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Languedoc-Roussillon
Created in 1920 for spa visitors to Amélie-les-Bains, the Somptueux is a moist, generous travel cake, where rum-soaked génoise sponge meets marzipan in an unforgettable contrast of textures.
Pastry or bakery speciality from Languedoc-Roussillon.
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The Somptueux was born in 1920 in Amélie-les-Bains, a small spa town in the Pyrénées-Orientales, to allow spa visitors to leave with "a piece of Amélie-les-Bains". The Pi Roué pâtisserie — founded in 1880 — then created this travel cake, able to keep well on journeys and extend the pleasure of Amélie beyond the Vallespir.
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Today, Melinda Hugo, the fifth generation of Maison Pi Roué, carries on this savoir-faire. She was trained to reproduce exactly the method inherited from her ancestors: while the recipe exists in writing, Melinda emphasizes the importance of the gesture — "I am the only one who knows how to do it". This responsibility brings both pride and stress: the challenge is to preserve "the same taste" and "the same appearance" with every batch, betraying nothing of the family heritage.
Appearance
Regularly shaped cake, consisting of a rum-soaked génoise encased in marzipan.
Aroma
Generous rum, with an almond note from the marzipan coating the cake.
Taste
Sweet, with the alcohol clearly present. The remarkably soft génoise releases the rum with every bite.
Texture
Extremely soft and melt-in-the-mouth inside; tender marzipan on the outside.
The Somptueux requires three days to make:
Preparing and baking the génoise.
Generous soaking in rum.
Coating with marzipan and finishing.
Melinda makes no secret of how generous the soaking is: "sometimes we put so much rum that it runs into the packaging, so you can lick the paper".
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The contrast between the cake's understated appearance and its extraordinarily soft texture always comes as a surprise. The most frequent customer reaction: "Oh, but it's so soft!"
A coffee, or tea in the late afternoon, accompanies it well.
Uncertified artisanal speciality, family savoir-faire since 1920.
Family-run artisanal pastry shop
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