with whipped cream. And it pretty much tastes very much the same as its description. A fun and enjoyable dessert if you’re looking for something light that still gives you a tickle.

Apologies in advance that the image below does not give the best view of all the layers of the mille-feuille that we tried at Café Royal, but I assure you that it tasted very, very good. Light and crisp layers of pastry that crackled easily under a spoon, light and smooth layers of cream that managed to hold it all together, and a marble frosting on top from which the dessert got most of its sweetness. A wonderful mix of tastes and textures in a pretty much classic version of the pastry dessert.

Given that the French are famed for their pastries and desserts, perhaps it should come as no surprise that we came across some of the best tiramisu that we’ve had in a very long time – particularly in Lourdes, but in Paris as well. Since tiramisu is not of French origin, I have not highlighted it in the post title but, my goodness, they were good! The whole, proper deal with light, coffee-soaked sponge embedded in fluffy cream, so smooth and light that you barely feel like you’ve had a whole tiramisu at the end of it. Unfortunately, I don’t have an image of the delectable tiramisu we had at Little Flower, but I do have one from Café Royal that was just as good. B25 – Le Bistro de Champs-Élysées in Paris had one that was quite nice, too. A word of warning for the Italians – watch out, amici; the French mean business.

Surprisingly, though, the crème brûlée didn’t wow as much as the tiramisu, which is why I haven’t highlighted it in my posts. The couple that we tried were fine, but nothing amazing. A bit of crackle on the top, an ordinary-tasting custard under it. I guess we were expecting to come across an amazing rendition of the famous French dessert. Or perhaps my mother dearest has set the bar too high with her fabulous rendition of it. Who knows? Either way, here’s a picture of one that we tried in Toulouse.