With a celebration in mind, Lindsey Steenkamp found that Pâte Sucrée rose to the occasion.

Pâte Sucrée is the name given to sweet, crumbly French pastry used to make classic French dessert tarts, often topped with a layer of pastry cream. It’s also the name of one of the finest sweet spots on the Doha map of dessert indulgences.

Established in Qatar in 2017, Pâte Sucrée is a stylish patisserie offering a vast number of ways to indulge your sweet tooth. When I was planning a birthday celebration at my family home, Pâte Sucrée was on speed dial for a dessert choice.

After selecting some absolutely delightful looking options from the online menu, the delivery arrived in good time on the day. Our intimate family birthday celebration was going mega-indulgent and I wasn’t complaining. Samer, our patisserie attaché, who delivered our order, immediately set the tone for the overall experience by preparing our servings in spectacular style. With his own theatre of decorative stands in tow, he fashioned a series of display elevations into a prominent cake installation with a striking selection of sumptuous delicacies. The attention to detail from Pâte Sucrée is meticulous, with the exquisitely fine touches making our intimate birthday occasion feel particularly grand and memorable.

The desserts greeted me in a variety of different shapes, sizes and delectable aromas. Every girl likes to be put on a pedestal, especially on her birthday, but this birthday our sweet treats were given equally preferential treatment. Presented on a series of cake pedestals of varying elevations, our selections were as aesthetically attractive as they were pleasing to the palate.

Who doesn’t like a priceless commodity on their dessert? My family certainly was impressed as the gold standard for pastry delicacies got our immediate attention. Resting splendidly atop the highest pedestal on the left flank of the table were the vanilla flavoured pop cakes adorned with gold trimming. These visual masterpieces consisted of delicate lollipop-like cakes intricately woven with fine gold leaf flakes and were easy to savour with their convenient lollipop stems. The taste matched the gilded splendour of these pastry jewels. Their texture was soft and dough-like and melted in my mouth.

On the second slightly lower pedestal, we encountered a tray of cutely crafted Danish flaky pastry pockets, each with a rich fruitfilled centre and a dollop of custard cream on top.

Another pedestal was home to a pure and stylish Danish cheesecake. With a top tier of strawberries, this treat artfully combined tart flavour with a subtly sweet infusion. The simple yet scrumptious offering provided pretty irresistible fare. On the final and highly-elevated pedestal rested an array of vanilla cupcakes with strawberries on top. The sliced strawberries were delightfully fresh and sweet and, while the cream topping was a tad indulgent, the cake was absolutely delicious with its distinctive vanilla flavour.

Last but not least among our bevvy of birthday treats was a delicious assortment of mini glasses made to hold a variety of single-serving delights. I absolutely loved the pistachio dessert option served in these delicate teacup-sized glasses and filled with what Sicilians proudly refer to as ‘green gold’, sublime pistachio nuts with added pistachio cream and a thin layer of sponge cake.

Among the other favourites was the vanilla sponge with raspberry jam and fresh raspberries mini-treat and the decadently indulgent creamy chocolate mousse with hazelnut. Another single-server extravagance was the caramel mini-glass with chocolate sauce and pecan nut. It turned out that our friendly and caring representative from Pâte Sucrée was the showroom manager. Samer really knows how to deliver a spectacular experience on behalf of his brand. Apparently it’s common practise for him to go to clients’ homes and prepare these wonderful installations for just such an occasion. This is indicative of Pâte Sucrée’s commitment not just to quality desserts, confectionary and cakes, but to exceptional experiences and superior customer service.

The fabulous display of delights by Pâte Sucrée added a great sense of occasion to my birthday. It just goes to show that lockdown doesn’t mean no show. ✤

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