Paris Pâtisseries: History, Shops, Recipes

“The culinary equivalent of haute couture.” That’s how the authors of Paris Pâtisseries: History, Shops, Recipes—some 20 pastry chefs and culinary professionals—describe the haute pâtisserie celebrated in Flammarion’s gorgeous new volume.

The book looks back at pastry history, starting with the simple fruit pasties of the Middle Ages and touching on the birth of the croissant (1683), the first true chocolate cake (1832) and such grand 19th-century pièces montées as the Saint Honoré, a caramel-drizzled tower of cream puffs. And while it describes such traditional treats as tarts, religieuses and millefeuilles, it also celebrates contemporary trends: the use of exotic fruits including litchi and yuzu; flower flavorings such as rose, violet and elderberry blossom; verrines, colorful layered desserts served in miniature glasses; and the rage for all things caramel.

But most of all, the lavishly illustrated volume is a sugary feast for the eyes, with full-page photos of the most luscious pastries imaginable: golden éclairs, plump religieuses, rich molten chocolate cakes, the crisp choux pastry of a Paris-Brest filled with unctuous praline cream.

The book’s foreword was written by star pâtissier Pierre Hermé; it also includes 25 recipes for intrepid home bakers and addresses for bakeries, bistrots, restaurants and tea salons serving the city’s best pastries.

“Parisians are always ready to cross the city from one end to the other to fetch the cake whose mere mention makes their mouths water,” say the authors. This book will show you why.

Paris Pâtisseries: History, Shops, Recipes. Photographs by Christian Sarramon. Flammarion, 2010. $40.

Originally published in the March 2010 issue of France Today.