Les Delices de l'Erable

Establishment	Les Delices de l'Erable (Canadian Maple Delights)
Address	1044, rue St Jean Québec, QC G1R 1R6 1 418 692-3245 www.mapledelights.com
Type	Tasty Treats

Pub Saint-Alexandre was actually not CA Scotch Chick's first stop on the Field Trip circuit yesterday morning. She began her day at a cafe that was reputed by the Chowhound folks to have the "world's best" croissants, an establishment by the name of Chez Temporal (which was also billed as having excellent coffee). 

Now, CA Scotch Chick is as spoiled in the croissant category by her year in Belgium as she is in the foie gras category. The croissants in her adopted town of Leuven were flaky and melted in her mouth. She usually opted for the pain au chocolat, which were just as flaky but contained a real chunk of Belgian chocolate and were coated in a sweet egg wash and drizzled with more Belgian chocolate - yum. Consequently, when she stumbled upon words like "world's best" in connection with croissants, she was ecstatic. 

Unfortunately, although the coffee at Chez Temporal was fantastic - rich and dark, their croissants and the chocolatines (their version of pain au chocolat) did not live up to CA Scotch Chick's expectations. They were very plain, with no sweet egg wash and no chocolate drizzle, and the chocolate inside the chocolatines was more of a syrup than a chunk. All this would have been forgivable had they been flaky and melted in CA Scotch Chick's mouth, but, alas, they were flat and just a tad dry.  She left Chez Temporal on Monday with a sad heart.

On her way to her ill fated meeting with the "world's best" croissant on Monday, however, CA Scotch Chick had stopped into Les Delices de l'Erable, also known as Canadian Maple Delights, the Québec branch of a very small chain that specializes in all things maple syrup or sugar. While perusing the pastry counter, CA Scotch Chick had noticed some large flaky croissants coated in sweet egg wash and drizzled in chocolate. She had shunned this Tasty Treat, however, thinking she was on her way to the "world's best" croissants. Consequently, her first stop on Tuesday was to atone for this sin of omission. 

The croissant in question was actually a chocolate, almond croissant, and it was quite good. It was sweet and very fresh and flaky, and while it could not begin to rise to the standards set in Belgium, it was a decent croissant. The CA Scotch Couple was traveling a bit later on Tuesday morning, so they had already had their coffee. Instead they opted to pair their croissant with some gelato. 

CA Scotch Chick had been accustomed to thinking of maple syrup in the United States as pretty heavy tasting. The maple syrup and maple sugar based confections in Canada, however, are actually quite subtle. Les Delices de 'Erable has a bistro and ice cream counter, but their specialty is maple syrup and sugar based products, and their little boutique shells scads of these to tourists streaming off the street. Consequently, the CA Scotch Couple decided it was only appropriate to try their maple sugar gelato.

The gelato was fantastic. The ice cream was smooth with a subtle almost caramel flavor and little chunks of sugar hidden within. It really hit the spot and was a perfect complement to the croissant. The CA Scotch Couple left Les Delices de l'Erable with sugar highs and happy tummies, ready for a day of adventure.