It starts with finding an object...

It all starts with finding an object. 

This particular object caught my eye as it has a design of the Chateau Cheverny whicA thin pastry, between brioche and sponge cake, filled with a very light pastry-type cream, with a crispy top, all with a slight taste of coconut: in short, the perfect cake… ”.h is situated in the Loire Valley. We visited this chateau some years ago and it was one of our favourites as it is one of the best furnished chateaux in France.

For those of you that would like to know more about the chateau, here is a link to the Chateau Cheverny website.

What makes this object that little bit more special is that we know about who used this fabulous vintage copper stencil and the patisserie in which it was used.

Thanks to the internet and this blog post that details the history surrounding this particular stencil and the fabulous couple, Monsieur & Madame Renault, that ran the patisserie for over 40 years.

Patisserie Renault was famous for a gateau they created called  printanier (Spring), this was a thin pastry, between a brioche and sponge cake, filled with a very light pastry-type cream, with a crispy top, all with a slight taste of coconut: in short, the perfect cake… ”.

From the day it opened right up until the day it closed,40 years later, the patisserie quickly became popular in the town, then in the surrounding area: people came from neighboring villages, from Blois, and from further afield. 

Attracted by the quality but also by the very reasonable prices, customers often queued on the sidewalk in front of the neighboring grocery store and beyond, and you had to wait patiently for your turn… On Sunday, it was crowded at 9 h 30 to 13 h, everyone coming to buy their bread and cakes. 

The couple were even been called in the middle of the night to deliver at 2 am for a party or a ball that lacked cakes for dessert… 

And to think it all started with a vintage French object that caught my eye. You can find it here. We also have a couple of other copper stencils that came from the same patisserie, a fabulous Easter stencil 

and a stencil marked simply with the word cafe french for the word coffee.

This would be perfect for using when icing a coffee cake.

I am off to hopefully find some more interesting objects....

a demain mes belles♥♥ Leeann x