This little lady, low on sugar, miserable and sleepy decided to titillate her senses with a visit to Beard Papa's. A place where she heard wonderous tales of piping hot puffs filled with light, luscious, whipped cream.
Rumours of lines that snakes around the block, are true. Go, at your own risk!
But waiting can be fun -- one gets to observe how the process works!
On one recent visit:
Four ladies in immaculate white aprons and hats manned the counter.
Stationed by the window, the lady closest to me, her task involved putting in fresh, white, unbaked choux pastry shells -- half the size of hockey pucks -- and taking the plump, oversized, baked ones out. Yes, the puffs are baked on premises. After she takes them out, she goes to an urn like machine where she pumps the puffs with cream. Then she puts the puff on the tray next to her.
Where one's tasks end, the other begins. The next lady sprinkles powdered sugar and puts each individual puff in it's own little pocket wrapper bearing the beard papa emblem. She is the one who takes your order. One piece is $1.25, 6 pieces goes for $7.50 and a box of 12 goes for $15.00 plus tax. When she is done with your order, the third lady sticks a "freshness label" with today's date and rings you up. After she rings you up, the 3 in unison, chime "Thank you" in Japanese.
Ah, but I mentioned 4 ladies. The 4th one, she works behind the scenes. She's the one who loads the empty urns of cream.
Like how they advertise, the outer puff shell is crunchy but the cream: absolutely divine!! Oozing, it is delightfully light, slightly chilled, with a hint of vanilla beans! The cream is not the thick, sugary, sickening kind but has a pudding, almost creme fraiche-ness to it. It's just perfect. The way a cream puff should be.
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