Aux Merveilleux de Fred

You know those places you always pass by, look in the window, dream about going there but never find the actual time to stop in and go? Well that was what it was like with this place! It always looked so appealing, with beautiful cakes and little things in the windows – I just never had the time to stop, sit and explore. That was until my beautiful cousin came to visit me in Geneva and I figured out it was time to finally taste this delicious heaven of patisserie.

There is only one “Aux merveilleux de Fred” and that’s located in Planpalais Genève. The story behind this café is super intriguing and really adds a special touch to the place. It all started with Frédéric Vaucamps, born in France. He had always been mesmerized by the world of cake making, and therefore at 14 years old he began an apprenticeship as a pastry chef. His determination, luck, failure, experiments and successes have driven his passion into a professional fulfillment. He opened his first successful and traditional patisserie in 1982 - where he created a lighter and more creative version of his “Merveilleux”, and this traditional delicacy became super successful! He added the Cramiques to his inventions, which are hot brioches with either chocolate chips, sugar or raisins.

What actually are “Merveilleux”?

Traditionally they were meringue coated in chocolate whipped cream covered with shavings of dark chocolate. The secret behind there beautiful creations is the melt-in-the-mouth meringue!

Did you know?

Meringues coated in whipped cream are a traditional recipe of the north of France and Flanders. They were forgotten in time however Frédéric bought back this delicacy.

Source

Now there are 6 flavors:

The Incroyable: Meringue, speculoos biscuit whipped cream coated with shaved white chocolate.

The Impensable: Meringue, coffee whipped cream coated with crystallized coffee meringue.

The Merveilleux: as stated before this is a meringue coated in chocolate whipped cream covered with shavings of dark chocolate.

The Magnifique: Meringue, praline whipped cream coated with almond chips and caramelized hazelnuts.

The Sans-Culotte: Meringue, caramel whipped cream coated with crystallized meringue.

The Excentrique: Meringue, cherry whipped cream coated with crystallized cherry meringue.

The café is divided in two, one side is the actual sit down café and the other side is the patisserie where you just go in and buy your delicacies. We sat outside because the weather was actually beautiful and we saw on the menu an appealing offer of a Coffee + 3 mini Merveilleux, so we ordered and waited upon these delicious treats. When they arrived I swear they were like instagram perfection – it just looked so pretty it was a shame to eat them!

I chose the Incroyable, the Merveilleux and the Magnifique. When I say these little things melt in your mouth, I honestly mean they melt in your mouth. They taste incredible – it’s like an addiction. I have never usually been a fan of Meringue but this was like something out of this world!

I returned a second time for the Cramiques and chose the raison one. These are also delicious – bursting with flavor! This is more of a breakfast choice, but for sure a 10/10 rating!