Tea Time

Crisp baguette toasts, still hot, melt a square of chocolate each before a few drops of good olive oil: Comptoir du Cacao’s Guérande Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Bar, finished with hand-harvested salt from Brittany, brings a subtle crunch and a lingering finish.

Still warm from baking, the honeyed oat base takes a glossy layer of melted chocolate before being cut into twelve bars: Comptoir du Cacao’s Ginger Dark Chocolate Bar, 72% cocoa, adds a warming, gently spicy spark.

By the time the muffins have risen, the raisins have drunk their fill of hot tea; Dammann Frères’ Organic Breakfast Tea Bags, a full-bodied black tea from the slopes of Rukéri in Rwanda, bring fine woody notes to the breakfast table.

Warm from the mold, golden and domed, a madeleine breaks open to release orange blossom and violet; Dammann Frères’ Nuit à Versailles Tea N°277, a delicate Sencha with bergamot, kiwi and peach, is ground right into the batter.

Two golden sponges, a thick layer of jam and a snowfall of powdered sugar: Maison Perrotte’s Dream Strawberry Jam, pure and generous, gives this cake the taste of a French summer.

Pink ribbons swirled through white yogurt with the tip of a skewer, then a long wait in the freezer: Maison Perrotte’s Dream Strawberry Jam, pure and generous, made from strawberries hand-picked in Loire-Atlantique, brings the taste of a French summer to these pops.

A mortar and pestle grinding tea leaves to dust, orange zest in the butter, a log of dough waiting in the fridge: Noël en Laponie Tea Bags N°695 from Dammann Frères, green tea with cinnamon, pink peppercorn, orange and cranberry, turn into holiday shortbread.

Orange zest perfumes the kitchen while the batter turns pale and glossy: Moulin de Haute Provence’s Nyons olive oil, pressed from Tanche olives, smooth, buttery and fruity, gives this cake its tender, golden crumb.

Behind each crackling golden twist hides a ribbon of Maison Perrotte’s Williams pear chocolate spread, the poire Belle-Hélène duet of sweet, fragrant pear and deep Sao Palmé chocolate, baked in puff pastry.

Warm waffle squares catch every ripple of Maison Perrotte’s white chocolate pistachio spread, creamy, gently sweet and flecked with crushed pistachios, before fresh raspberries and a dusting of sugar crown a ten-minute treat.

Butter browning to a nutty gold, then a small green stick tipped into the almond batter: Dammann Frères’ Matcha Tradition, harvested and packed in Japan in pre-measured sticks, colors these financiers with its vivid, vegetal note.

Puff pastry rolled tight around chopped chocolate and caramelized almonds bakes up golden and crisp: the Almonds Chocolate Bar from Comptoir du Cacao, made with pure cocoa butter, gives twenty palmiers the crunch of its golden almonds.