After a huge pastry-amassing excursion last week, I was headed home along the Boulevard Saint-Germain, eager to flop down on my couch and enjoy a little lunch. But as I admired the pretty little shop windows, I was struck by one particular boutique’s gorgeous Arabic storefront. I assumed it was a swank jewelry store or gallery, yet the view through the windows was pastry, pastry, pastry. I had just stumbled onto the epicenter of the Tunisian pastry world, Masmoudi. And I was about to discover one of my favorite petite patisserie delicacies here in Paris, the Amandine Alyssa.

It’s a bit difficult to do justice with a description of this treat. The outer shell is a simple marzipan-like almost paste dusted with powdered sugar, but it’s the interior that grabbed me. Envision the most perfect date you’ve ever had, concentrate that flavor by a factor of 3, give that a 10 on the 0-10 scale of delectability, and then turn it to an 11 for the Amandine Alyssa. Add the perfume of rose water. Savor. Let your taste buds explode.

I’m not quite sure why I hadn’t heard of Masmoudi before. God knows I researched my Parisian patisserie odyssey to death. Apparently the company was founded in 1972 by Madame Moufida Masmoudi, who then passed her recipes along to her sons; they’ve in turn grown it into a 300-person company. The newest outpost of their Tunisian pastry empire just happens to be the Paris location I discovered.

So definitely swing by, if only to admire the store’s design. Grabbing a couple dozen pastries wouldn’t hurt either. Hint: Try the Amandine Alyssa.

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