Historic Downtown Carrollton has more to offer than a gazebo, cluttered antique shops and a '50s-era movie theater space; recent years have seen an explosion in mixed-use development that includes trendy living spaces, boutique shops and restaurants including Babe’s, Cane Rosso and Twisted Root, all conveniently located near an aerial DART Green Line station and plenty of free parking.
One of the newer tenants to take up residence is Everything Madeleine, a pastry boutique that recently had its grand opening and serves up several varieties of fresh madeleines, those little small cakes baked in shell-shaped pans.
This endeavor is the brainchild of Seunghee Park, a young pastry chef from South Korea. Originally offering a pop-up that provided madeleines to such places as Moo Dae Po Korean BBQ and Brian’s Coffee Roasters, Park was able to open a physical storefront in August that churns out a plethora of flavors and types of madeleines, some with filling and some without, some glazed, some traditional and some unique, along with croissants, crookies, canelés, teas, coffees and even cute little vanilla teddy bears.
The teddy bear in question is a whimsical take on the traditionally shell-shaped Madeleine. But it's the same sponge cake just in a different form and then coated with chocolate or vanilla. Almost too cute to eat.
Flavors include injeolmi, black sesame, horchata, lemon, matcha macadamia, Earl Gray, strawberry, vanilla, milky, pistachio, hazelnut, dark chocolate, cappuccino and banana, but Park is adding different types all the time. We could have easily ordered one of everything, but we pretended to be adults and limited ourselves to a half-dozen.
The final selections were strawberry (filled), double vanilla (filled), milky, pistachio raspberry (filled), hazelnut and banana crumble (filled). They all come individually wrapped and placed in an attractive box if you order in multiples of ten. We resisted the temptation during the drive home to start sampling in the car, but again, today we were playing the parts of adults and waited till we were home.
They were all good, the filled ones perhaps a bit better, providing a nice contrast and a sort of surprise to the sponge cake with the more intense flavor they offered. They were larger and lighter than the store-bought madeleines we’ve had in the past. More of a crumb, and perhaps a bit drier, but not overly so, and this was more evident in the non-filled varieties.
Be aware that Park sells out of many flavors every day. The day we visited, for example, there were no more injeolmi or black sesame, so perhaps it’s better to arrive earlier rather than later. She also ships nationwide, however, if that’s a better option for you. She does event and group catering as well.
Park is really friendly and enthusiastic about her career path, and when we talked to her she told us that when you’re young you should pursue your dreams and at least try to make a go of what makes you happy, realizing there’s always time for a reset if needed. When asked why and how she got into baking she said, “I just started one day and never stopped.”
If it continues to make her happy and we get some scrumptious madeleines, we hope she never stops.
Everything Madeleine opened in August, across the street from Cane Rosso. Otter references are plentiful, from the box outside to the gift bags since those cute creatures feast on shellfish.
Hank Vaughn
Park creates several varieties of madeleines with such flavors as pistachio, matcha macadamia, raspberry and horchata, as well as croissants, canelés and crookies.
Hank Vaughn
The teddy bear in question is a whimsical take on the traditionally shell-shaped Madeleine. But it's the same sponge cake just in a different form and then coated with chocolate or vanilla. Almost too cute to eat.
Flavors include injeolmi, black sesame, horchata, lemon, matcha macadamia, Earl Gray, strawberry, vanilla, milky, pistachio, hazelnut, dark chocolate, cappuccino and banana, but Park is adding different types all the time. We could have easily ordered one of everything, but we pretended to be adults and limited ourselves to a half-dozen.
Park creates several varieties of madeleines with such flavors as pistachio, matcha macadamia, raspberry and horchata.
Hank Vaughn
Our half-dozen hall of madeleines included strawberry, pistachio raspberry, banana crumble and hazelnut.
Hank Vaughn
Our half-dozen hall of madeleines included strawberry, pistachio raspberry, banana crumble and hazelnut.
Hank Vaughn
Park is really friendly and enthusiastic about her career path, and when we talked to her she told us that when you’re young you should pursue your dreams and at least try to make a go of what makes you happy, realizing there’s always time for a reset if needed. When asked why and how she got into baking she said, “I just started one day and never stopped.”
If it continues to make her happy and we get some scrumptious madeleines, we hope she never stops.
1105 Vandergriff Drive, No. 3103, Carrollton. Wednesday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday.
