Coquette Patisserie
 Cleveland, Ohio        Date of Visit: 07/26/13        http://www.coquettepatisserie.com/

Ever since our stop at Pure DeLite, Steph has been obsessed with Macaroons, particularly those finished like sandwich cookies and has been stymied at every turn. Headed to Cleveland to complete our Grumpy's and Lucky's trips she discovered Coquette may not yet have a store front from which to offer their wares but they do set up in Shaker Heights on Saturdays at the farmers market and so we are circling the market on a mission for meringue cookies. She and MB shuffle off in to the rain and return with little stacks of brightly colored samples. For what its worth, here's what I thought about them...
 

Lavender

They weren't kidding when they say lavender. The profile is so strong it's much like licking fresh blossoms which is way too much for me. My least favorite by far but the meringue has held up well even if it doesn't retain all of is just crisp crust there is still some shell to get through before hitting the softness inside.
 

This one had a similar problem to the lavender which was ameliorated to some significant degree by the addition of the berry taste, not bad but still at the bottom.

Pistachio

Here the simple flavor of the nuts worked in the treat as the intensity didn't make you feel like you were eating the carnation that someone was nice enough to send you in middle school...just to prove there was something wrong with you. Hey, you did dumb stuff too.
 

Bleu Cheese Bacon

Of course, I wanted to like this one and for the most part I did. Bacon and chocolate are becoming accepted companions in our more open minded times, the sticking point would be the bleu cheese...which worked for me but would have worked better if the butter cream were less sweet. Something about the sweetness made the cheese seem more off than it actually was.
 

Vanilla

The vanilla is a classic for a reason and this one was good...there is just something about fresh beans that have spoiled me for other vanilla treats and I missed it here.
 

The punch of chili added to the chocolate made for a smooth and crisp, sweet and spicy all around delicious treat. Period.

Truth be told, I was impressed by our little offerings from Coquette. The were unabashed regarding flavors and while I didn't care for all of them, the ones I did enjoy were made extraordinary by that very intensity. I only wish Lucky's Cafe had done the same at our next stop. I am looking forward to trying some other options from this crew, store or not.