By Heather Posey
Staff Writer
As Christmas rolls right around the corner, residents are decking their halls and getting ready for their upcoming holiday parties. And for those needing something sweet to leave for Santa, Long Beach Bakery Alsace Lorraine offers a variety of cookies and cakes for any and every holiday spirit.
Serving the residents of Long Beach for more than 50 years, the walls of the long-standing pastry shop are lined with gingerbread houses and treats for any dessert plate.
“There is a lot of stuff going on this season around Christmas,” said Ken Ngo, who acquired Alsace Lorraine in 2002. “We make pies and all kinds of things like the Yule logs, gingerbread houses and a croquet-en-bouche.”
Another fancy delicacy requested for the season’s festivities is the croquet-en-bouche, a French celebration dessert made up of several cream puffs arranged in the shape of a large cone.
“It’s very nice,” says Ngo. “We decorate it with a chocolate Grenache and holiday seasoning with a Santa Claus and [fake] snow.”
The bakery owner also claims that those who order his holiday items such as the Yule log and croquet-en-bouche also order many of his other sweets, such as the ever popular chocolate chewies and their famous St. Honore cake.
“We are very popular with the Napoleon and St. Honore cakes,” said Ngo. “And, around Christmas time, we sell nearly 100 dozen of the chocolate chewies.”
But no matter what the customer chooses, they will be satisfied with Alsace Lorraine’s traditional taste. The shop’s bakers Jon Faay and Larry Richardson, who just celebrated their 45th year of employment at the Long Beach landmark, have been using the same recipes since the day they first started.
“Most of our stuff is well known around here because the recipes for the Napoleon and St. Honore have not been changed for 50 years,” according to Ngo
And with customers traveling from as far away as Pasadena, Santa Ana and San Pedro, they don’t intend on trying to mess with such a good system.
Alsace Lorraine Fine Pastries is located at 3842 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach. For more information, call (562) 427-5992.
