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Amy Daire
France has always been a leader in the culinary industry. They're known for their breads, cheeses, and haute cuisine, and have done more for the world of food than you can imagine.
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Theyperfected manydifficult entrees, createdseveral types of wine and Champagne, and, most importantly, inventedsome of the best and most decadent desserts in the world.
From colorful macarons to light-as-airpuff pastries topaper thin pancakes, here are the 27 best desserts to try while you're there.
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1. Crème brûlée
This custard based dessert is topped with a layer of crunchy caramel. The dessert is popular all over the world, but it originated in France, making it a must-try for anyone who's traveling through.
2. Profiteroles
Profiteroles areballs of flakey pastry typically filled with a sweetwhipped cream, custard, oricecream. They are served in restaurants drenchedin chocolate ganache, but if you find them in bakeries they are likely to be sans chocolate.
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3. Soufflé
Soufflés can be served as a savory meal or a dessert, depending on what ingredients you use. They're usually served in individual ramekins, but after you puncture the fluffy top the decadent dessert variations can be split and shared.
4. Macarons
This popular dessert has jam, butter cream, or ganache sandwiched between twomeringue-basedcookies. It was created in France, and although many French bakeries like Ladurée have expanded to other countries, nothing will beat tryingthemelt-in-you-mouth pastryin itshomeland.
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5. Pain au chocolat
Eat itfor breakfast, eat it for dessert, eat it as an afternoon snack: this chocolate filled croissant is a tasty treat no matter the time of day.
6. Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin is an upside down fruit pastry that's traditionally made with caramelized apples and puff pastry. It was made famousby the Hotel Tatin, but similar slices are served throughout the country.
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22. Mille-feuille
A mille-feuille (meaningthousand-leaf in French)is a layered puff pastry filled with pastry cream. Typically, it consists of dozens of thin layers of pastry, hence the name.
7. Crêpe
Like soufflé, crêpes can be served savory or sweet. If you opt to eat one for dessert expect fillings such as Nutella, sugar and butter, or fruits.
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8. Madeleines
Madeleines are small sponge cakes that are sometimes flavored with lemon zest. The shell-shaped treatsare either eaten plain, or covered injam orcoconut flakes.They've become a staple in literature.
9. Éclair au chocolat
These oblong choux dough pastries (choux pastries being thecrispiestand airiest pastries) are best when filled with a chocolatecustard filling and topped with a thick chocolate icing. They're 10times better than the doughnut variations that have become popular in the US, and areserved all over France.
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10. L'escargot chocolat pistache
A post shared by Zhou Rebecca (@rebeccaz_hk) on Jan 3, 2017 at 6:51am PST
If you aren't brave enough to try the traditional French escargot, try aL'escargot chocolat pistache pastry. The snail-shaped desserts don't actually have snails in them, but they do contain a melted mix of chocolate and pistachios.
11. Paris-Brest
Originally created to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling race in 1910, the praline flavored cream sittingbetween two pieces of choux pastry hasstuck around ever since.
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12. Chocolat
Many would say that the art of chocolate was perfected in France, so find a local chocolatier and see for yourself whether that is true.
13. Petit fours
Petit fours are small confections that are often bought or served in an assortment. These bite-sized pastries are perfect for sampling.
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14. Clafoutis
Clafoutis is a flan-like dessert cake that is usually made with black cherries. It's from the Limousin region so if you're ever in that neighborhood, give it a try.
15. Kouign-amann
Famous in Brittany, theKouign-amann is a sweet, crispy cake made of bread dough, sugar, and lots of butter. These puffy concoctions taste like caramelized croissants and shouldn't be missed.
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16. French lemon tart
The French lemon tart, also known as the tarte au citron, is a tangy, creamy pastry that you'll find all over France.
17. Canelés
These petitepastries are flavored with vanilla and rum, and have a soft custard center and a caramelized crust. They're a specialty in theBordeaux region, but you can spot them in bakeries and pâtisseries around the country.
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18. Bugnes Lyonnaises
Often called angelwings,Bugnes Lyonnaises, are traditionallyeaten in the days before Lent, but canbe found throughout the year.Much like beignets or funnel cake,it consists ofdeep fried strips of dough covered in powdered sugar.
19. Ispahan
Some might think that Ispahans are just fancy macarons, but they're actually much, much more. The pastries, which are bigger than traditional macarons, are made with the refreshing flavors ofraspberries, roses, and lychees, and oftenfeature fresh fruit.
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20. Kouglof
This bundt cake isn't exactly native to France, but you'll eat some of the best ones there. The lightcake is sometimes marbled with chocolat, but almost always featuresraisins, almonds,and Kirschwasser cherry brandy.
21. Mont Blanc
The Mont Blanc is a towering mountain (hence the name) ofpuréed, sweetened chestnuts that isusuallytopped with whipped cream or powdered sugar.
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24. Crème caramel
With its soft custard base and layer of caramel, this dessert is similar to a crème brûlée. This custard dish, however, has a soft caramel top rather than the crunchy, caramelized kind seen on the crème brûlée.
25. Mousse au chocolat
It may look dense, but a French mousse is airy and very light thanks to the whipping techniques Frenchpastry chefs use. This dessert will satisfy without being too heavy.
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26. Meringues
These delicate, lightweight desserts are made of onlywhipped egg whites and sugar, and areoftenflavored with almond, vanilla, or lemon. For a traditionalmeringue, find a shop that makes them with large spoons andnot a piping bag.
27. Flottante
This dessert features a bit of meringue floating on top of a pool ofcrème anglaise, a milky custard. Some places will serve a version that haslayers of alcohol-soaked biscuits and jam.
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23. Mendiants
These dainty chocolate disks are traditionally topped with a dried fig, a hazelnut, a raisin, and an almond. You can also find them topped with pistachios, other dried fruit andpeels, andseeds.
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