A whiff of freshly baked delicacies and butter, reminding me of France, escaped from the open door of Masse's pastry shop. When I followed the scent to the inside, I was not disappointed. The display cases were filled with tortes and tartlets that made my mouth water: Some cakes were covered with extremely fine dark chocolate, some with fresh fruit. There were puff pastries and petits fours and even a plate with vermicelle. This is a Swiss specialty made of chestnut puree, sugar, and cream. I was taken by a torte with a dark raspberry glaze on top and a dark chocolate band around it. I later learned that it was designed in color and taste to be a dessert for the Thanksgiving feast.

There are not only the cafe and the goodies that invite the customers, the owners are just as wonderful. Marcia, a former art-history major with a florist license, is fun to be with. Easy going and ready to smile, she tells me proudly about her husband Paul's resume. He is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York and earned his "wings" in restaurants in Europe and at the Ritz Carlton. It was in that highly acclaimed hotel that he switched from a full chef to a pastry chef. He is so passionate about the work that each year he packs up his family and travels to Paris in order to study with one of the city's famous pastry chefs.

While I browsed through Paul's wedding cake portfolio, I got to taste a fruit tartlet. The pear soaked in cassis (black current) syrup was baked to perfection, soft but not mushy, and tasted out of this world

The pictures in the book show a wide variety of decorations and flavors. There are sponge cakes of different flavors, filled with light Bavarian creams or fruit mousses and covered with orange-mirror glaze, a very thin chocolate stencil, or inlaid polka dots, as with my favorite cake, shown on this page. The cakes are decorated with real flowers, flowers made from gum-paste and pulled sugar, or sugared fruit. If you don't find the right cake, custom designs are no problem. "Besides," Marcia told me, "we aim to give more than our customers anticipate."

No wonder that Masse's Pastries has a reputation that goes far beyond Berkeley's borders.