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A pyramid-style comparison of chocolate croissants from four Harvard Square bakeries (Starbucks, L.A. Burdick, Darwin's, Mike's Pastry).
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#1. Chocolate Croissants
Alex and I sampled chocolate croissants from four different bakeries in Harvard Square. According to pastry chef David Lebovitz, croissants are typically rated in terms of crust, interior, and flavor. The ideal crust should be an even golden brown color, be very flaky, and shatter easily. Each flake should melt on your tongue and not feel too greasy. It should not be tough or chewy, either. The ideal interior should be feather-light, layered, soft, and moist. It should not be doughy or gummy. Finally, the ideal flavor should be very buttery with a natural dairy sweetness. I tasted the four croissants using the pyramid approach and assessed their qualities based on these areas. In order to account for the added element of a chocolate interior, I added a "chocolate" criterion to assess the deliciousness of the chocolate, and how well it worked with the overall experience.
In my tastings, I used the pyramid approach, whereby I compared two chocolate croissants, compared the winner to a third croissant, and compared the winner of the previous "match" to a fourth croissant to determine the overall winner. This method doesn't help to determine a complete ranking, but it does help with finding an all-around winner.
ROUND 1—Starbucks vs. L.A. Burdick // Both crusts had a slightly uneven, patchy coloring... Winner: L.A. Burdick
ROUND 2—L.A. Burdick vs. Darwin's Ltd. // Darwin's was delicious! Winner: Darwin's Ltd.
ROUND 3—Darwin's Ltd. vs. Mike's Pastry // The Mike's Pastry nutella croissant was a shame...