Comedian and radiant icon, fond of freedom and travel, she has always managed to escape being tied down. In her veins flow the culture of pleasure and savors. Desserts met with a happy lady.

Your favorite dessert?

The one that delights me is the one which Pierre Hermé created for me*. Our conversations regarding the different versions of almond cake with vanilla almond oil – taste buds totally awakened by what we were tasting – put me in a state close to bliss. Pierre evokes through this dessert a way of life, a relationship with others, pleasant and light. It is rare and so charming. It is like when Santa Claus arrives for a child. I don’t know if pastry chefs realize to what extent they make others dream.

Thee place indulgence has in your life?

Essential! I need colors, flavors, trips… I eat with my eyes, colors are important! Indulgence is not just a philosophy, it is palpable and agitates the soul and the senses. There are all sorts of moments for indulgences: moments when nothing is reasonable and yet everything is harmonious. It is excess in happiness! Other times, moments for sampling, are calmer… And while not being really Zen – people who are totally bore me –, I admit that being too enthusiastic is sometimes tiring.

A childhood memory?

Dreadfully dull with a father who didn’t eat (Note: the comedian was raised by her father). Austerity, therefore, contrary to the sensory awareness which came to me only when I discovered the South of France. There I freely discovered open-air markets, light, flavors… It enchanted me, it opened my appetite for life! It was like going from black and white to color.

Ideally what would you do in the afternoon?

Walk, swim, read.

If you were a dessert?

A coffee Religieuse with a mountain of whipped Chantilly cream. The texture of the chantilly, oh, it is a calamity, it is the ultimate smoothness.

A guilty pleasure to share?

The Sangue d’Oro** which reflects the light which I love, just at the limit of the orient. This wine materializes the dream of an island.

* “Mademoiselle Bouquet’s Dessert”: pistachio Dacquoise cake, sour mandarine orange marmalade, roasted figs, cream with almond milk and orange blossom flavoring, fresh figs and pears.

** Carole Bouquet owns land on the island of Pantelleria, south of Sicily and across from the Cap Bon (in Tunisia), where she produces a sweet wine and cultivates caper bushes, olive and almond trees.

From magazine "Desserts" Spring - Summer n°7