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It’s a décision difficile to decide what to tell you first about . It’s difficult because if you are a croissant fan, then you need to know about the almond croissant at this lovely French café/bakery. But if it’s cake that makes you happy, then you’ll want to know all about the black and white.
Either way the most important thing is to indulge quickly, because this lovely patisserie, which has been making the locals of Castlecrag in Sydney happy for two decades, is taking a break. The building that houses the patisserie is being demolished and rebuilt, so the patisserie will be temporarily closing its doors in late November.
But owner Didier Sockeel assures us he will be back – which is a good thing for those who’ve become fans of his patisserie skills.
Given there’ll be a break and you may not be able to visit for a while, instead of deciding between the croissant and the cake, have both. There are options like babka or an almond croissant for breakfast, and you can purchase a box of goodies to take home, including a stylish little square cake covered in white chocolate that’s one of Sockeel’s signature creations.
There’s a steady steam of people coming in – to sit with coffee and a croissant, to grab a big of pastries, or to pick up an order - a cake for a special occasion, or a box full of small savouries. Past the counter, Sockeel can be seen at work out the back, cutting up a tray of pastry into neat rectangles and putting tarts into the oven.
Breakfast (including an almond croissant) and extras for later, including a 'black and white'. Source: Kylie Walker
You can buy bread (including baguettes, of course), and warm pies, but the heart of things here is sweet: the intricate cakes, pretty tarts and flaky pastries. The croissants are simultaneously light but with just the right amount of chew, flaky and buttery. And if you’re the sort who delights in a crunchy almond croissant, but often avoids them for fear of hitting an overly marzipany centre, good news. These are for you. Sweet, crunchy and buttery, they are made with day-old croissants. But this is far from a case of dressing up what’s failed to sell – these are so popular that the patisserie deliberately holds back a portion of each day’s croissants to make almond croissants for the next day.
“They are very popular. We have the croissant we keep from the day before. We soak them in a very sugary syrup, so they become moist again, we garnish [fill] them with fresh almond cream, which is a cream mixed with custard, therefore it's not too heavy, and we bake it again. It's baked every morning, first thing in a very low oven, then it comes out, a bit of icing sugar, a dusting of fresh flaked almonds. That’s always usually the first one to go. We never have enough of those,” Sockeel explains. 
Along with the almond version, there are plain and chocolate croissants, and Danish pastries with various filings. Brioche appears in multiple guises – long buns topped with chunks of crunchy sugar; rounds with custard and raspberry; sweet little baba shapes. And then, the display counter that’s full of colourful tarts, macarons and cakes, including two of Sokeel’s specialties. One – not surprising given the name of the patisserie – is a chocolate ganache cake, with a layer of rich ganache between layers of light chocolate sponge. The other is a true chocolate lover’s delight. The ‘black and white’ has layers of dark chocolate mousse, light flourless sponge in the centre and white chocolate bavarois. The stack is then wrapped in a layer of chocolate – white, milk or dark. It’s sold in individual serves and as various-sized cakes.
Didier Sockeel and a chocolate ganache cake. Source: Ganache Patisserie
“We cannot not have it, it’s got to be here every day,” Sockeel says. It’s popular with children, and also celiacs, as it is totally gluten-free. It's a fun one to eat, too, cutting through the coating to reveal the layers inside.
He’s been making it since he first established the patisserie over 20 years ago. Born in the very north of France, Sockeel fell in love with cooking very early on.
Cutting into a 'Black and white' and a 'success' (layers of meringue and hazelnut buttercream - also delicious!). Source: SBS Food
“I wanted to do this job since I was six years old … my mother was having my second sister and sent me to my cousin to take care of me. He happened to be a baker and when I woke up in the morning, before I go to school, I go to the bakery, say hello to him. And you know, I started smelling bread coming out of the oven and touching the dough, and I was hooked. Completely hooked, which means every holidays that I can get, school holidays, from seven, eight and nine, I started to work with him … that’s what I got the bug from and it never left me.”
After gaining his qualifications, work took him around the world, including London, South Africa, Brazil, the United States, Spain, and Belgium, and then, while working on a cruise ship, to Australia in 1992. He liked it so much he came back in 1993 and found a job at La Renaissance in The Rocks. “They gave me this opportunity, and it changed my life.” In 2001, he took on another opportunity, buying a business in Castlecrag where he’d done a little bit of work, and opening Ganache.
And while 21 years have passed, gathering plenty of followers for his croissants and cakes, he’s still keen to learn and try new things. The doors may be about to close for a little while but Sockeel says he’ll definitely be back. “I’m going to take a break, learn stuff, go overseas, and then I’ll be ready to get the new place going when we come back.”
