First, a note: MERCI to all the readers who have sent in comments, and recipes too! You can see them below or in the ‘Share a Recipe’ section. Don’t miss the luscious mushroom tart from Barbara Redmond (of the site A Woman’s Paris), and, from Gai Reid (The French Revelation) the hilarious account of her tarte tatin technique. Plus additions to our 10 melon ideas, and persimmon recipes, as requested. 
Today we start The French Pastry Project, which as you will see has a bit of a connection to the Tour de France, since Saturday’s stage starts in nearby Tournus and we’ll be there cheering.
Y’all have seen them—those fabulous French pastries, beckoning to you from the shop windows of the pâtisseries, which seem to be on every street in France. Those of us who have moved here often pose the question: who the heck BUYS these things? Surely not the famously thin French? I’m a big dessert person, but I can count on one hand the times I’ve bought one or even been served one, chez anybody. They are extravagantly beautiful, sinfully rich, frightfully expensive, and a single one contains your allotment of fat and calories for an entire month. And around every corner, they are there to tempt you.
So I said to Ron the other day, it’s a shame to live in France and not really know the French pastries. They all have their own grand little titles, like Opéra, Financier, and Mille-feuille. “I’m going to start The Pastry Project,” I announced (this, even though we are both en regime, after we each put on five pounds during a winter visit to the states). “We’re going to work our way through all the famous ones. I”ll buy one a week, and we’ll cut it into itsy-bitsy pieces, and have a little taste every evening. Just a tiny indulgence, to soften the edges of our diet.”
“Hmmph”, said The Wise One, and rolled his eyes.
Finding myself in front of a gorgeous pastry shop window, I decided today was to be the first day of The Pastry Project. After much deliberation I finally chose the intriguingly named ‘Paris-Brest’. This is a choux pastry, sliced and filled with a rich, thick, praline cream, and topped off with almonds and a dusting of icing sugar. Now the Tour tie-in: It dates from 1891, created to commemorate a bicycle race between Paris and Brest. The round shape suggests a wheel, and the cyclists love its high-energy caloric overload.
Madame placed it carefully on a doily in a little box and wrapped it like a present, and I headed off to the car. And then…well, y’all can guess.
I ate the whole thing.
Before I got out of the parking lot.
OK, and maybe I licked the doily too. In any case, I’m back on my regime now and The Pastry Project is, quite literally, toast. If any of you would care to lovingly describe your favorite French pastry in the comments section, it would be a most welcome virtual treat. In the meantime I am, indefinitely, on Pastry Probation.
RECIPE: Light but luscious Chocolate Gâteau
Having whetted your appetite but left you pastry-less, I will now offer an easy recipe which is suitably decadent (with a bit of that lovely French Gran Marnier), but surprisingly light and low-fat. 
Serves 8, or 6 gourmands.
½ cup sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons Gran Marnier (or other liqueur)
4 large egg whites
½ cup sugar Confectioner’s (icing) sugar
Butter an 8” spring form pan, or a cake pan. Pre-heat oven to 350.
Combine dry ingredients (first 4) in a large bowl. Add chopped chocolate, pour the boiling water over all, and stir until melted. Stir in the vanilla, egg yolks, and liqueur.
In another bowl beat egg whites until foamy then beat in sugar gradually, until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold egg whites into chocolate, just until color is uniform, then pour into pan. Bake about 30 minutes, until tooth pick in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes and remove sides of pan, then cool completely. Cake will be cracked on top. Dust with icing sugar (Cool longer before removing, if using cake pan). Enjoy without guilt.
By the way, I take all the photos on the blog unless otherwise noted. The scrumptious shot of this cake was taken by my step-daughter, Kelly Watts.
20 thoughts on “The French Pastry Project”
Tarte aux Fruits kills any attempt at restraint, every time!
My favorite is a religieuse, a double decker cream puff, often filled with coffee flavored pastry cream, and topped with either dark chocolate or a café au lait frosting. Since it is supposed to look like a nun, there is a little whipped cream ruff between the “head” and the “body.” Since there are two distinct parts, it’s easy to have one part now (for me, usually the head) and the other part for later or to share.
Lynn,
This is hilarious! What lover of sucre among us cannot relate? Yet I feel sad, for I though your Pastry Project was a GREAT idea. Perhaps you could decide to purchase your pastries on a full stomach, thus lessening the chances of indulging prematurely. Also, tell Ron before each excursion that he can expect a dessert (in its entirety) that evening. Heck, why not inform the chef patissier of your plans and recruit his cooperation – in selling you your weekly purchase of just one? Surely there must be a way…
I laughed. Didn’t see it coming. Being en regime has weakened your self-restraint. Patisserie en voiture=indulgence. My little vice is Ghiradelli 60% cacao dark chocolate in primal chunks.
Please try again with the Pastry Project! I’d love to hear about each and every one of those gorgeous things behind the glass.
having lived in paris for 13 years last century, my cooking can be inspired. just this week for a girlfriends’ potluck lunch, i made mini cream puffs stuffed with herbed goat cheese, served on a coulis de tomat. rave reviews!
Bonjour! I was thrilled to read about your French Pastry project because although I studied in Caen, I cannot remember many of the pasty names and was hoping for a “remedial” class! I do remember the mille-feuille as being my favorite. I think you did well to make it to the parking lot!
My husband has forbidden me to look at the pastry case. He doesn’t want to here my unrelentless mantra – I’m Fat! But this!! This could do me in. I don’t think I’d make it out of the parking lot either. Oh, and one question. That guy behind the counter in the photo? He looks malnourished and I want to know how he stays so thin working in that Pastry Shop. OMG!!!
When we were overseas in 1995, I caught the flu. The illness started in Budapest, intensified in Vienna, and Venice. By the time we boarded the night train from Zurich to Paris, I thought I was terminal. I spent the next day in bed at our Paris hotel, planning to catch a flight home, canceling the rest of our trip. My husband in roaming the neighborhood, had found a patisserie and brought a Napoleon back to the room. At 3 AM, I struggled out of bed and spied the remaining half of the pastry. After I ate it, a miracle happened–I felt so well that I did not want to miss any part of our trip.
HAHAHA! Delightful! Loved the surprise ending to that Paris-Brest pastry! I’m afraid I’d have done the same! Such good intentions!
Too bad, I enjoyed the history and ingredient list….I was looking forward to reading all about every one of those lovely pastries in the window so I could discuss and assess each one “intelligently” before choosing—one. Sigh…
Your chocolate gateau sounds delicious.
Thanks for sharing.
Carla
It seems a shame not to taste once in a while. When I take students to France I take a lot of photos of the lovely pâtisseries and sometimes buy a few as gifts when invited to dinner. That way you share the calories. Macarons are really good in France and one of those wouldn’t throw off your diet too much. They are light, come in many flavors and should not be confused with our American coconut macaroons. I walk a lot more in France than here in NY, so that helps too.
I think the pastry shop above is in Lyon, right? I went there for my birthday with a friend and INDULGED.
How can you live in France and NOT try every one of those incredible pastries!!!?
Next time find a Le Notre and have one for me too.
My favorite is Mille-feuille, and Laduree’s macaroons…they don’t make it out of the shop with me!
Bon chance!
Apparently it is much better for your teeth to eat sugary things all at once!!! 😉
Bring back the Pastry Project!! I am sure your readers can help too but I like most of the others was very excited to read about your idea. here’s hoping that some extra exercise in your routine wills ee you back onto the project in no time.
I wholeheartly agree with the other readers – bring back the Pastry Project! The purpose of dieting and working out is so you can indulge from time to time. You owe it to your loyal readers!
Well, Lyn, I can relate to the Pastry Project! I love Paris-Brest, but my favoriteis yet to be found. My experience is that they LOOK so much better than they taste. So take heart.
However, the French maccaron never disappoints, especially the ones from Laduree. OMG, the flavors are intense and the flower flavors: lavendaer, rose, violet are delicious. And so rich that one at a tim;e is definitely enough. I think the cookies are much better than the pastries, as are the cakes, which yu can always share (or freeze). MUCH better, more intense flavor.
Good luck with those five extra pounds, honey!! Walk, walk, walk.
Linda5051
I visited the “French Boyfriend” in Paris in the Spring of 2001. He always did the trek up the street in the morning to the Patisserie. He would bring back the baguette, the croissants and a couple of fruit tarts each morning. I never went with him, so I really got hooked on the fruit tarts and never saw the other really, really sweet offerings. I liked how the tarts were not sweetened as much as American pies, etc. We would cut the two different fruit tarts in half and each get to sample both with our morning cafe. Lovely…
In 2003, I was adventurous enough to rent an apartment for 3 weeks in Montparnasse in Paris, sans “French Boyfriend,” who is now just a good friend, and lived by myself as a temporary Parisienne in my own neighborhood. The patisserie across the street became my own. I found I was still hooked on the lovely fruit tarts. I especially liked the one with pears. I never had the desire to try the fancy, sugary pastries. Which is odd, because I am a LARGE woman who looks as though I would be eating all of those. Go figure. So, I will enjoy reading other people’s experiences of the richer pastries, but I still dream of the lovely fruit tarts.
And, buy the way, flying back to Houston from my visit in Paris, I opened my beautifully packaged pear tarts; they were wrapped like presents. I ate the two of them during the course of the 10 hour flight back home. Amazing at how some fellow passengers were openly very pleasantly envious of my little treasures.
Heavens, I truly want to go back to France. I was last there in Bretagne in 2004 to stay with friends. I love this Blog. It helps to sustain me until I return. Merci, merci,
Jeanie
A comment from Sybil in Georgia:
Dear Lynne, Since your topic has been on French pastries, I noticed, in a picture of an array of bakery items, a cookie that looked similar to an Italian cookie called pizelle. When my mother-in-law showed me how to make this mouth-watering delight, she used the family iron which consisted of two long handles that held the iron baker on the end. Her iron, which was very old, was stamped on the inside with the family initials, so when the pizelle were finished, they revealed the monogram in the center of the cookie. After she put some dough in the iron, she clamped it shut and held it over an open flame on her gas cooktop. After waiting awhile, she flipped it over, to bake the other side. Then, a few seconds later, the iron was opened and the pizelle was removed. When I asked her how she knew how long to bake it, she said, “Three Hail Mary’s on one side, and three Hail Mary’s on the other!” Boy, we Catholics could get a lot of rosaries said this way! Italians LOVE their cookies, and she shared many wonderful recipes with me. And I love your blog. Keep up the good work. Sybil
Bisoux a Lynn,
Having eaten this scrummy cake chez toi, I’ve found myself dreaming about it in India…so I’ve just printed it out and am about to march into the kitchen to make it. Dare I teach our live-in maid (As my stepmom, you know I’m really not spoiled, but there are some perks to living in Delhi…) how to make it, so I can have it more often?! Or will I hate myself later?!
Thanks for sharing such a do-able and delicious recipe! I’m making it for Jessica’s birthday…
xoKelly