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MICHELIN Guide " Magazine " Features " 8 Types Of Fren

FEATURES ! 1 minute " 30 APRIL 2020

8 Types Of French Pastries You

Must Know
When the French mix flour, water and butter
together, magic happens.

French cuisine

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T here's no morning pick-me-up greater than

breaking into a warm pastry before powering
through the day. And we have many thanks to
give to the French, who got the art of pastry-
making down to a science. From flaky croissants
to delicate macaróns, these are the eight buttery
and flavorful pastries any die-hard baker should
know.

1. Croissant 

The key to this flaky viennoiserie is simply a good

butter—preferably from Normandy—with a high
melting point. This makes all the difference when
it comes to layering. A stellar croissant should
have a beautiful cross section boasting a
honeycombed interior when sliced in half.
Bonus: day-old croissants are excellent for
making almond variations.

2. Baguette

Made with only flour, water, yeast and salt, the

mark of a truly good baguette is the sound it
makes when breaking open the beautifully
bronze exterior to release a soft, resilient
interior. Best to eat these beauties the day of,
with a good smear of homemade or local butter.

3. Madeleines 

These distinctive shell-shaped tea cakes are

made with eggs, plain flour, sugar and loads of
butter—and when made right, lighter than air.
Enjoy with a cup of tea.  

4. Macarón 

This sweet meringue-based confection has been

celebrating much hype over the past several
years, no doubt due to the myriad of pastel
colors and flavors.Made with egg whites, icing
sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or
ground almonds, the macarón usually consists of
a ganache, buttercream or jam filling that’s been
sandwiched between two delicate shells.

5. Paris-Brest

This show-stopping pastry makes an excellent

dessert table centerpiece. Shaped like a bicycle
wheel, a Paris-Breast is traditionally made from a
ring of choux pastry filled with a praline-flavored
cream and dusted with icing sugar.

6. St. Honoré

A distant cousin of the Paris-Brest, the St.

Honoré—or Gâteau St. Honoré—is named for
the French patron saint of pastry chefs. The
pastry begins with a base consisting of puff
pastry dough and topped with a ring of pâte à
choux, then filled with pastry cream. Delicate
sugar-dipped cream puffs make for the final
topping. 

7. Kouign-amann

Thanks to pastry pro Dominique Ansel, this

round crusty cake has been re-popularized at his
many pastry shops around the globe. Often
compared to puff pastry, the bread dough uses
the same method of folding in layers of butter
and sugar. Pronounced qween-ah-mahn, think of
this as a denser version of a croissant, only the
kouign-amann has that extra step of being
dusted with sugar.

8. Mille-feuille

A work of patience, the beauty of this French

pastry lies in its layers: bakers work by layering
puff pastry with pastry cream and repeating the
process at least thrice to form this dessert. The
top layer is then dusted with sugar and
sometimes cocoa powder, or glazed with
fondant for a fancier touch.

Written by Meryl Koh

Meryl Koh is former Digital Associate
Editor with the MICHELIN Guide. The
former magazine writer has reported
on food as well as the luxury sector,
and is equally fascinated talking to
hawkers or CEOs. Her hunger for
heart-felt connections and breaking
stories is fueled by a good cup of kopi-
C, occasionally spiked with a shot of
whisky.

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