Friday, November 25, 2016

Marie Morin Packaged Desserts, France

Marie Morin is a french producer of desserts, specifically potted desserts, mostly puddings, available in grocery stores.  Except they aren't like the sorts of puddings we get in the US, no plastic cups, no plastic taste.  These are legit puddings, served in glass containers.  Right away, you can see why they caught my interest.  I love puddings!

I quickly looked the company up.  A family run business, started by, you guessed it, Marin Morin.  After success in France, they expanded to Canada too, but I had them while I was visiting Paris.

The product line in France has chocolate mousse (both milk and dark chocolate varieties), chocolate cake, ile flottante, citron yuzu tart, pistachio cake with a chocolate center, apple crumble, cheesecake (chocolate or caramel), some kind of almond pear dessert, cherry clafoutis, rice pudding, and creme brulee.  They also make potted yogurts.  The product line in Canada is smaller, and consists of chocolate mousse, chocolate souffle, lemon cheesecake, creme brûlée, apple crumble, and caramel custard.

I didn't actually go out and purchase these at a grocery store myself, instead, they were stocked in the microkitchen at my office, so I wasn't able to sample the full product line.  Sadly, the rice pudding never appeared there, but I did get to try the creme brûlée, which I was obviously very skeptical, and interested by.

Overall, the items I tried were far better than the equivalent, mass produced, generic grocery store stocked, long shelf life products we have in the US, but they were not exactly the quality level of something freshly made.  Still, wonderful to have on hand for a snack anytime.
Mousse au chocolat noir /  Dark Chocolate Mousse.
The first item I tried was a lighter colored chocolate mousse, still called a dark chocolate mousse (noir), but not as dark as the old fashioned version.

It had a nice flavor, and I liked that the very top was a bit thicker, but, the pudding itself was pretty runny and I didn't care for it.
Mousse au chocolat à l'ancienne / Old Fashioned Chocolate Mousse.
"This old fashioned chocolate mousse recipe Marie Morin is prepared with only natural ingredients without artificial coloring or preservatives: chocolate 100% pure cocoa butter, eggs and salt butter.

Under its cover, see the firm texture of the mousse very creamy and generous chocolate. Powerful aromas of chocolate in the mouth draw a beautiful cocoa for a delightful dining experience.

Fresh, simple and authentic, this chocolate mousse recipe is THE recipe Marie Morin, worthy of a chocolate mousse house."

The old fashioned dark chocolate mousse was ... almost good.  The texture was really light and fluffy, which was appealing at first, but it somehow broke down immediately.

The chocolate flavor however wasn't very strong at all, which was a surprising given how dark it was.
Tarte au citron meringuée / Lemon Meringue Pie.
Next up was one I'd never normally pick since I dislike citrus desserts, but, it was the only option that day, and I do love meringue.

The lemon pudding had a decent flavor, but was fairly gritty in a strange way.  And, because lemon, it certainly wasn't to my liking.

The meringue looked great, even toasted on top, and tasted pretty good too.  It scared me a bit though, how did it stay stable for weeks?

This item has been replaced by a version with yuzu infused in it.

Amandine aux poires caramélisées / Caramelized Pear Almond Cake.
"Almond cream and semi-candied pears and caramelized bring him a nice juicy and tart notes. This fruit dessert is delicious and generous, no doubt, with him you will make happy." -- Google Translate

This was the first cake style item I tried.  It wasn't awful.  A moist, dense, almond cake, with some sweet caramelized pears in the base.  It isn't really what I tend to go for, but, for what it was, it was good.

The instructions say to microwave it, which I didn't see until too late.  I'm curious how different it would be if warm.
Crème brûlée.
"The top cream. Cream, milk,eggs,sugar are the main ingredients with our personal touch… A creme brulee so unique, so tasty, so creamy, so…with a thin layer of caramel crisp..."

And last but not least, one of my all time favorite desserts: crème brûlée!

This one was a bit more involved than the others, as it came with a packet on the side of additional crystalized sugar that you are supposed to sprinkle on top (and, ideally, bake).
Crème brûlée: Topped.
I didn't have an oven, so, I had to settle for just sprinkling the sugar on top, and not actually bruleeing it.

That said, I still really enjoyed it.  In some ways, yes, it was just packaged pudding, in a fancy glass jar, but, it really was quite tasty.  Thick, rich, vanilla pudding.  I wish our grocery stores had this instead of Snack Packs.

The huge sugar crystals were good even when just sprinkled on top too.  Not crème brûlée obviously, but, they were sweet and added a nice crunch.

Overall, quite tasty, my favorite of the products I tried, and I'd gladly have another.

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