PUCHONG, Nov 16 — This home-based pastry studio in Puchong caught my eye with their beautiful creations. What sealed the deal was they had mille feuille, a rarity in the Klang Valley.
Bel.été Pâtisserie, its name means a beautiful summer in French, has a pretty extensive menu with tarts, eclairs, mille feuille, madeleines and roll cakes. They also make the incredibly "in vogue" letter tarts, beautifully decorated with macarons, fruits and cream for a trendy celebration. There are also whole cakes for birthday celebrations.
It's best you place your orders ahead of time. There's no fixed rule as it depends on how free they are. For instance, my order took about two days in advance during a weekday. I can imagine, on the weekends they will be packed with orders.
In terms of packaging, the boxes are beautifully tied with ribbons and topped with a personalised hand-drawn message, making them perfect for gifting.
There are 14 flavours of tarts to choose from; all of them use a sweet pastry dough. These range from fresh fruits, a tangy lemon and more decadent ones like the peanuts (with caramel) and their dark chocolate caramel tart (using 70 per cent dark chocolate).
For the lemon tart topped with meringue, you need to order a minimum of two tarts. Each one is priced at RM18, and you need to order a minimum of four individual tarts.
The tarts have a nice crunchy base that is layered with a baked almond and pistachio cream and filled with a not overly sweet vanilla crémeux.
As each fruit has its own sweetness, those with lighter flavours like the grape and kiwi give a more delicate flavour. For a much stronger flavour that is well balanced, go for the plum tart that is nicely paired with a rich-tasting jam.
For a decadent version, the chocolate laced with caramel is a good choice. I've also tried their lemon tart before and I love the tangy flavours balanced out with the meringue topping that wasn't overly sweet. For those who don't like tart flavours, they may find it a little too sour for their liking.
The mille feuille, of course, is a must order. Most places don't do this as it requires a lot of work. Choose from salted caramel, strawberry, blueberry, mango, banana lime caramel, banana lime and plum.
The prices range from RM22 to RM28 per piece. There's a minimum order of two mille feuille, so I decided on the salted caramel (RM22) and strawberry (RM28).
I enjoyed the beautiful, well-executed layers of the hand laminated puff pastry paired with the vanilla crémeux. The strawberry flavour was a light one but if you like your caramel with more character, go for their salted caramel as that was my favourite with its deeper flavours.
Bel.été Pâtisserie, Puchong, Selangor. For orders, you can directly message them on Instagram @bel.ete_patisserie. Delivery can be arranged with a third party provider or you can pick up from their location.
