pastries en français

croissant

Ok, we all think we know what croissants are. Four years ago I thought I knew what croissants were. I was wrong. Croissants outside of France are just not as good. Wikipedia: A croissant is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie or Vienna-style pastry named for its well-known crescent shape. Croissants and other viennoiserie are made of a layered yeast-leavened dough. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.”

pain au chocolat

When you mix a hunk of dark chocolate with a beautiful buttery croissant there is absolutely no way to go wrong. I can’t get enough of these things. Wikipedia: “Pain au chocolat (chocolate bread, also known as 'chocolatine' in the South-West part of France), is a viennoiserie sweet roll consisting of a cuboid-shaped piece of yeast-leavened laminated dough, similar in texture to a puff pastry, with one or two pieces of dark chocolate in the centre. Pain au chocolat is made of the same layered dough as a croissant. Often sold still hot or at least warm from the oven, they are commonly sold alongside croissants in French bakeries and supermarkets."

chausson aux pomme

These tasty apple, turnovers are fucking amazing. You must have this if you like apple themed desserts. Wikipedia doesn’t have a definition of chausson aux pomme per se, but here’s the definition for a turnover which is what this essentially is. If you haven't noticed I reference Wikipedia a lot. Because they're always right. Wikipedia: "A turnover is a type of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, sealing, and baking it."

pain aux raisins

This is really f-ing good too. This is basically a cinnamon roll if you take out the cinnamon/sugar and add raisins and a creamy filling. So good. Wiki Wiki “Pain aux raisins, is a breakfast food often eaten in France that is directly translated to raisin bread. Pain aux raisins is a member of the pâtisserie viennoise family of baked foods. In France, it is typically a variant of the croissant or pain au chocolat, made with a leavened butter pastry with raisins added and shaped in a spiral with a crème pâtissière filling. "

tarte

Tarts come in many different forms, theres the tarte tatin, tarte aux fruits, tarte au chocolat but my personal favorite is tarte au citron. Tasty as fuck. Wikipedia: "A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard.", but can have a variety of other flavorings.

madeleine

I can’t say it enough, I love these little almond cakes. You can find these everywhere in France. So good. Wikipedia: “The madeleine or petite madeleine is a traditional small cake from Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France. Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions."

petit four

These little delights come in many different forms and their history is actually quite fascinating. Go to Wiki to read about it or not, it’s your life. Wikipedia: "A petit four, also known as mignardises, is a small confectionery or savoury appetizer. The name is French, petit four, meaning "small oven"."

macaron

Macaron, what do I say about the exquisite macaron? It’s not my thing. They’re not bad, it’s just not something that I want to buy and eat. Put it like this they’re better when they’re free, even then I don’t see myself eating more than two. That’s just me. Wikipedia: "A macaron is a French sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food colouring. The macaron is commonly filled with ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. The name is derived from the Italian word macarone, maccarone or maccherone, the meringue."

crème brûlée

Ok, I’ve had this before. Wikipedia: Crème brûlée, also known as burnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is normally served at room temperature. The custard base is traditionally flavored with vanilla, but can have a variety of other flavorings.

profiterole

I’ve had these too, not in France though. Wikipedia: A profiterole is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet filling of whipped cream, pastry cream, custard, or (particularly in the US) ice cream. The puffs may be decorated or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups.

croquembouche

Basically a bunch of profiteroles stacked on each other. I’ve never had this before because I’ve never been to a French wedding, o wait yes I have. That’s actually the reason I’ve been there at all, so disregard that. Wikipedia: A croquembouche or croque-en-bouche is a French dessert consisting of choux pastry balls piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. In Italy and France, it is often served at weddings, baptisms and first communions.

gâteau basque

I almost forgot this little gem. A must have if you are in the south of France. Wikipedia: Gâteau Basque is a traditional dessert from the Basque region of France. Typically Gâteau Basque is constructed from layers of an almond flour based cake with a filling of either almond or vanilla pastry cream, or preserved cherries. The pastry cream Gâteau Basque is more typical in the Spanish Basque Country. This started during the 19th century. The name is French and means simply "Basque Cake". In the Basque language the cake is called "Etxeko biskotxa" or "cake of the house".