Paris is the world capital of pastry and sweet treats, and here are 24 places to prove it: chocolate, praline, fruit, cream, puff pastry and meringue-based specialities, among others.
© Little Daan via Flickr
The first chocolate fondant was invented by the chef Michel Bras in 1981 as a variation on hot chocolate in winter. This iconic dessert requires two days of work for the frozen centre and the sponge made of rice flour and powdered almonds. "If it were a musical composition, it would win the biggest Grammy Award in history", the Argentinean daily La Nación said about this dessert.
François Perret, the head pastry chef at the legendary Ritz Paris, got noticed with his trompe-l’œil madeleine (which looks like a large madeleine but is actually a dessert). The good news is that you can find actual madeleines, plain or filled with chocolate, caramel or stewed fruit(raspberry, passionfruit and lemon) at the hotel’s pastry outpost Le Comptoir: attractive sweet treats arranged in an elegant box. You can also order a madeleine tower comprising 30 pieces or more.
The now-famous pastry chef Cédric Grolet built his reputation at the palace hotel Le Meurice and on Instagram (he has nearly 10 million followers). His Saint-Honoré - bite-sized caramelized choux pastry balls topped with almond cream and pastry cream made of vanilla and chantilly - is well known in the capital.
This dessert is called Praluline at Pralus, a chocolate maker from Roanne (in the Loire), who made a name for himself with his homemade pink praline brioche made with almonds and hazelnuts tossed in a copper cauldron and coated with natural coloured sugar syrup. It was in 1955 that Auguste Pralus invented the recipe, the patisserie’s emblematic dessert.
Purists know that the best millefeuille is to be sampled in a restaurant where it is assembled just before it is served. The restaurant is the Le Mazenay bistro, a place where great chefs come to eat, where the millefeuille resembles a fluffy cushion, with airy layers filled with diplomat cream, which is lighter than pastry cream.
© Meert - Paris je t'aime
It is easy to understand why General de Gaulle used to have soft Meert waffles filled with butter, vanilla and sugar delivered to the Élysée: they’re addictive! Other famous people such as Winston Churchill and Jackie Kennedy also had a weakness for this sweet treat created in 1849 in the northern city of Lille.
Since 2015, the patisserie and tearoom Bontemps has made pastry lovers’ mouths water with its short pastry, which is out of this world. This crunchy, buttery pastry (with a pinch of salt) is flaky and serves as a base for most of the pastries made here. We have a weakness for the Mont-Blanc tart with its chestnut purée vermicelli covering an airy meringue and Chantilly cream with Madagascar vanilla. We want more!
Parisians with a sweet tooth are well aware that the celebrity pastry chef Yann Couvreur, who made a name for himself in Paris palace hotels before opening his own shops, specializes in a Paris-Brest composed of two layers of crispy choux pastry and a cream made of hazelnut paste and hazelnut praline. Couvreur adds little caramelized hazelnuts on top. A must-try.
Here is an original sweet speciality: small, crunchy choux pastry balls filled with a very light cream, like a Chantilly, which first made their appearance in Cap-Ferret in 2007 at a local bakery, Chez Pascal. The choux puffs don’t last long but that’s not a problem, they’ll all be eaten quickly.
© Pierre Emmanuel de Leusse
At the Rôtisserie d’Argent, a branch of the legendary Tour d’Argent, they take their cooking seriously: everything from the egg mayo (which has won the world championship in its category) to the finishing touch, the profiteroles: the chocolate sauce resembles the shiny sauce of hare à la royale, that legendary and quintessentially French dish.
This is a creation by Claire Damon, a grande dame of pastry who has worked at the Plaza Athénée; this small, round dessert is the perfect example of a moist and very fragrant moelleux.
© Paris je t'aime
Since 1827, Boissier has been a source of delight for Parisians who like fruit jellies, caramels, marshmallows and barley sugar. The brand’s speciality when it comes to sweets is the celestial pearl. These are tiny sugar balls filled with fruit syrup which come in a pretty compact. Customers are equally keen on the Boissier boxes.
© Paris je t'aime - DR
There are many places in Paris where you can order these hot crêpes coated in a caramelized citrus fruit sauce. One such place is Lasserre, an ambassador of French gastronomy since 1942. It is one of the most iconic restaurants of the capital with its retractable sliding roof in the dining room. The crêpes Suzette are flambéed with Grand Marnier and served with orange segments, vanilla-flavoured marmalade and bitter orange sorbet.
A classic bakery recipe! To be found in particular at Léonie, a brand created by a pastry chef from Bordeaux who worked in the United States, where he impressed the New York Times. The tart is enhanced by juice drizzled on top, cinnamon and a tempting fragrance of butter and almonds.
Laurent Duchêne is a Paris baker who has won a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (best craftsman in France) prize. His chouquettes are well worth a trip to one of his shops: small and enticing and moist on the inside, with crispy, caramelized choux pastry on the outside.
Back to Laurent Duchêne to sample an unusual croissant made with croissant dough coated with maple syrup. More traditional croissants can be had from his fellow baker Frédéric Comyn, who also has several shops in Paris.
The first thing many Parisians do when returning home from a trip is to head to Carette, a tearoom opened in 1927 that has since become a Paris institution, offering a range of sandwiches and sweet treats. One particular favourite is the apple turnover, which is surprisingly large: it’s as long as a baguette, going well beyond the size of the plate on which it is served.
Considering the texture of this dessert, it could be called an île flottante “mousse”. It is served in a pool of custard sauce and topped with pink pralines and caramel. For a taste of it, head to the traditional bistro Paris Seize.
Try the version from Kevin Lacote, a pastry chef who has gained a well-deserved reputation since 2016 after working at the Georges V palace hotel and the gastronomic restaurant L’Ambroisie. His vanilla flan has been praised by food critics for its crunchy puff pastry and flan mixture that is neither too thick nor too liquid. A “state-of-the-art creation” according to the daily Le Monde.
The fontainebleau is usually considered a cheese and that’s why you can find it at the cheesemonger's Martine Dubois. But it is well and truly a dessert and one that heralds fine weather, as it is made in summer. It combines whipped cream with a powdery texture with a mildly sour flavour sweetened by a chestnut mousse inside the pot.
The chocolate sweets with a praline filling from the superstar chef Alain Ducasse are delicious. They are described as "old-fashioned pralines" with a rough texture and strong flavour. Their creator has seasoned them with high quality dried fruit sourced in Italy.
The brand Merveilleux de Fred rose to fame with their Merveilleux, a speciality made of meringue and whipped cream adorned with chocolate shavings, but our favourite treat from this Lille-based brand with a shop even in Japan is the "cramique", a Belgian brioche that is very popular in northern France. Theirs is a generously sized brioche that we prefer only slightly baked, with large sugar crystals inside. A cramique tastes even better when it’s warm.
© Patrick Roger
These rochers or chocolate clusters named "Instinct" are available in the shops of the celebrity chocolate maker Patrick Roger - a creator of impressive chocolate sculptures that decorate his shops. These iconic rochers are made of almond and hazelnut praline coated with dark or milk chocolate. The Provençal almonds come from Patrick Roger’s own plantation.
© Vincent Bourdon
A signature recipe created in 1997 by the pastry chef Pierre Hermé. This rose macaron cookie with rose petal cream, raspberries and lychees is truly iconic and is one of the best-loved French desserts. The Ispahan can be purchased in different sizes: for one person, for 3/4 people or – if you have a seriously sweet tooth – for 6/8 people.
