Last week we went along to a special Christmas evening at PAUL, the French bakery & café, at their Tower 42 branch in the City of London, one of the two London branches that also include a restaurant, to see and try their Christmas offerings.

When PAUL first arrived in London I was overjoyed as I love their continental breads which, at the time, were not that easy to come by. Many years later the family-owned bakery, which started its life in Croix near Lille in France nearly 130 years ago, is a welcome sight all over London and also a few places outside the capital; and not just for the breads, but also for high quality patisserie and their freshly made sandwiches.

For Christmas, PAUL has come up with a whole new range of festive cakes, treats, breads, gifts and sandwiches, all making the holidays that little bit more special.

The showstopper piece on the Christmas table for any French family is a Bûche de Noël, a cake that is more like a dessert and a stunning and delicious change from the traditional British Christmas cake – or you could always have both!

There are several flavours to choose from at PAUL and we got to try them all!

My favourites are the new La Délicieuse (caramelised gingerbread biscuit, vanilla bavaroise cream, raspberry purée glaze), Roulée Café (coffee based biscuits, smooth coffee buttercream and crunchy nougatine. If you can’t indulge at Christmas, when can you!) and Bûche Citron Meringuée (spongy génoise biscuit, zingy lemon cream,  soft meringue).

Or try the new L’Intense (the one for serious chocolate lovers), the traditional Bûche Roulée Chocolat or L’Audacieuse with chocolate and passionfruit. The bûches are available in various sizes and some of them only online. Please check PAUL’s website for more info.

PAUL’s  limited edition Christmas macarons are an excellent a gift or something to serve  with coffee after dinner, and they come either as a box of 12 with flavours like luxurious caramel pecan nut, sweet caramel salted butter, nutty roasted chestnut, creamy vanilla, griotte cherry and chocolate-pistachio or as one large almond macaron filled with salted caramel buttercream. So pretty and delicious!

Next time you are in PAUL don’t forget to pick up a few stocking fillers, like Rennes  de Noël, a 12cm tall white and dark chocolate reindeer; bags of Biscuit  Sapin de Noël, freshly made shortbread biscuit Christmas trees; or Sables de Noël, buttery shortbread shooting stars. There are also red and gold metal Festive Baubles, filled with chocolate bonbons that make fabulous table decorations and gifts (you could open it and a voucher or a piece of jewellery to make it extra, extra special).

I also love the fab (and reusable!) Christmas tree-shaped Advent Calendar with chocolate bonbons in each drawer, and I would be very happy to receive the PAUL Christmas Hamper Panier de Noël, which includes an exclusive set of limited edition coffee mugs and PAUL apron, a litre of PAUL’s thick hot chocolate mix, a duo of apricot and strawberry preserves and two luxury chocolate bars alongside a handy 100% natural cotton bag to keep bread fresh – all packed into a classic wicker basket (check online for more hamper options).

Or what about a gift that will keep on giving? Treat somebody (or yourself) to a PAUL Bread-making Master Class (choose from three locations around London) to learn how to make bread with one of PAUL’s master bakers whilst being treated to drinks and nibbles. They’ll take home an exclusive PAUL baker’s kit and the breads they have baked plus extra dough so they can impress family and friends with their newly learned bread-making prowess. http://www.paul-uk.com/en-UK/home/bread-master-class.

PAUL’s speciality breads available in-store for the festive season include Brioche Sapin de Noël – freshly made Christmas tree shaped brioches – perfect for sharing at the breakfast table!  A traditional Brioche Saint Nicolas, a little man-shaped chocolate-dipped brioche which is eaten by families across France on December 6^th, St. Nicolas Day and Pain d’Epices, a soft and spicy French loaf made with cinnamon and ginger.

 Whilst doing your Christmas shopping at PAUL, why not try one of their special Christmas sandwiches? The limited edition Dinde de Noël – an artisan sage & onion baguette dotted with cranberries and loaded with turkey, bacon and spinach, with a rich cream cheese and horseradish sauce. Or the new Toasted Camembert & Caramelised Onion Sandwich, made with PAUL’s award winning campagne bread.

And don’t forget that PAUL is the ideal place to get your Christmas and New Year’s Eve party food – their Mini Quiches & Croques Platters and Party Breads look great and are delicious!

Joyeux Noël!

https://www.paul-uk.com

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Competition

 

This competition is now closed!

The winner is: Sandra D Lane. Congratulations!

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But now for our competition – you can win a PAUL’s Exclusive Red Apron and a PAUL Festive Bauble.

Just answer the following question: In which country was the original PAUL bakery?

As always, there are three ways to enter:

• you can enter by answering the question with a comment on the ‘PAUL’ competition article on our website london-olios.com
• like our facebook page London-Olios and  comment on the competition article with the answer to the question. Sharing would be nice, but is not necessary.
• or FOLLOW our twitter page @londonolios, RETWEET the competition tweet and REPLY with the answer.

Each time you answer or comment it will count as a separate entry, so you can have three chances to win. You can enter until midnight on Wednesday 30th November 2016 and the winner will be contacted privately and announced on the London-Olios website. There is one prize only.

This competition is available to enter for all our friends worldwide!

Good luck!

 

Find more competitions at The Prizefinder!