16 Essential French Pastries To Try in France

There’s nothing quite like that first crunch into the crisp outer layer of a flaky, freshly baked croissant. Even devoured straight from a paper bag on the street, it’s a thing of beauty—and along with the pain au chocolat, the most emblematic of France’s viennoiseries. It’s also just the tip of the butter-drenched iceberg.
Like the country’s cuisine, French pastries are deeply regional and traditional. Flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and cocoa are whisked into ever more elaborate creations depending on whether you’re closer to Bordeaux or Brest. Discovering them all is a lifetime’s work, a delicious journey from boulangerie to patisserie, maybe even ending up in your own kitchen. On your next trip to France, go beyond croissants with these 16 delicious French pastries.

1. Mille-feuille

A white plate with a strawberry mille-feuille, a French pastry, on it, with a silver fork next to it. — The mille-feuille is a simple French classic named for its layers.

The beauty of a mille-feuille (literally “thousand sheets”) is its simplicity: three layers of crisp, golden puff pastry stacked with two layers of piped crème pâtissière (a type of custard with flour). Some bakers add a marbled fondant topping; others opt for a dusting of powdered sugar. Breaking through all three layers is a messy job, but it’s all part of the experience. If your plate looks like a modern art piece gone wrong, you’ve done something right.

2. Paris–Brest

A round Paris-Brest pastry filled with cream on a white plate, with a few small yellow flowers — The Paris-Brest is a wheel-shaped pastry invented to commemorate a bicycle race.

Forget about crème brûlées and chocolate fondants. If there’s one dessert you’re going to seek out on a restaurant menu or at the best Parisian patisseries, make it the Paris–Brest. Invented by pâtissier Louis Durand in 1910 to commemorate the Paris–Brest bike race, the wheel-shaped dessert is choux pastry perfection. It’s decadent, sweet but not too sweet, and guaranteed to leave you in a trance-like state of satiation if you devour one yourself in a single sitting. Inside the choux pastry wheel is crème mousseline pralinée (a pastry cream flavored with almonds and hazelnuts). It’s topped with powdered sugar and toasted flaked almonds.

3. Tarte au citron meringuée

A <i>tartelette au citron meringuée</i> aka a mini lemon meringue tart — A *tartelette au citron meringuée* aka a mini lemon meringue tart

Lemon meringue pie by another name, the tarte au citron meringuée is one of the incontournables (essentials) of French patisserie. It can be bought in large sizes and sliced to share or as a palm-size tartelette. The classic recipe couldn’t be simpler. It starts with a pastry base that is loaded with a thick layer of lemon curd and then mounds of foamy Italian meringue. The higher the peaks, the better, because they’re blowtorched for color and caramelization. In Paris, the French Bastards make some of the tastiest, and there are seven branches around the city.

4. Kouign-amann

A tray of kouign-amanns, small, round, croissant-like pastries — Sweet and flaky, the kouign-amann is like a close cousin to the croissant.

Until the 1500s, most French regions were subject to a salt tax known as the gabelle, but the independent and salt-producing region of Brittany was exempt. The result? A local cuisine rich in salted butter and salted caramel. There’s no clearer incarnation of Bretons’ enduring love for all things salty-sweet than the kouign-amann. Half cake and half pastry, made from thin layers of yeasted dough laminated with butter and sugar (folded and rolled over and over again), it’s crisp and caramelized on the outside and richly dense within.

5. Canelé

Five canelés at a bakery — In southwestern France, canelés are a staple of everyday life.

Is Bordeaux more famous for its wine or its canelés? Depending on who you ask, you could have a serious fight on your hands. But neither side would dispute that these rum- and vanilla-flavored cakes rightfully deserve a place in France’s pastry hall of fame. Canelés are always made in the same distinctive molds, slim cylinders between two and three inches high with a little circular indent on top and grooves down the sides. Old-fashioned copper trays give them the best crusty outer shell and chewy, moist interior. The rum is added liberally, but most French families happily give canelés to their kids without a second thought. Connoisseurs know that you can request them lightly, medium, or well-baked at spots such as la Toque Cuivrée, which has branches all over Bordeaux and surrounds, plus one at Gare Montparnasse in Paris.

6. Éclair

Overhead view of two rows of eight eclairs, each with different color icing or decoration — An éclair is an oblong French pastry made with light and airy choux dough, filled with cream and topped with flavored icing.

An éclair is an oblong French pastry made with light and airy choux dough, filled with cream, and topped with flavored icing. A staple at almost every corner bakery across France, they’re most commonly topped with chocolate or vanilla icing. For a more adventurous take on the French classic, head to one of L'Éclair de Génie’s four outposts in Paris, where you’ll find pretty, modern takes on classic flavors, like strawberry mascarpone, salted caramel, and pistachio orange.

7. Mont Blanc

A beige mound of Mont Blanc pastry, topped by candied chestnut and small piece of dark chocolate, on white plate — Named after the famous mountain, the Mont Blanc is also a classic French pastry.

The Mont Blanc, named after France’s highest peak, appears in patisserie displays in the early fall when the first chestnuts are collected. Parisian tearoom Angelina claims to have invented the recipe, which sees a miniature “mountain” of meringue topped with whipped cream and a silly-string-like veil of chestnut puree. In the best Mont Blancs, the chestnut puree is only lightly sweetened, making them as delicious for dessert as with a cup of black tea in the afternoon.

8. Opéra

A slice of opera cake, two croissants, and two espressos on a table, with distant view of Eiffel Tower through window — The opéra cake is a decadent, layered chocolate treat.

If you like your chocolate bitter and your coffee strong, the elegant, oblong opéra is the French pastry for you. Each layer packs in flavor, beginning with an almond Joconde sponge that’s soaked in coffee syrup before being alternately layered with chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream. The last layer is always a smooth, dark chocolate glaze. It never covers the sides of the opéra, leaving the meticulously constructed layers and pâtissier’s precision on show.

9. Baba au rhum

Blue facade of the bakery Stohrer, in Paris, with blue awning, cobblestone street in front, and lamppost at right — Stohrer Bakery is the oldest in Paris and a great place to try baba au rhum.

The baba au rhum was invented in the oldest pâtisserie in Paris, Stohrer, which first opened in 1730. It’s said that King Louis XV’s pastry chef and Stohrer founder Nicolas Stohrer created this yeast-raised and rum-soaked cake for Stanislas Leszczynski, the former king of Poland and father of the French king’s wife, Marie Leszczynska. What you really need to know is that rum is to the baba what ice cream is to apple pie. The more you add, the better. Order a baba au rhum for dessert in a restaurant, and you’re often free to liberally douse it in liquor yourself.

10. Tartelette aux fraises

Two tartelettes filled with cut strawberries on dark wood board — The tartelette aux fraises is an essential seasonal treat.

The arrival of summer in France is heralded by the first strawberries of the season. First the early-ripening gariguettes in mid-March, then other varieties such as the clery in April. You know the season is truly in full swing when pretty little strawberry tarts start to decorate bakery windows and picnic blankets. There’s no standardized recipe for a tartelette aux fraises, but purists stick to a shortbread base, crème pâtissière filling, and fresh strawberry topping. The secret to getting the strawberries to shine at the end is to brush them with a little melted jam. For more unusual versions, you can always rely on Parisian pâtisserie Boulangerie Utopie in the 11th arrondissement, which might add an elderflower cream or a charbon végétal (black charcoal) base.

11. Galette des rois

A pie-shaped slice being cut from a round galette des rois — The galette des rois is a seasonal specialty, available around January 6.

You’ll need to visit France around the Catholic holiday of Epiphany on January 6 for a chance to try a galette des rois, or king’s cake. These flaky frangipane tarts are traditionally baked to mark the arrival of the three kings in Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. Boulangeries top each galette with a gold paper crown. Hidden inside is a lucky charm, known as a fève. If you find it in your slice, you become king (or queen) for the day and the crown is yours to wear.

12. Brioche aux pralines roses

Several round brioche aux pralines roses, a French bread pastry topped with bits of pink pralines — Brioche aux pralines roses is a specialty in Lyon.

Croissants aside, brioche is a staple on almost every French breakfast table. It comes in many shapes: bouncy loaves, little round buns, even baguette-like batons studded with chocolate chips. Generous amounts of egg and butter give the dough its trademark richness. Arguably the best and most distinctive of all its forms is brioche aux pralines roses, a Lyonnaise specialty. Barbie-pink pralines—which are crunchy, sugar-coated almond candies—are added right into the mix and hide like nuggets of gold amid the brioche’s fluffy layers. You’ll find some of the best in Lyon’s famous covered market, the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse.

13. Chausson aux pommes

Five French chaussons aux pommes, flaky apple turnovers in half-moon shape — The French chausson aux pommes is a flaky apple turnover.

As with many recipes in France, even the humble apple turnover comes with a 400-year history—one that’s celebrated every year at the Fête du Chaussons aux Pommes in the town of Saint-Calais in Pays de la Loire. This year, 2024, will mark the 394th annual festival. Legend says that during a famine the local châtelaine (“mistress of the castle”) distributed flour and apples to the poor, and so the first chausson aux pommes was born. Today, they’re still made in much the same way, only now the apples might be stewed with a hint of cinnamon before being encased in their golden puff pastry pocket. For a fail-safe recipe, Poilâne’s classic interpretation is a reference across France. Its cookbooks are a worthy investment if a Parisian weekend isn’t on your upcoming travel agenda.

14. Chouquettes

A dozen and a half chouquettes studded with pearl sugar — Try a chouquette with your espresso

If someone in France invites you over for coffee, there’s a good chance they’ll serve espresso with a plate of chouquettes, hollow bubbles of choux pastry embellished with chunky pearl sugar crystals that make an oh-so-satisfying crunch between your teeth. Chouquettes, whether you buy one or a bag of 10, are just about the least expensive pastry you can find in a boulangerie, but are among the most addictive.

15. Macarons

Rows of colorful macarons at a pastry shop — Colorful macarons travel well and make a great gift.

No list of French pastries nor checklist for a picnic beneath the Eiffel Tower is complete without the macaron. Every candy-colored selection box might look similar, but all not macarons are made equal. For the best of the best, look for those made by pâtissiers holding the prestigious title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, such as Jean-Paul Hévin in Paris. No matter the flavor, when you bite into the macaron, the outer shell should be thin and crisp, yielding quickly to a dense and chewy center. You can’t go wrong with the classics: pistachio, chocolate, coffee, raspberry, and vanilla.

16. Tarte aux pommes

Although more delicate than the classic American pie, the French tarte aux pommes is just as comforting.

A tarte aux pommes, or “apple tart” in English, is a French classic: a buttery, flaky pastry crust filled with thinly sliced apples artfully arranged on a layer of almond cream or pastry cream. Unlike an American-style apple pie, this French dessert is subtly sweet, emphasizing the natural flavors of the apple, and more delicate. As for where to try a slice, head to Des Gâteaux et du Pain in the 15th and 7th arrondissements of Paris. “Renowned pastry chef Claire Damon of Des Gâteaux et du Pain has mastered a technique that leaves the crust perfectly crisp and the fruit juicy every time,” says Lindsey Tramuta, an Afar contributor who lives in Paris.

This article was originally published in 2024 and most recently updated on July 24, 2024 with current information.

Eleanor Aldridge

Eleanor Aldridge is a writer based in Paris and the author of Paris: A Curious Traveler’s Guide. She specializes in food, travel, and (often natural) wine.

16 Delicious French Pastries to Try—That Aren’t Croissants

Embrace la belle vie, one bite at a time.