Another pastry supposedly brought to France by de Medici’s entourage of Italian chefs, this filled French choux pastry ball contains whipped cream, custard or ice-cream, and is decorated with powdered sugar, caramel or chocolate. Italian chef Panterelli invented choux pastry, but his original recipe changed over time and French patissier Jean Avice perfected the dough into choux buns.
Created in the 19th century by Italian pastry chef Frascati in Paris, this is considered one of the most famous desserts in France. Translates to mean ‘nun’, it consists of two choux buns on top of each other, resembling a chubby nun with a small habit around her shoulders. The bottom half of the religieuse is larger and fatter while the top circular is smaller, both filled with cream or custard.
Originally made from a brioche base, this means ‘chocolate bread’ in French and has since evolved to use the same buttery, flaky pastry as a croissant. It made its first appearance in the early 19th century and is also known as chocolatine in the south-west part of France.
A traditional mille-feuille, translated to mean ‘a thousand leaves’, consists of three layers of puff pastry, alternating with two layers of pastry cream, and is dusted with powdered sugar on top. It sounds simple enough in execution but takes a real expert to deliver an airy, flaky and crisp vanilla slice.
An oblong-shaped choux dough filled with cream and topped with chocolate icing, some variations are filled with chestnut puree, flavoured custard or fruit flavoured fillings. The name éclair means ‘flash of lightning’, perhaps due to the glisten of the frosting.
A small crisp, caramelised brown cake with a custard-like centre that has a hint of rum and vanilla, made with flour and egg yolks. It comes in a distinctive cylindrical shape and hails from the Bordeaux region. Supposedly developed in the 17th century by nuns, the traditional recipe calls for the cannele to be baked in fluted copper moulds.
This sweet meringue-based biscuit-cake made from egg white, powdered sugar and almond flour, is quintessentially French, though popular myth has it that the chefs of Catherine de Medici from Italy introduced this when she married Henry II of France.
Made with eggs, flour, sugar and butter, this buttery, light and soft sponge cake is a popular tea cake in French cafés. The term madeleine possibly originated from an 18th century cook named Madeleine Paulmier who first made this, or a pilgrim named Madeleine who brought the recipe back after her pilgrimage.