Le Café Gourmand, OR, 'you'll end up with lots of cake'

My sister Róisín is evangelical in her enthusiasm for the Café Gourmand. Interviewed on the phone on Sunday she declared

'it's the new best thing in France.'

I’ve mentioned the Café Gourmand in passing, but to recap it’s a cunning idea whereby your coffee is served with a few mini-desserts. These might be tasters of things already on the dessert menu, or an amuse-bouche (or two) created especially. Róisín's best hint is that it’s worth asking for a Café Gourmand even if you don’t see it on the menu, because often the kitchen will give you a sample of everything nice they have left over. She told us that she and her husband did this once and

'cake for days we had!'

For Easter Sunday, my other sister, Luíseach, and I proposed to create our own Café Gourmand. Along with the Sicilian Spring Cake we had rhubarb fool (with the first rhubarb from the garden) and Luí’s superlative brownies.

Voilà: