France is famous for its sweet desserts, many of which are made with choux, puff pastry, or croissant dough. Popular desserts include profiteroles, éclairs, mille feuille, tarte aux pommes, almond croissants, and pain au chocolat. Choux dough is soft and airy, while puff pastry is flaky and tender. Croissant dough is flaky and bread-like, and is used for almond croissants and pain au chocolat.
Along with its wines, cheeses and an array of savory delights, France is renowned for its sweet desserts. While there are plenty of French pastry desserts, many of the most popular desserts are made with one of only three types of pastry: choux, puff pastry and croissant. Popular French pastry desserts made with the type of dough known as choux include profiteroles and éclairs. Common puff pastry-based desserts include mille feuille and tarte aux pommes. The croissant dough forms the basis for dessert cakes such as almond croissants and pain au chocolat.
Two of the best-known French pastry desserts, profiteroles and éclairs, are made with a dough called choux. This dough, made from butter, eggs, flour, and water, has a soft, airy center and a firm outer surface. A profiterole, also known as a beignet, consists of a round piece of choux that has been cooked, cut in half, filled with sweetened cream or custard, and then reassembled. Eclairs consist of oblong pieces of choux that have been baked, cut in half lengthwise, and filled with flavored cream or custard, nut paste, or jam. The top of the choux is then replaced and frozen.
Puff pastry, which consists mostly of flour, butter and water and which gets its tender but flaky character from being repeatedly rolled, forms the basis of two most famous French pastry desserts, mille feuille and tarte aux pommes. Millefeuille, meaning “a thousand leaves,” is made from a multi-layered wedge of cooked puff pastry that has been infused between the layers with flavored cream or custard. Often, its top layer is iced with a decorative pattern. Tarte aux pommes, or apple tart, is made from a layer of flaky pastry topped with carefully arranged, thinly sliced apples and, in some cases, custard and then baked.
Finally, some of the more common French pastry desserts are made with croissant dough. Croissant dough is somewhat similar to puff pastry, but contains less butter and is also made with yeast, giving it a texture that is both flaky and bread-like. Popular pastries made from croissant dough include almond croissants and pain au chocolat. An almond croissant consists of a triangle of croissant dough that has been rolled into a horn shape, topped with flaked almonds, and then baked. Once out of the oven, the croissant is cut in half horizontally so that it can be filled with almond paste or almond cream.
Pain au Chocolat is made from a puff pastry rectangle that is filled with chocolate and then rolled up. The pastry is then baked, causing the chocolate to melt in the center as the crust rises. French pastry aficionados say it’s best to consume a pain au chocolate fresh from the oven, before its chocolate filling has a chance to harden.
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