Top 10 Classic French Desserts And Where To Find Them
No other nation’s history has been so shaped by dessert than that of France. Marie Antoinette may never have said, ‘Let them eat cake,’ but this revolutionary mis-attribution has stuck to the pages of history like the spilled contents of a jam donut, becoming a byword for inequality and the cruel flippancy of elites. Nevertheless, it’s not hard to imagine how even the most level-headed politician’s judgement could be knocked sideways by the intoxicating amounts of butter and sugar in these signature French desserts.
1. Madeleines
Bakery, Bar, Patisserie, French, European
Of all the treats on this list, the madeleine is undoubtedly the most memorable. Small, shell-shaped and light when baked correctly, these cakes can be found piled in patisserie windows across the city. However, consensus has emerged in recent years that the fluffiest of the fluffiest are to be found at Fabrice Le Bourdat’s Blé Sucré.
2. Tarte Tatin
Cafe, Bakery, Ice Cream Parlour, French
Mille-feuille
A true staple, the mille-feuille is as simple in its tastiness as it is mind-boggling complex to eat without getting it all over yourself. If anyone out there has devised a method of consumption whereby the cream doesn’t shoot out from between the three layers of pastry at the first bite, please make this known to the wider, stickier public. You can’t really go wrong with this one but for something extra special try the mille-feuille devised by Philippe Conticini at La Pâtisserie des Rêves.
3. Crème brûlée
Restaurant, French
Macarons
The macaron and the concept of romantic love have a fair amount in common; both have their roots in the Middle Ages, became hugely popular through 19th-century creativity and industriousness, and today, at what many consider to be the peak of our civilization, they are the extensively filtered subjects of billions of photos on various social media apps. In Paris, you can indulge your love of the macaron at the world-famous Ladurée patisseries.
4. Mendiants
Cafe, French
5. Crème caramel
Restaurant, Brasserie, French
6. Canelés
Bakery, French
7. Mousse au chocolat
Butcher, French
Nougat
Though technically a Middle Eastern and Spanish delicacy, nougat has a lot of history here in France. Nougat de Montélimar is a distinctly French variety of the dessert which comes from Provence. Le Petit Duc describes itself as a ‘manufacturer of delicacies, discoverer of treasures’ and is the perfect place to sample some nougat for yourself.
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