DC Treat: Cacao by Jacques Poulain

My work team's summer intern (a foodie after my own heart) informed me last week that a new bakery had opened in Cleveland Park, one of the nicer neighborhoods in Washington, DC.  She told me that they had nearly authentic chocolate croissants (pain au chocolat), which certainly piqued my interest.  If you've ever had real croissants, chocolate or otherwise, in France, you know that there are very few bakeries Stateside that even come close to replicating that deliciousness.  I'm sure it's the butter and the flour that makes the difference.  But this is why I have insisted on having at least one (if not two) croissants every day when I'm in France.  This might sound like a disaster for the waistline, but seriously, the last two trips I've either lost a couple pounds or just maintained, despite all the ridiculous eating.  (Ice cream and croissants every day?  Wine with lunch and dinner?)  Now you know why I love France so much.  Ha!

In all seriousness, the huge faux-croissants you find at your local grocery store or Costco-type place just aren't even worth it once you've had the real deal.  So having a reliable source tell me I could find almost-real croissants just a few miles from home?  I immediately emailed my husband and asked if he was up for an adventure on Saturday morning.  And so our visit to Cacao by Jacques Poulain was determined.

Yesterday morning we got dressed and headed into DC (taking care to avoid the crowds of visiting Tea Party folks in town for the Glenn Beck rally).  We found parking on Connecticut Avenue, right across from Cacao, which is next door to Indique, for those familiar with the area.  Such good parking seemed like a good omen.

Cacao is more of a chocolatier than a true bakery.  The cases were filled with all kinds of decadent French treats.  But we were on a mission and headed straight for the croissants.  We got the traditional butter croissant, a chocolate croissant, and an almond croissant.  All three were delicious.  And had so much butter in them that the two extras we bought for some friends soaked through the little paper bag in no time.  Let me be clear: this is a good thing.  Verdict: the next time I get a craving for a taste of France on a Saturday morning?  We'll be headed back to Cacao.

But the real surprise of the morning?  The French macarons.  There was a case full of them, and apparently Cacao is known for theirs.  To be clear, a French macaron is nothing like the coconut macaroons you find in the U.S.  A French macaron is a sandwich cookie made entirely of eggs, sugar, and almond flour.  Delicious.  The filling may be jam, buttercream, or chocolate ganache.  They are delicious.  We saw them all over France, particularly in Paris.  They come in a wide variety of colors and flavors.  And did I mention they're delicious?

Similar to the recent cupcake craze in DC and other major cities, lately there have been more and more shops offering their twist in French macarons.  So when I saw them there in the window at Cacao, I just had to try a few.  Or a dozen.  They had 8 flavors yesterday, so we got one of each and then doubles of a few.

Top to bottom from the left: pistachio, chocolate, banana, orange; (from center): rose, lavender, vanilla, coffee.

So far we've tried the vanilla (surprisingly good, with real vanilla bean in the filling), rose (disappointingly bland), coffee (delish), lavender (mmmmmmm), and orange (surprisingly good with tangy filling).  My only complaint would be that several of these have plain white buttercream filling when they would taste better with something more interesting.  The lavender, for example, would be better with lavender or lemon-flavored filling.

The verdict: I'm going to keep trying the macarons at other area bakeries, but these were certainly tasty.  If you've never tried a macaron, you don't know what you're missing.  The cookies are light and chewy and sweet without being overpowering.  I could have eaten the whole box in one day.  But I have willpower.  Sort of.