Crembulė

We entered Larisa last in the afternoon, and just as my stomach began to grumble, we stumbled upon, you guessed it, a pastry shop. The dazzling array on offer had me stuck for a bit, so I asked the shop lady for their speciality. She recommended the crembulė, and it was almost perfect. It came in a little ceramic bowl and the assistant took it out the back to apply a blowtorch in order to turn the sugary top into a burnt toffee. Ally sent me back to get one for her! Another 4 1/2 star effort from Greece, and it’s now giving France a run for its money!

(Editors note – the photo disappeared along with the camera 😦 )

Chocolate slice

Imagine a 250 gram dense, fruit cake soaked in liquor and then covered in thick dark chocolate. Then imagine it tasting even better than you first thought! You may now be somewhere close to understanding the pleasure I experienced while eating this pastry delight. It was so rich it took me two attempts to eat it! 4 stars.

(editors note – another lost pastry photo….)

Chocolate roll.

No country is perfect, unfortunately, and Greece did finally serve up a dud pastry. It was recommend by a really lovely baker (who insisted I try her traditional wares), and while it wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t that good either. More old school cream bun (but with chocolate) than anything brioche. The cinnamon saved it from total mediocrity but I could only give this one 2 stars.

Petite perfection

Most pastry shops in Greece have these mini pastries. They come in many varieties, but the best thing is you can eat more than one at a time! This is a great relief to the pastry lover since most shops have a rather large selection, meaning you’ll have to walk out without trying most of what’s on offer.

Most of these mini delights revolve around choux pastry, with the use of various custard, cream, chocolate or fruit fillings. These are fine examples, and where worthy of a four star rating.