“european” bakery

after i got home from my most recent (as in second ever) european trip, i began an earnest search for a good source of delightful bakery goods. i visited each of the bakeries in the area that claimed to be “european.” some were sore disappointments (4×4″ brownies with a half inch of bright green frosting are not european), some were just focusing on a different part of europe than paris, say…germany or poland. the closest i came to a patisserie seemed to be in the bakery of whole foods market. until today. today, i re-visited a local european bakery because i had a coupon for buy one get one free loaf of bread that expires on saturday. they had won me over before with their pain au chocolat, but there are other pain au chocolats closer to home. now, they have a new refrigerated dessert case! and since it’s new, they have a special going on all weekend where the desserts inside the case are buy one, get one free! so…i purchased a pear in creme brulee item and a lemon tart. i am practicing delayed gratification and not eating them until i get home. to hold me over, i bought a slice of the “italian plum tart” that they had there and i’m munching on that. it’s seasonal, so not around for very long (“hurry, buy now!”). i’d say it’s very tasty. it’s not necessarily “heavenly,” but it does a nice job of featuring the flavor of the plums without gooping it all up with too much sweet stuff. i’ll update this post once i’ve had a chance to taste the other two.