Out of all the Bouchon Bakeries I have visited, my favorite is the one in Yountville. It’s only slightly bigger than the locations in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, but it offers many more sweet treats that the other locations don’t.
My last visit was over the holidays, and it was fun to see all the holiday themed desserts and decorations. In particular, I was fascinated with a very tall Eiffel Tower, which upon closer inspection, is actually made of gingerbread.
I was also overcome with cuteness at the sight of these red velvet snowmen cupcakes. I thought long and hard about getting one, but in the end, saved myself a few bucks. The thought process went something like this:
Me: Should I get it? It’s so cute!
DH: Will you actually eat it or will you just stare at it because it’s so cute and then decide you can’t eat it because it’s too cute so you just let it sit there until it goes bad?
Me: The latter…
DH: Okay, then you shouldn’t get one.
We did end up with boxes of treats though. First, we loaded up on croissants. I’ve always loved the croissants at Bouchon Bakery and decided to buy enough for my family to enjoy as well.
Well I’m not sure what happened that day. Perhaps the baker was distracted by the holidays or something, but there was definitely something wrong with all the croissants. We purchased regular croissants, chocolate croissants and almond chocolate croissants. All the croissants lacked flakiness and rich butteriness. Instead, they were dry, the layers were rubbery. The chocolate bars inside the chocolate ones were hard as a rock instead of melted inside. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize the issue until we got home. My family couldn’t understand why I would like these croissants, though I assured them they don’t usually taste this way. With the croissants priced close to $4/piece, that was close to $40 down the drain.
At least the rest of my purchases turned out better. I really enjoy Thomas Keller’s macarons and unlike the other locations which only carry standard flavors, the Yountville one carries several seasonal flavors as well as chocolate covered macarons which are called “Oh No You Didn’ts!” I find the name amusing because it’s so completely opposite of the image that Bouchon Bakery portrays.
On this trip, I purchased coconut, gingerbread, hazelnut, chocolate, espresso and a few Oh No You Didn’t ones.
I really loved the espresso. I loved the look of the ground espresso sprinkled over the surface of the shells and that slight bitterness cuts into the sweetness.
I also liked the “Oh No You Didn’t” macaron. I bought some for friends and a hazelnut flavored covered with chocolate for myself. Each one is wrapped in shiny foil. The chocolate sort of drowns out the macaron, but I just loved how big it was and the fact that it was covered in chocolate.
I also bought a couple of the regular chocolate chip cookies, as Thomas Keller’s version is one of my favorites. They were devoured before I could take a picture.
Bouchon Bakery is one of my favorite stops in Yountville, even with the croissant mishap.
Bouchon Bakery
6528 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
Woo Bouchon!! That really stinks about the croissants but everything else looks great!
I love this place! Though it does really empty my wallet.
Too bad about those croissants.
Those snowmen were so cute, but I would have done the same thing. Not eat it and just admire it while it goes bad, ha ha.
The chocolate covered pistachio macaron was the best!
hehe. I’m glad you were able to try some of the macarons from here. I was afraid I’d forget them at home or they would break when I carried them on the plane.
Those snowman cupcakes are darling! I would have eaten it though. But I might have stared at it for awhile first. Too bad about the croissants that day! At least all of your other purchases rocked. I haven’t been to any location, but I’d like to – to at least get some macarons!
The macarons are huge and delicious =)