Top 7 Distinctive French Pastries

Compared to the typical bread loaves we often encounter on Vietnamese streets, the French Baguette stands out with its distinctive length and width. It captivates observers with its golden, crispy crust, while inside, the crumb is dense and incredibly flavorful. However, when held in hand, this type of bread is light and convenient for daily breakfast. To enhance its appearance and taste, people often split the baguette in half and spread pate or cheese inside. It is considered a traditional French breakfast, with a reasonable price ranging from about 8,000 VND to 15,000 VND depending on whether it has filling or not.

This type of pastry is often a must-have in some European countries during the Epiphany celebration in January - an event held after Christmas. The cake takes on the appearance of a large, puffed-up donut, and inside it, there's a plastic baby-shaped figurine symbolizing the image of the revered baby Jesus. Those fortunate enough to find the plastic piece while enjoying a portion of the cake are believed to receive good luck and attain significant power.

Therefore, this cake is usually reserved for kings and queens during festive gatherings. Currently, these types of cakes, when available in France, are often adorned with a paper crown as a gift for the cake's owner. This particular cake is not yet sold in the Vietnamese market.

This delightful pastry is adorned with eye-catching decorations, creating an irresistible allure for those who happen to catch a glimpse of it. The cake features multiple layers stacked on top of each other, making the production of each Opera cake quite labor-intensive and involving various stages. It is crafted from layers of almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup, along with a ganache layer or, alternatively, a coffee buttercream layer.

Subsequently, the cake's surface is coated with a layer of melted chocolate. This type of cake has become a popular dessert in France. Each Opera cake, with a 20 cm size, is priced at approximately 250,000 VND.

With simple ingredients like flour, eggs, and milk butter, the French demonstrated exquisite creativity in crafting delicious and visually appealing crepe cakes. These crepe cakes typically take on a round, thin, and flat shape. This delicacy is not only popular in France but has also become a traditional dish in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and Brazil.

To enhance the flavor of each crepe cake, people often pair them with strawberry jam or various fruits as fillings. Additionally, they are enjoyed alongside beverages such as coffee, tea, and especially apple cider. The price of each crepe cake ranges from 20,000 VND to 40,000 VND.

In Italian, the term 'maccarone' means crushed, and that's why this name is used to describe pastries made in this manner. This pastry is incredibly delightful and perfect for those with a sweet tooth, thanks to its crispy and fragrant outer layer combined with a rich and creamy filling that many adore.

To create Macaron pastries, almonds and sugar are finely ground along with flour using a grinder to form the pastry's crust. The egg whites are whipped to create the filling. This type of pastry can be prepared with various flavors such as coconut, chocolate, and green tea. The price of each Macaron starts from 5,000 VND/piece, depending on the size of the pastry.

Croissant Cake is an extremely popular pastry in France. The pastry, shaped like a croissant, is particularly favored by the French for breakfast. Also known as crab claw cake or croa-xang (from the French word croissant), it has its origins in Austria and is a type of breakfast pastry made from puff pastry, produced from flour, yeast, butter, milk, and salt.

The sweet madeleine shell cake is also dubbed the “beauty in French tea parties.” The cake belongs to the basic sponge cake category, characterized by the adorable shell-shaped appearance.

This is a traditional French cake for Christmas. In France, Christmas without this delightful dessert might mean an imperfect holiday season. Buchenoel in French means 'Christmas tree branch.' True to its name, the cake is shaped like a tree branch with a layer of chocolate on the outside, decorated with Christmas trees, grass carpets, Santa Claus, mushrooms, cranberries, and more.

The cake is made by using rolled sponge cake formed into a cylinder, covered with chocolate or buttercream. The surface is then scored with a fork to resemble the bark of a tree. The tradition of the tree branch cake originates from the practice where, on the night before Christmas, people often cut a large branch, usually from fruit-bearing trees like cherry, apple, peach, or from wood-bearing trees like oak, and bring it into the house for a ritual. The host places the branch on the hearth, and a ritual offering of hot oil, salt, and wine is poured onto the branch, followed by prayers. The ashes from the burned branch are believed to ward off evil and disasters.

Everyone hopes that the branch will last at least three days to avoid misfortunes in the new year.