France: 13 must-try Pastries

No one beats France when it comes to pastries. The first thing I did after I bought my flight ticket to Paris, was, guess what: googling about French pastries.


But there are too many... "What are the best pastries I should try in France?", ask this in a country renowned for it beautiful mouth-watering pastries and you will get a long long long list...countless answers! In case you are as confused as I was, here are 13 classics out of a million choices to start with:
 
1. Baguette 
There should be no surprise that Baguette tops the list, as you are looking at the most iconic French staple! Love the crunchy crust.
Where to eat: Le Grenier à Pain, Paris

2. Paris-Brest
Made of choux pastry filled with praline flavoured cream, finished with a crispy crust of slivered almonds, this french classic since 1910 is definitely a pastry you can't leave without trying.
Where to eat:  La Pâtisserie des Rêves, Paris

www.lassiettedanslesetoiles.fr

3. Meringues
Light, airy and sweet. For a fun twist, try "Merveilleux"-- a sandwich of two meringues welded with whipped cream, which has been covered with whipped cream and dusted with chocolate shavings.
Where to eat: Aux merveilleux de Fred, Paris

4. Chouquettes
These bite-size "tiny bits of choux" sprinkled with pearl sugar are the perfect snacks to munch on when exploring Paris on foot.

5. Canelés
This is a mini cake with a rich tender custard center enclosed by thick caramelized crust.
Where to eat: Bordeaux

chocolateandzucchini.com

6. Bugnes Lyonnaises
These are deep-fried thin-twisted-ribbons dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Somehow it reminds me of a Chinese New Year snack we have in Malaysia.

7. Gâteau Basque
It has a crunchy almond tart-like base with a filling of either almond or rum-flavoured cream, and sometimes, black cherry jam.
Where to eat: Basque region

8. Choux à la crème
Little choux puff pastries filled with whipped cream, pastry cream, custard or ice cream.

9. St. Honoré
Gâteau St. Honoré was created in honor of the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, Saint Honoré. It consist of a circle of puff pastry at the base, with a ring of pâte à choux piped on top. It is then filled with crème chiboust, top with more caramelized puffs and finally finished with whipped cream.

andychef.ru

10. Kouign amann
It is a round pastry made of laminated dough—croissant dough, baked in rounds. The star of this pastry is actually the thick crispy caramelized crust that crackles to bites.
Where to eat: Brittany region

11. Éclair
An éclair is an oblong pastry made of choux dough filled with pastry cream and finished with icing or chocolate syrup.
Where to eat: L' Eclair de Génie, Paris

lovelifeeat.com

12. Pain au chocolat 
This is the viennoiserie sweet roll ingeniously combined flaky thousand-layered croissant and dark chocolate into one.

13. Croissant
Who would ever forget about croissant, another delectable French bread classic?! 

Thank You for Reading! 

This post is based solely on my opinion or personal experience. 

 If you have more suggestions, feel free to share your thoughts with me by commenting below!