Ladurée

Ladurée is a luxury cakes and pastries brand based in Paris, France. It is known as the inventor of the double-decker macaron, fifteen thousand of which are sold every day. [cite journal
last = Briclot
first = Sandrine
year = 2007
month = 02
title = Ladurée, a story of taste and colour
journal = Áeroports de Paris Magazine
issue = 17
pages = 59–63
issn = 1954-5231]

History

Louis-Ernest Ladurée, a miller, founded the bakery on the Rue Royale, Paris in 1862. During the Paris Commune uprising of 1871 the bakery was burnt down. A pastry shop was built at the same location and Jules Chéret was entrusted with the interior decoration. The chubby cherubs dressed as pastry cooks, painted by him on the ceiling, form the company's emblem. The interior of the premises were painted in the same celadon colour as the façade. Ladurée's rise to fame came in 1930 when his grandson, Pierre Desfontaines, had the original idea of the double-decker, sticking two macaron shells together with a creamy ganache as filling. [cite web|url=http://www.discoverparis.net/The-Macaron-A-Mouthful-of-Heaven.html|title=Discover Paris|accessdate=2007-03-03] Queen Catherine de' Medici had brought the macaron to France from Italy in the 16th century, and the recipe for the biscuit had hardly varied over the years, but the amounts of the ingredients used and the appearance of the end product were up to the individual bakers.

Desfontaines was also the man behind the idea of opening a tearoom at the pastry shop. In those days ladies were not admitted to cafés, which were the exclusive domain of men. This was a big success with ladies, who enjoyed meeting in the freedom of the tearoom rather than their homes.

Present

In 1993 the Groupe Holder took over the firm Ladurée, which was beset with financial difficulties. [cite web|url=http://www.groupeholder.com/va/historique.php|title=Group Holder|accessdate=2007-03-03] The Holder family also owns the PAUL bakery chain in France. Following the takeover, the company began an expansion drive, setting up pastry shops on the Champs-Élysées in 1997, followed by subsidiaries in London, [cite web|url=http://www.sybarites.org/2006/09/12/laduree-expanding-throughout-europe/|title=sybarites.org|accessdate=2007-03-03] Geneva, Berlin and Monaco. Further pastry shops are planned to be opened in United States, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.Fact|date=October 2007 A new branch is being build in Bahrain world trade center, it will so be opened (withen 4 months).

Ladurée was selected as exclusive pastry consultant for the film "Marie Antoinette", directed by Sofia Coppola. [PDFlink| [http://www.laduree.fr/public_en/actualites/laduree_marie_antoinette.pdf A Tribute to Marie Antoinette] |33.1 KiB ]

References

External links

* [http://www.laduree.fr/index_en.htm Ladurée webpage]
* [http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Laduree%20Paris&w=all Photos of Ladurée at flickr.com]