On my recent visit home for Mardi Gras, my brother Spencer and I went cruising around New Orleans the Sunday before Fat Tuesday and ended up on Magazine St. in the Garden District. This is the neighborhood you see in romanticized versions of New Orleans: tree-lined streets, mini-mansions, and old-school architecture. Luckily, because of its location on high ground, most of the post-HK damage here was caused by wind and not water, and the vast majority of the residents have returned to the area. Anyway, on our slow stroll up and down Magazine, I happened to notice a sweets shop and of course had no choice but to stop in.

Sucré touts itself as an emporium of artisan sweets. According to their website, “unlike a traditional bakery, Sucré serves plated desserts with custom garnishes in addition to boxed treats.” As soon as I walked in the door, my eyes became the size of dinner plates. It took me a full 10 minutes to decide what I was going to order, and during that time I snapped a ton of pictures of Sucré’s offerings (not including the storefront below; it is from Sucré’s website):

Sucre

My selections

I finally decided to go with a gelato and 2 macaron flavors suggested by a staff member: lemon and the “Valentine’s special” raspberry & white chocolate.

I’ve been hearing a lot about macarons since the macaron-making blogger event recently, but had never tried one myself. They were such a treat! The almond cookies are delicately crisp on the outside but moist and airy inside, with a creamy and flavorful filling. I was glad I had gone with the employee suggestions, the lemon especially had a really intense flavor from the filling and [I would think] perfectly executed texture balance from the cookies. Yum!

Gelato Case

My gelato was a Superbowl special since THE SAINTS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!! (sorry), I believe it was called “Cool Brees” (or something with a play on Drew Brees’ name): peanut butter gelato with a fudge swirl and peanut butter cups. Don’t quote me on the ingredients either though, I just saw “chocolate” and “peanut butter” and went for it. It was creamy, but not the best gelato I’ve had. I think their fruity sorbets might be tastier; “Sour Cherry Champagne” also caught my eye.

Sucré makes typical bakery items like specialty cakes and the aforementioned plated desserts, some of the prettiest King Cakes I’ve ever seen, and also had a little confectionery in the back:

Specialty Cakes on Display

Plated Desserts: Eclairs, Bread Pudding, Tarts

Mini Carrot Cake + gorgeous King Cake

Chocolates

In addition to all that deliciousness, Sucré makes breakfast pastries, chocolate and/or sugared nuts, has a coffee and espresso bar, serves wines and champagnes to complement their confections, and has an online store where you can have a number of their offerings shipped to your door (I just ordered a King Cake). Phew! Why oh why am I not in New Orleans…

www.shopsucre.com