Pastries in Paris

I recently returned from a trip to Paris and each time I visit, I fall in love with it more. When I visited Paris three years ago, I was in awe of the hand-crafted desserts and they became one of the inspirations for this blog. So after my recent trip, it reignited the spark for baking and all things sweet! Paris is traditionally known for the lights, wine, and croissants, but I prefer to focus on the pastries.

I wanted to share a few of my favorite treats from the trip for inspiration and (literal) eye candy. For starters, all of the bread and bakery is outstanding and always fresh. It’s fairly common for the French to buy bread fresh when they need it, no Wonder Bread for them! In addition to the food and wine, the desserts and pastries are intricate and make your mouth water by just looking at them. 

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Crepe Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This next recipe is not for the faint of heart! It takes a few hours to make, but it’s well worth the effort. Standing 20 layers high, this crepe cake was one of the most technical recipes I have ever made, but was a fun challenge. I made some mistakes along the way, but it turned out well in the end! This recipe combines skills from the Chocolate Truffle post outlining ganache making as well as the Classic Crepes post. I would definitely make this delicious cake again, but would split up the work into two days. It takes approximately three hours to make, with the bulk of that time spent making the crepes.

Classic Crepes

When I visited Paris last Fall, one of the foods I wanted to bring home in stacks in my suitcase was crepes! They tasted so great because street vendors would make them fresh to order and they were filled with an amazing variety of sweet and savory fillings. I, of course, preferred the sweet fillings, but both types were absolutely delicious. Below is a picture a street vendor in Paris making crepes. If you look closely you can see he is spreading a generous layer of cheese on top of a savory crepe that is cooking.