Delice de Violette

About four years ago I grew an obsession with violet flavoured ice-cream. Amongst the plethora of flavours available at one of the many ice-cream bars in the town I was staying in it seemed the most enticing on my first visit. So from then on I went, without fail, everyday for two weeks for a scoop of violet together with whatever else I fancied. Unsurprisingly I grew tired of this delicate and aromatic taste and since that holiday I can’t recall another piece of violet flavoured food I have eaten except perhaps some violet flavoured tea. In what may seem a foolhardy repetition of previous mistakes I have again eaten unusual amounts of violet flavoured foods in the last three weeks of which this Delice de Violet, purchased at Calderon in Saint Raphael in the south of France, is one. The enticingly smooth exterior was made of a violet flavoured crème (or custard) which had an appealing texture half-way between set custard and jelly. Inside a layer a dense, almond based cake was topped with more of the violet crème and finally a cassis compote.

I can see where this little confection was headed. Perhaps it is my own obsession with Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan macaron which immediately made me draw a comparison between its rose-raspberry-litchi combination and the violet-cassis paring of this gateaux although the unusual macaron decoration suggests that there is a definite, if subtle, reference to the famous Ispahan macaron.

Unsurprisingly the Delice did not have the impact of the Ispahan. The violet crème which formed the exterior and contributed to the filling was sufficiently violet-tasting to not be overwhelming when tentatively scooped up in an attempt to reach the centre but as soon as crème, cake base and cassis were consumed together the violet flavour was swamped by the sharpness of the cassis and the lemon-almond base. Although moreishly lemon flavoured in its own right this lemon-almond base was too heavily flavoured to be anything but an obstacle to the delicate violet crème although its compact texture was well suited to the jelly-like consistency of the crème and the viscous nature of the cassis compote. A compliment which cannot, I’m afraid, be extended to the macarons which, without any noticeable flavour, did nothing to improve the Delice especially as the crisp shell-dense interior combination which marks out the texture of a macaron just confused the combination of textures created by the other elements. Mouthfuls which included a piece of macaron tended to feel disconcertingly (and I apologise for the word but nothing else will do) squidgy, somewhat like the sherry soaked Madeira cake at the bottom of an English trifle which is something I have an almost innate aversion too.

It does sound as if I didn’t enjoy this little cake which was not actually the case. The problem was that I have tried the tarte au citron, the Opera gateaux and the caramel salé macarons from this shop and in each case enjoyed them so much that I had, perhaps unfairly, high expectations of what I would experience from this violet treat. I must admit that I am so enamoured of Calderon’s caramel salé macarons that whenever I buy anything from this boutique I always buy one caramel salé macaron which is exactly what I did when I bought this Delice and it was, as ever, the best caramel salé macaron I have ever tasted.

Calderon
St Rapahel, France