The smell of warm croissants lingers in the air. Across the slick white marble counter, a plethora of baked goods lie on cooling racks: baguettes, brioche, croissants, tarts and more. The flaky layers of a pain au chocolat hold rich chocolate filling and perfectly formed madeleines sit uniform, almost too pretty to eat. Daphne is a long way from her native France, but by baking pastries, Isabelle De France is bringing a little piece of her old home to her new one.
Isabelle first began baking regularly when she was a nurse in Paris. Living in the big city meant Isabelle’s life moved at a fast pace, and being a nurse only heightened the feeling of constant motion. Contrasted with the chaotic nature of her job, the methodical mixing of ingredients, rolling out of dough and baking of pastry, cakes, tarts and more — not to mention a delicious final product — gave her a distinct sense of calm and stress relief. “It relaxed me,” she says. After spending an evening baking, she would sometimes bring her creations into work for her coworkers to enjoy the next day. There, she saw the calming effect spread to others. “It was our moment, you know, to pause, to enjoy just one pastry,” she says.
Wanting to share that feeling with others, she briefly tossed around the idea of establishing her own bakery, but seeing the boulangeries and patisseries on nearly every corner convinced her that the market was already far too crowded. Still, she enjoyed her hobby anytime she needed a break from the hustle and bustle of life.
Then came a huge change. Isabelle’s husband, who works for Airbus, got the opportunity to move to south Alabama with his job. So, the French couple made the move early last year, despite never having heard of the Mobile area. “I had never traveled to the US before,” she says. “It was my very first time in the United States.” Eventually, the couple settled on the Eastern Shore, and although the Gulf Coast is a far cry from the sights and sounds of Paris, Isabelle says she enjoys the change of pace. It’s slower and less stressful than what she was used to in France. While Americans glamorize the European way of life as more laid back and carefree than our touch-and-go lifestyle, according to Isabelle, coming to the South has brought a sense of ease and happiness into her life that she hadn’t experienced before. “People are very calm, very smiley and they are all very nice,” she says. “There’s no stress here. In France, it’s not like that. People are stressed and, in France, we are a little more reserved.”
Some of that newfound ease is by design. While leaving her home country behind, Isabelle also left her nursing career in the rear-view mirror. “I would have had to pass an exam to be a nurse in the US, and I didn’t want to do that,” she laughs. She took the moment to reevaluate, and one thing stuck out to her: the daydream of starting a French bakery. As fortune would have it, her market had changed and the time felt right. “I was like, ‘Why not open my own bakery and give American people a touch of France here?’” she recalls.
So, she began researching and applied for a cottage food license. She started an Instagram account and began posting beautifully crafted videos of her creations. Maison Luma, her home baking business, was born. According to Isabelle, there was no specific reason behind the name. “I like the word Luma and it sounded pretty,” she laughs. According to a very loose translation, the bakery’s name can be taken to mean a house full of light. Nothing better describes the home bakery and the airy, delicate pastries coming out of Isabelle’s kitchen. Her social media posts — most of which consist of delicate and indulgent pastries bathed in natural light from her dining room window — are the perfect marketing tool for her treats. “I just started posting what I like to make, and it grew,” she says. Evidently, gorgeous sunshine and French pastries were a perfect pairing. The followers and orders began to come in.
Isabelle knew right away that she wanted to focus solely on French pastries, with no outside influence or Southern tie-ins. After all, it’s what she misses most about her home. “I miss being able to find a bakery within five minutes to buy crispy, fresh, still-warm bread, or homemade pastries and desserts,” she says. “Also, I miss good cheese and charcuterie.” The things she can’t get here are what she most wants to share with her friends and neighbors in Alabama. And it turned out to be the perfect opportunity for her new business. What was a dime a dozen in France is a rare commodity in South Alabama.
From the outside, it may not look like there’s much difference between making French treats in France and making them in Alabama, but there were a few adjustments Isabelle encountered at the beginning of her business. Many American ingredients are not the same as those in France, presenting new challenges to the French baker. “Chocolate is much sweeter here,” she says. “And the butter doesn’t have the same fat content.” Those things make it difficult to recreate the authentic taste and texture of French pastries. For the most part, however, she’s been able to find workarounds, such as finding an accessible European butter brand for her baked goods. On the other hand, some American customs are a positive for her business. “The stores here are open late, so I can go shopping at any time” she says. “In France, they close at 8 p.m.”
Much of Isabelle’s business comes from the farmers markets she frequents, ranging from those in Fairhope and Stapleton to Daphne and Foley. The few days leading up to the markets are spent maximizing her time as much as possible. “The day before I bake, I have to prepare,” she says. “It takes a lot of work to get everything ready.” Making almost 200 pastries per market is no small task. Her time before the pastries hit the oven is spent planning a menu, grocery shopping for ingredients, prepping her packaging and making doughs, batters and fillings. Some things, such as her chocolate cake, she makes a day before.
On market day, she wakes up in the early hours of the morning and bakes everything she has prepped. Here is where she encounters another Mobile Bay specialty: the humidity. “When I’m baking my baguette, with the humidity here, sometimes there is no more crispy,” she says. “Sometimes, when I check the humidity index, I just won’t make it that day since there is no point. Many vendors at the market have bread, so it won’t matter if I don’t occasionally.”
Her other market specialties include brioche and croissants. Due to her cottage food license, she is unable to sell items at the markets that contain ingredients that need to be refrigerated — cream, for example — but the items she does bring go quickly. Through going to the markets regularly, she has built a community of local vendors who she says are like a little family. “You meet so many people, and I have more visibility at the markets than in my home and doing Instagram,” she says. “Sometimes people recognize me and sometimes they say, ‘Oh, she makes French pastry,’ and they’ll come back to see me.” Some customers order for pickup at the farmer’s markets and others reach out directly for custom orders.
A year and a half after moving to America, Isabelle is starting to feel more at home in Daphne and the Mobile Bay area. She enjoys going to the beach in her free time, something that reminds her of her time in France near the water. “I’ve always loved living near the sea,” she says. “Growing up in the northwest of France, my parents lived right by the coast. After my nursing studies, I also worked in the southwest of France, close to the ocean. So being here in the US, near the water again, feels like a real opportunity and something I truly appreciate.”
It takes an adventurous person to move to a country she had never even visited and start a completely new career from scratch. Luckily, that’s just who Isabelle is. “I don’t think I’ve always been like that,” she admits, “but I started to be more adventurous when I moved from home to my nursing studies in Paris.” She’s only grown more so with time. Since coming to the United States, she has traveled with her husband on work trips to Belize, Sri Lanka and Poland, to name just a few. Together they took on the Marathon des Sables, a three-day, 84-kilometer race across the desert (about 52 miles) in Peru, each carrying a backpack of food and enough supplies to last days and nights in the wilderness. “It was an incredible adventure and challenge,” she says.
All the while, her baking business is at the front of her mind. “I’m always thinking of it, every day,” she says. She’s oftentimes surprised by her growth and the customer base she’s accrued in a short time. “There was a lady at one of the markets who bought some palmiers from me and she really liked them,” she says. “She was surprised that I still had some left at the end of another market, and she ended up buying all of them. She loved them so much that she recommended me for the following week. It was really touching and very rewarding to see that people enjoy what I make and come back for more.”
As she continues to build her business, she’s always looking toward the future. “I would love to open something between a coffee shop and French bakery,” she says. “A place where people can pick up some treats and stay and just take their time, you know? To sit down, to enjoy the pastry… I think I would like something like that here.” It’s the collision of the two worlds she loves: the peace and relaxation of south Alabama and the indulgent simplicities of France. “Mobile, Alabama was completely unknown to me at first. I had never even heard of it, and I didn’t know what to expect from the surroundings. But once I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoy how calm it is.” For Isabelle, that calm is a key part of the baking experience. It’s all about sharing the flavors she grew up with and embracing a peaceful moment, no matter how small.
3 French Recipes from Maison Luma
French Crêpes
MAKES ABOUT 15
Ingredients
120 grams sugar
50 grams butter, melted
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
500 grams all-purpose flour
1 liter 2% milk
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs. Whisk everything together, then gradually add the flour and half a glass of milk until you get a smooth, lump-free batter. Dilute the mixture with the remaining milk and stir to combine. Let the batter rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour before cooking.
2. Preheat a crêpe maker or large flat skillet to 410 degrees. Spread a little butter over the pan and ladle a portion of the batter onto the cooking surface. Cook until the edges start to lift, then flip the crêpe with a spatula, and finish cooking for a few seconds on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter until it is all used, covering cooked crepes with a dish towel to keep warm and soft.
3. Serve them with your favorite toppings such as chocolate spread, jam, sugar, honey and more, folded in quarters.
TIP: To measure ingredients accurately and guarantee the best outcome, Isabelle recommends using a kitchen scale. Conversions from grams to cups and tablespoons are not always precise and may lead to a different end product.
Amandier
SERVES 6 – 8
Ingredients
6 large eggs
160 grams sugar
40 grams honey
300 grams almond flour
Zest of a lemon
10 drops almond extract
150 grams salted butter, softened
100 grams mascarpone
60 grams sliced almonds
powdered sugar and raspberry coulis, for serving
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and honey until light and fluffy. Add almond flour, zest and almond flavoring and mix until combined.
2. In another bowl, mix the soft butter with the mascarpone until smooth and then fold it into the previous mixture.
3. Butter and flour an 8-inch round springform pan. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with almonds and bake for 45 minutes.
4. Let cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar and serve with raspberry coulis.
Raspberry Coulis
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP
250 grams fresh or frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash the berries from time to time as they soften. Blend briefly, keeping some texture.
2. For fewer seeds, strain half of the mixture and then return it to coulis. Let cool before serving.
Pavlova
SERVES 6
Meringue:
3 large egg whites, room temperature
170 grams powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 195 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue whisking until glossy and stiff. Gently fold in cornstarch, lemon juice and salt.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and shape the meringue into a circle. Bake for about 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Whipped Cream:
200 grams heavy cream
100 grams mascarpone
seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean
20 grams powdered sugar
Strawberries, raspberries and fresh mint, for garnish
Directions
1. Chill the bowl of an electric mixer in the freezer for 30 minutes or more before proceeding.
2. Combine the cream, mascarpone, vanilla seeds and sugar in the chilled bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the cooled pavlova. Top with strawberries, raspberries and mint. Serve immediately.
