What is the food version of happiness? It must be the Mont Blanc at Le Mont du Bonheur in the Marais. We had heard from several friends about this darling little shop making ONE dessert and ONE dessert only : the famous Mont Blanc. (Pssst, this just in, during the Summer months, they serve TWO desserts : their famous Mont Blanc and ice cream…)
UPDATE : LE MONT DU BONHEUR IS NOW CLOSED PERMANENTLY.
Go here instead :
So, what is a Mont Blanc?
This pastry apparently has a mixture of Carribean and Italian origins! The French version of this dessert typically involves a coconut cream filling and shaved coconut topping which produces a very sweet dessert. In the Alsace region of France, the Mont Blanc is made with chestnut cream which gives it a thicker texture, a distinctly nutty flavor and is also very sweet.
We had never tried this dessert before going to the Mont du Bonheur in the Marais recently. Over the past two years, the food trend in Paris has been teeny tiny pop-up pastry shops that specialize in one pastry in many different flavors. Popelini on the rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement makes delightful and decadent pastry choux in a variety of flavors such as chocolate, caramel, vanilla bourbon, red fruits and passion fruit.
At the Mont du Bonheur, you can sit outside and enjoy your Mont Blanc pastries when it’s warm outside or eat in their little tea salon style interior room. A Mont Blanc will cost you between 5.50€ and 7.50€ depending on which flavors you choose and whether you take it to go or eat it there : “sur place”. If you choose to take it with you, there are several lovely spots where you could enjoy it outside – weather permitting. Some of our favorites? Along the banks of the Seine on the Ile Saint Louis, on a park bench in the nearby Place des Vosges or the little Jardins Francs Bourgeois – Rosiers on the rue Francs Bourgeois. There are so many gorgeous little hidden spots in the Marais in Paris (the 3rd and 4th arrondissements). These are just a few of our favorites!
We ordered a passion fruit and mango cream Mont Blanc for our afternoon break at the Mont du Bonheur. It was a verrrry hot day and althoug we were tempted by such flavors as caramel and chocolate, it was just too hot for such creamy choices. We decided to go for a more refreshing citrusy treat and we were not disappointed by our choice!
The Mont Blanc has a lot of cream but it is light and airy and not heavy at all. It is quite surprising actually that such a creamy pastry is not heavy. That is one of the lovely little surprises that await you when you taste this darling treat. Another, is that it is not very sweet. It is just sweet enough, but it is not overly sweet. We are really not fans of overly sweet pastries so we were happy to discover that the Mont Blanc is not toooo toooo sweet!
Have you been to the Mont du Bonheur? Are you planning to go? Let us know! If you have been, what did you try? What is your favorite Mont Blanc flavor? Have you made this pastry at home?!!
LE MONT DU BONHEUR
60 rue du Roi de Sicile
75004 Paris
01 74 64 60 70
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Tanja (the Red phone box travels) says
they make only one dessert?hmmm..it looks yummy though:)
A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says
Yes! It is really popular in Paris at the moment for pastry shops to specialize in one pastry, creamyy choux, madeleines, mont blanc, etc. There are many different flavors of the same dessert! 🙂
RUSSIER says
For information, Le Mont du Bonheur is now closed for ever.
A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says
Thanks for letting us know. What a shame, we enjoyed it!