Masse’s Pastries – A Berkeley Treat

After pigging out at the farmers’ market, B and I were craving something sweet and wanted to check out one of the East Bay’s dessert shops…which brought us to Masse’s Pastries in Berkeley (one of the few open on Sundays).

The woman behind the counter was super friendly and helpful. Because it was our first time there and the display of beautiful desserts weren’t labeled, she actually walked us through each of the pastries. What nice service! It was difficult to choose with so many alluring pastries calling out to us, but we finally decided on:

Passion Fruit Mousse Torte – totally hit the spot. I wanted something *relatively* light, but substantial enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. The passion fruit was bright (but not too tart) and tickled my taste buds among the layers of creamy mousse and moist cake, while the white chocolate wrapping provided a decadent element. That amount of white chocolate was too sweet for me, but I appreciated the pretty packaging and peeled part of it off…like opening a present! B also thoughtfully reminded me that this dessert tasted a lot like our wedding cake (awww, I was so touched that he remembered when I didn’t!)…oooh, we could get one of these when celebrating each anniversary!

Salted Caramel and Pistachio Macaroons - I love practically anything salted caramel (especially the Bi-Rite’s salted caramel ice cream and Starbelly’s salted caramel pot de crème), so I was thrilled to see it in macaroon form. However, these macaroons tasted a little flat and didn’t capture the depth of the salted caramel flavor. The pistachio macaroon actually tasted better. Overall, not the best macaroons I’ve had, but pretty good.

I look forward to trying more of Masse's Pastries the next time I'm in the area.

BITE METER: Masse’s Pastries – 3.8 bites (out of 5)