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Valrhona Chocolate Cookies at Sen5es bakery

skyflyer3

By skyflyer3
in Western Canada: Dining

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skyflyer3

skyflyer3

Posted
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Every time we visit the Sen5es Bakery in Downtown Vancouver, I'm always intrigued, but disappointed with the Sparkle Cookies. Call me crazy, but they just don't do it for me. But the Valrhona Chocolate Cookies - oh my! They're deep, dark and unctous, partly because of the Valrhona, but mostly because the texture is incredible. Can I just do any chocolate chocolate chip cookie, sub with Valrhona and successfully replicate these puppies? I'm dying to, yet reluctant to waste good chocolate. Thoughts? Anyone else agree these beat out the Sparkle cookies??

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jamiemaw

jamiemaw

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I haven't had the Valrhona chocolate cookies yet. Might have to do a side-by-side comparison sometime this week.  :smile:

Ling--check out Thomas's fruit pastilles as well. They're the colour of Christmas ornaments--and exquistely reckless bomblets of flavour.

J.

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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Daddy-A

Daddy-A

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I haven't had the Valrhona chocolate cookies yet. Might have to do a side-by-side comparison sometime this week.  :smile:

Ling--check out Thomas's fruit pastilles as well. They're the colour of Christmas ornaments--and exquistely reckless bomblets of flavour.

I'll have to check those out too. But for the record ... I like the sparkle cookies :biggrin: I don't much like paying $8 for 1/2 a dozen ... but it's only once in a while so what the hey!

A.

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Ling

Ling

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I haven't had the Valrhona chocolate cookies yet. Might have to do a side-by-side comparison sometime this week.  :smile:

Ling--check out Thomas's fruit pastilles as well. They're the colour of Christmas ornaments--and exquistely reckless bomblets of flavour.

J.

Are these the fruit jellies? If so, I'm already a huge fan. :biggrin:

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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lemon curd

lemon curd

Posted
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I'll have to check those out too.  But for the record ... I like the sparkle cookies  :biggrin:  I don't much like paying $8 for 1/2 a dozen ... but it's only once in a while so what the hey!

A.

Daddy-A, the Sparkle Cookie recipe was in the Vancouver Sun a long time ago. I still have it in my recipe folder if you would like it, just let me know - might be a bit cheaper than $8 for 1/2 dozen. :biggrin:

Support your local farmer

Currently reading:

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Just finished reading:

The 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith & J. B. MacKinnon

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Daddy-A

Daddy-A

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I'll have to check those out too.  But for the record ... I like the sparkle cookies  :biggrin:  I don't much like paying $8 for 1/2 a dozen ... but it's only once in a while so what the hey!

A.

Daddy-A, the Sparkle Cookie recipe was in the Vancouver Sun a long time ago. I still have it in my recipe folder if you would like it, just let me know - might be a bit cheaper than $8 for 1/2 dozen. :biggrin:

Yes please! Or you can make them for next year's cookie exchange! No ... can't wait that long. PM me when you get a chance.

A.

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eatrustic

eatrustic

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While we're on the 5 Senses topic... the only thing that will make me fight my way downtown at this time of year is the Stollens they make every Christmas.

Usually commercial Stollens are dry and boring as hell but Thomas' are incredible. (Stollens are a sweet dough in the shape of a sloppy rectangle with raisins and dried fruit (just a bit) inside and covered with powdered sugar.)

What makes them special is the little cylinder of homemade almond paste that runs through the center. As with all things Hass they ain't cheap: $14. for a 1 pounder and $22. for the larger size.

For myself it's a nice alternative to all the Panettones I make for my friends and family (that I get sick of looking at by the time Christmas gets here).

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forever_young_ca

forever_young_ca

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Yes please! Or you can make them for next year's cookie exchange! No ... can't wait that long. PM me when you get a chance

I had posted Thomas's Sparkle Cookie on the recipes.egullet many months ago. Hopefully you can click on this http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r459.ht...955fddac827dc0c and get the recipe.

I am firmly in the camp of loving thesee little cookies. I often make them fairly small to serve after a fancy dinner with coffee or port. :biggrin:

Life is short, eat dessert first

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lemon curd

lemon curd

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Posted (edited)

forever_young_ca: Thanks for posting the link to recipes.egullet. I had searched in the baking forum as I was pretty sure I remembered a discussion on the chocolate sparkle cookies and was hoping to find a link but had no luck.

Edited by lemon curd (log)

Support your local farmer

Currently reading:

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Just finished reading:

The 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith & J. B. MacKinnon

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maxmillan

maxmillan

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Posted

I guess the Sparkle cookies were so hyped up that when I did try them a couple of years ago, I wasn't too impressed. I also made them after the recipe was published in the paper and wasn't impressed. What are the people from L.A talking about? Are they truly hard up for good cookies?

Plus, I notice Haas has made the tarts SMALLER and charging the same price...hmmmm.

On another note, Haas made it on the back cover of the latest "Fine Cooking."

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DameD

DameD

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Posted
I haven't had the Valrhona chocolate cookies yet. Might have to do a side-by-side comparison sometime this week.  :smile:

Ling--check out Thomas's fruit pastilles as well. They're the colour of Christmas ornaments--and exquistely reckless bomblets of flavour.

I'll have to check those out too. But for the record ... I like the sparkle cookies :biggrin: I don't much like paying $8 for 1/2 a dozen ... but it's only once in a while so what the hey!

A.

Hey go in with a cute 2 year old and they always give you a few, i have never had to buy any yet. And keeps my daughter extremely happy, at least until they are gone. :raz:

DANIELLE

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

-Virginia Woolf

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jschyun

jschyun

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Posted

I'm with maxmillian. I guess I expected more than a sort of small plain cakey cookie with sugar on top, for the price. The Valhrona cookie sounds excellent, however.

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

--NeroW

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  • 2 weeks later...
skyflyer3

skyflyer3

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We dropped by Sen5es today, and picked up more of the cookies. They are now called "Fleur de Cao Cookies", and they are amazing. They really are a perfect cookie - chewy, but not too dense, wonderful chocolate taste, black as midnight. Run, don't walk, and pick some of these up soon.

We also had the passionfruit pate de fruit, and wow are these great. The pure chocolate truffle is exquisite as well, but when I asked what the difference was between the dark chocolate ganache truffle and the pure chocolate Valrhona truffle, she couldn't give me a straight answer. All I could determine is that the Valrhona truffle was 70%, and the other was lighter. Both were very good, though, as was the salted caramel truffle.

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CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

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I totally agree with you on the "Fleur de Cao Cookies". Absolutely delicious. They're what I expect in a chocolate cookie. Intense chocolate flavour, not too sweet, great chewy texture. I liked them much better than the sparkle cookie. I couldn't get over how much they charge for cookies!!! Tiny sliced refridgerator cookies, 6 for $4.50!!!!! Holy smokes!

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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  • 1 year later...
JasmineL

JasmineL

Posted
Posted

These cookies have been haunting my dreams.I also prefer them to the much lauded Sparkle Cookies (although, I wouldn't kick the Sparkle Cookies out of bed for eating cookies...if you know what I mean).I would love to find a good copycat recipe of the Valrhona so I can make them at home.

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Ling

Ling

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Posted (edited)

The Valrhona chocolate cookies are quite good, as dark and chewy as others have mentioned.

I hesitate to post this...but the Sparkle cookies I had at Thomas Haas two weeks ago are definitely different from the ones I've eaten in the past. I make them at home according to the recipe posted in Recipe Gullet, using Valrhona Guanaja. I bought one at Thomas Haas because Wendy (the forum host in the Pastry) said she couldn't discern the almond meal in the Sparkle cookies when she had them (I don't know how long it's been since she's had one though). While the Sparkle cookie at Haas does have a melting texture due to the almond meal, it was definitely not as intensely chocolatey as the ones I make at home. Also, the almond flavour was very strong compared to the ones I do at home. I think they've re-formulated the recipe to make them less expensive to produce.

Make the recipe posted in Recipe Gullet with the right chocolate and I'm sure you'll be quite satisfied with them. If you use a less expensive "dark" chocolate, like the dark Callebaut, the cookies will spread too much in the oven because it contains too much fat and not enough cocoa solids.

Edited by Ling (log)

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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Ling

Ling

Posted
Posted (edited)
I would love to find a good copycat recipe of the Valrhona so I can make them at home.

They are just basically a flourless or near-flourless dark chocolate cookie. There are lots of recipes posted in the Baking forum for similar cookies. :smile:

Chewy Chocolate cookie thread

Edited by Ling (log)

Lorna Yee

the cool kids at belltown lofts

The Cookbook Chronicles

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LordBalthazar

LordBalthazar

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My wife picked me up some of those bake-ready Sparkle cookies last year. Sadly, I never got around to actually baking them as I ended up eating them straight out of the packaging. They were great. I can't imagine how good they'd taste properly prepared.

www.josephmallozzi.wordpress.com

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Mooshmouse

Mooshmouse

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Add my name to the mix of those who prefer the Fleur de Cao/Valrhona cookies to the Sparkle cookies.

I, too, had the opportunity to sample both a couple of weeks ago at the Thomas Haas store in North Vancouver. The Valrhona cookies had a deep richness that was missing from the Sparkle cookies. Additionally, the former were soft and chewy, whereas the latter were more dry and a touch on the mealy side.

*Deborah* and I were served two fresh-from-the-oven Sparkle cookies after our DOV meal at Diva. The flavour was certainly better but, IMHO, still not nearly as good as the Fleur de Cao.

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

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