the almond croissant

How can one describe the almond croissant…it simply is to me a piece of heaven! Take a beautiful buttery plain croissant, slice it open, and fill it with almond pastry cream. Spread some of the almond cream on top, sprinkle more toasted almonds and pop it back into the oven. The cream will melt and infuse into the layers of the croissant. Top with a little icing sugar.

We just made a couple today, there are only two left and I just can’t get them out of my head, part of me wishing no one would come to get them so that I’ll have an excuse to have them just before bedtime this evening!

Assistant baker wanted

We are looking for an assistant in the bakery.

  • Have minimum 3-5 years experience working in a Western bakery.
  • Bread and cake experience preferred
  • Working hours Sun,Tue-Fri 12-9, Fri & Sat 12-10. Closed on Mondays
  • Duties include baking mainly cakes, assisting our head pastry chef with baking breads and cashier. Also opening and closing of the bakery, and general daily cleaning.
  • We are a small bakery, with only a Head pastry chef and an assistant baker. We are looking for someone creative, responsible and enthusiastic. You must be able to work on your own and we want to encourage you to take ownership of your work and have your own initiative. Hence we like to give our employees freedom to share and implement their own ideas with us.
  • English and Cantonese speaker preferred.
  • Starting salary around HK$10,000 per month, according to our assessment of your ability.

Please send us an email at recruitment@neocoltd.biz

Thank you

Published in:  on December 17, 2009 at 1:14 pm Leave a Comment
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Marie’s croissant

Marie’s Pâtisserie & Boulangerie is a bakery that is dedicated to producing the traditional French butter croissant (or croissant pur beurre), the artisanal way, something that is rarely found outside French speaking communities. A croissant can only be a croissant pur beurre if it is made using only butter, those made with margarine or another substitute are called croissant ordinaire.

Many people have not actually tasted a proper croissant pur beurre. They are quite difficult to find due to the long process required to make it and the higher cost of butter.  We tend to be more familiar with the croissant ordinaire (usually of the factory-made, frozen dough variety) which is more light & airy compared with the artisanal pure butter versions, but more often than not, lacking in texture and flavour.

At Marie’s, all our croissants are the croissant pur beurre, handmade from scratch, using a 17 hour artisanal method in a temperature controlled environment. We use only imported French butter, made with milk from grass-fed cows, which not only delivers the fullest, most aromatic flavours, but also lends the croissant more substance and depth. As you bite into the golden, flakey shell, it shatters with a “crunch” to reveal layers upon layers of soft, moist, buttery pastry with a slight sweet aftertaste. This is the way we like it.

So if you haven’t already done so, it is time you savoured our just baked, handmade, croissant pur beurre. They are best eaten plain, with bare fingers and freshly brewed coffee…no butter necessary! Experiences like these are unforgettable and remains our sole inspiration at Marie’s. Our croissants are the perfect example of the dedication we pour into our craft, ensuring that each and every single one of the items that carry our seal are made with the most vital ingredients…nurturing care & loving patience.

Interesting note: Legend has it that the croissant was first made in Austria to commemorate a victory over the Turks (hence the crescent/croissant shape) and was introduced to France by the Austrian Princess Marie Antoinette, many years later. Today in France, bakeries are required by the “Le Décret Pain” or Bread Decree to shape the croissant ordinaire into crescent shapes to distinguish them from the croissant au beurre which holds a much straighter form

Tip: Do check our weekly schedule to find out when we are making your favourite treat so you can come get them fresh from the oven

Check out the moist multi-layers in our yummy handmade croissant

Linola Seed Bread

The Linola Seed loaf is known as "White Multigrain Toast" among brunch clubbers

Our Linola Seed bread is a very popular bread at our restaurants. In our menu it is called “White Multigrain Toast”. It is made with wholewheat flour and topped with linola seeds. Hence although it is a white bread, its got lots of little bits, grains and nuts in it so it is less plain, and wonderful to chew. The texture is very soft and we shape it like bread loaves. It does not have a crust, but just a soft outer layer. The bread has a fresh, light taste and is great for making sandwiches. They can be refridgerated, frozen and reheated.

Published in:  on December 12, 2009 at 3:50 pm Leave a Comment
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Herb focaccia

Our herb focaccias are packed full of herbs and have a powerful flavour. We make the following flavours: brushed with olive oil & sea salt, filled with sun-dried tomatoes, or olives.

Our focaccias have a softer, springier texture and are great as a vegetarian light lunch on its own, or topped with your favourite foods such as roasted peppers, cheese, artichokes, sauteed mushrooms, its all up to you!

Published in:  on at 3:48 pm Leave a Comment
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Bran bread

This is a great boost of fibre for anyone who wants it. It is made with wholewheat & rye flour and packed full of bran. It is dense and chewy with a hard crust. This will taste great with jams & preserves (especially dark fruit).

Fibre-full bran bread

Published in:  on at 3:48 pm Leave a Comment
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Baguette, Baguette Campagne

Ahh, the baguette…the most staple of the French diet, it goes well with almost anything. Great for soaking up gravies and sauces off your plate, or for a sandwich, and even on its own, the baguette is one of the most versatile breads out there.

At Marie’s, we try and find a balance between chewiness and lightness in our baguettes. So we like the interior of our baguettes to have just the right number of holes, held together by chewy bread molecules.

The Baguette are long-shaped, whilst the Baguette Campagne (Country Baguette) are usually round boules (balls) and are made with wholewheat flour which gives it a really nice texture and flavour.

Breads

A great slice of bread tastes just wonderful on its own. Things to savour are the smells, tastes, how it feels on the bite, and how it breaks up in the mouth. Some are chewy and dense, others are lighter and more fluffy. The crust is also equally important, both to protect the interior as well as to add more flavour to the bread.

As you can see, we have a small selection of breads that we choose to focus on. We feel that for a small bakery like ours, it is important to focus on the breads that we do best, instead of having a large selection of breads of lesser quality. However, if there is any particular type of bread you would like us to make, feel free to let us know and we would be most happy to try. By the way, we also use our own starters and live yeast for most of our breads.

White breads

  • Baguette, Baguette Campagne
  • Linola seed bread
  • Herb foccaccias
  • Sour dough

Brown breads

  • Sour dough with rye flour
  • Bran bread (pain au son)
  • Dried fruit bread
  • Rye raisin & walnut bread
  • Scandinavian rye bread
  • German many seed bread
  • Walnut bread