Pastry Review

We haven't had a review in a while so here's a review of some Pastries by Randolph. I've heard many good things about Pastries by Randolph. They've had a reputation in the area for making mind-blowing desserts. My uncle had them make his wedding cake. Therefore, I was excited that the Timily's not only wanted to go with us to Dim Sum at China Garden in Rosslyn, but wantedto make sure we got some pastries at Randolph's. Last time we tried me missed their 1:00 pm Sunday closing by seconds. This time we were getting the pastries BEFORE going to Dim Sum.

As all of you know, Sunday was one of those days that makes you grateful for living in DC. It was the perfect blend of slightly nippy air with bright sunshine and tress in full bloom. We got to Pastries by Randolph by 11:15 am and already they were all out of their famous hot cross buns. J and I went all out and got two pastries each. He got a capucinno mousse cake and the huge rum ball (covered in chocolate sprinkles). I got the fruit pavlova and the strawberry napoleon. The Timily's exerted more control than us and got the chocolate flower pot and the chocolate Easter Egg.

After dim sum, we retired to the Timily's backyard where we reveled in the glory that was spring in DC. Their garden was filled with all sorts of daffodils and camelias. It was the perfect place ot eat dessert. After our stomachs had a chance to settle we tasted each other's desserts like we were eating dim sum.

Me being a more of a fruit and whipped cream type of person, I adored the napoleon which was really spring on a fork. The strawberries had an intense fragrance of strawberries with the taste being tart enough to balance the sweetness of the vanilla pastry cream. The puff pastry sheets retained their buttery flakiness despite the moisture from the pastry cream and strawberries. This was a hard dish to eat iwth crumbs flying all over. It was also hard to share because of the flakiness of the pastry but there's no denying the flavor. Also part of the whipped/fruit combo was the pavlova. While the flavor has that light/airy/fresh combination I so love, Randolph's went overboard on the whipped cream and I wished for more meringue to balance it out. J being a coffee/chocolate person, adored his capuccino mousse cake with little coffe cookies on the side. It was very intensely coffee flavor with the kind of bitterness you find if dark chocolate. The rum ball was more like a really big truffle and had that same intense richness. I'm not a huge fan of dense chocolate desserts, so I only had a taste. If you are a fan of such things, this is your dessert. I did love the flower pot that was made of chocolate and filled with a dab of raspberry mousse that had the flavor of pure raspberries with the texture of mousse and a wonderful chocolate mousse. Compared to the strong flavors of the other desserts, the egg was rather meh. It was simply a pound cake in the shape of an egg with a chocolate ganache on it. While it taste fine, it wasn't special. Overall, Randolph's is the kind of bakery Washington needs more of. It's unabashedly a bakery, not wanting to dab into prepared meals or dips or cheeses. That means it's focus on baking produces things that really taste like themselves whether that be a mousse, a ganache, or a cupcake. I'd also add that the care that Randolphs gives towards dessert presentation is spectacular. These items really looked too good to eat.

Because of the priciness of the desserts, I am grateful Randolph's is not within walking distance of our place otherwise we'd be 20 pounds heavier and broke.