Cédric Perret in 5 pastries

When it comes to desserts, Cédric Perret has only one credo: "That they're good and easy to eat. You take the spoon, slap it in and basta! It goes without saying that the pastry chef at Le Clair de la Plume (3 toques), in Grignan, works his fingers to the bone to ensure that his customers' meals are simple yet delicious. For Gault&Millau, he has selected five creations that he believes perfectly represent his world and its evolution.

Iced Saint-Marcellin

The iced Saint-Marcellin is a creation that is constantly on the menu at Le Clair de la Plume. "When I arrived here, we offered a classic cheese platter, which showcased the work of the producers, but with no added value. So I looked for a cheese produced between Savoie and Grignan, my two adopted lands, and chose Saint-Marcellin, a cheese both powerful and delicate. After two weeks of testing, I came up with a well-balanced ice cream recipe, whose presentation has evolved. At first, it was a simple quenelle with a bread chip. But we had a playful kitchen, with games at the table. To bring this creation into this universe, I bought the rights to an image of a cow with a pot of ice cream in her hand, taken from an American cartoon. We then created a label that we still affix to iced Saint-Marcellin today."

Alain Maigre

Honey

"I wanted to offer a pre-dessert that was out of the ordinary, with a fermented drink to refresh the palate. After several tests with blackberry, rhubarb or even elderberry, I came up with a kind of beer made with local honey, 100% natural and without added yeast. It has only 3% alcohol. I serve it with a honey sorbet, and it perfectly balances the Saint-Marcellin offered just before, which is a little fatty. It rinses the palate just before dessert", emphasizes the pastry chef.

Alain Maigre

Smoked chocolate

Smoked chocolate is one of the signature desserts of Le Clair de la Plume (3 toques). It's also a turning point in Cédric Perret's vision of pastry-making: "It's where I realized that simplicity is often the best solution. And paradoxically, it takes a lot of thought to make something simple", he asserts. This dessert was imagined by the pastry chef when he was still working in Haute-Savoie. "I was about 28. I was working on a chocolate dessert when I came into the restaurant where there was a roaring fire. The two smells were a perfect match! So I wanted to work with smoked chocolate. After experimenting with beech wood, I finally smoked some butter with cocoa to make a caramel. On the face of it, it's a simple dessert, and that's still my guiding principle when it comes to imagining my desserts," sums up Cédric Perret.

Alain Maigre

The lemon

When he arrived at Clair de la Plume, the pastry chef was naturally keen to make the most of local produce, such as lemons and olives: "One day, I was making a lemon paste and Julien Allano (the restaurant's former chef) was making an olive paste. When I tasted the two preparations in succession, I thought that the blend was magnificent, between the acidity of the lemon and the fat of the olive. However, it lacked a touch of magic. Julien had macerated olives in a bucket of olive oil and the result was powerful. I simply added two spoonfuls of this macerate to the dessert and the result was perfect. At first, I presented it as a trompe-l'oeil, but now it's on the plate, and I play with several lemons, as well as fresh herbs. I sometimes take it off the menu, but it always comes back!"

© Alain Maigre

The Truffle

For the final dessert, Cédric Perret chose to talk to us about La Truffe. "My evolution is linked to the Clair de la Plume territory. It was impossible for me not to work with truffles! For my taste, it doesn't go well with strong flavors like chocolate. I preferred to create a dessert where the truffle was the star, not just a condiment. So I used ingredients that absorb the truffle's flavors to increase its potency, such as cream, sugar, egg yolk and mascarpone. The fat in these foods captures the taste of the truffle. This allows us to showcase an exceptional product, picked in the morning not far from the restaurant."

Alain Maigre