Caramel Patisserie Salem, Ma

A taste of French pastry in Salem.

Caramel Bakery is in the heart of Salem near the Ugly Mug Diner. On my recent trip to Salem, I visited Caramel Bakery for the second time. The very first time that I went there I tried one of their special pastries, which was an Earl grey mousse with a passion fruit glaze. The earl grey was nice and sweet instead of bitter, which is something that can happen sometimes with the bergamot in earl grey. Unfortunately, since it was just a special pastry, I was only able to get it once.

The second time that I visited, I went all out and bought a variety of pastries to try and review for you all. To start I got the Panna Cotta. This was the first time I had ever tried a panna cotta dessert because I never knew quite what it was, however after looking it up I had to try it. I’m glad that I did because it was fantastic. The vanilla they used, made all the difference because the vanilla was wonderfully strong and complimented the berries on top. By the time I was at the bottom of the sweet almost pudding texture dessert I wanted more. I cannot say enough about the vanilla, it was just so delicious. You can tell it was all high-quality ingredients.

Next was the Apricot Pastry. The top was an apricot glaze, and there were layers of apricot mousse and almond mousse as well as an almond biscuit. For the most part, all I could taste was the Apricot flavor, which I would say overpowered the almond mousse and biscuit. I can’t say this one was my favorite.

Saint Honore was next. It consisted of cream puff, vanilla pastry cream, and vanilla wrapped cream. I have mixed feelings about this Pastry. One the one hand the bottom piece, the was almost éclair like was delicious and light and fluffy. One the other hand the cream puff at the top with a Brulee was not my favorite. It had a bitter taste to me, instead of a nice sweet top.

Foret Noire. The chocolate and the cherry worked really together, as it is a classic pairing. The outside of the dessert has a strong chocolate flavor, and the inside has a fluffy cherry filling and two cherries that added a tart sweetness. It is worth trying, especially if you are a chocolate lover.

Last but not least is Sophie. It has an almond dacquoise raspberry mousse and blueberry jelly. If you are a fan of blueberry and raspberry, you will love this dessert. With the first bite, you get a good hit of raspberry and blueberry before you even get to the blueberry jelly. The pastry itself has a tangy twinge, which complements the fruit flavor.

Overall if you are looking for a French-style bakery with pastries to drool over, I would recommend Caramel if you are in the area. It is also worth noting that they often have new or special pastries, so you could always come across a hidden treasure.

(This is not a paid endorsement of the business. I received no compensation for the review)

(This visit was early march before the quarantine.)