By Julien Merceron
I don't know how I missed visiting À la Mère de Famille on my trips to France. The shop - which started off as a simple grocery store, but now sells chocolates, pastries and cakes - has existed on Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre in Paris' ninth arrondissement since 1761.
The À la Mère de Famille - Artisanal Recipes cookbook has very little by way of introduction; instead, the history of the shop, which currently has its 10th owner, is interspersed throughout the chapters.
The recipes are by Julien Merceron, À la Mère de Famille's patissier, chocolatier, confectioner and ice-cream maker, and they range from the very easy to extremely difficult. I have close to 100 tomes on pastry, cakes, chocolates and confectionery, but À la Mère de Famille has techniques and recipes that aren't on my bookshelf. Highlights include calissons (royal icing-topped marzipan), whole glaceed pineapple and pears, marrons glaces, hazelnut spread (like Nutella, only better) and grenadine syrup. Easier recipes include financiers, chocolate cake, pain d'epice and confiture de lait.