List of French desserts Facts for Kids

Desserts in Paris are often beautiful works of art!

France is famous for its amazing food, and especially its delicious desserts and pastries! These sweet treats are a big part of French cuisine. In France, a special chef who makes all these yummy desserts and pastries is called a pâtissier. They are super skilled at creating everything from delicate cakes to crispy cookies.

Delicious French Desserts
Popular French Pastries
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Delicious French Desserts

Clafoutis is a baked French dessert, usually made with black cherries and a thick, flan-like batter.

Crème brûlée has a creamy custard base with a crunchy caramel topping.

French desserts are known worldwide for being fancy and tasty. Here are some popular ones you might enjoy:

Angel wings - These are light, crispy fried pastries, often dusted with powdered sugar.
Calisson - A traditional candy from Aix-en-Provence, made from candied fruit and ground almonds.
Charlotte - A dessert made with ladyfingers or sponge cake around a filling, often fruit or cream.
Clafoutis - A baked dessert with fruit, usually black cherries, covered in a thick, pancake-like batter.
Coconut cake - A sweet cake flavored with coconut.
Crème brûlée - A creamy custard with a hard, crunchy caramel layer on top. You crack the caramel with a spoon!
Crème caramel - Similar to crème brûlée, but with a soft caramel sauce on top.
Crêpe Suzette - Thin pancakes served with a sauce of caramelized sugar, butter, orange juice, and orange zest.
Croissant - While often eaten for breakfast, some croissants are sweet and can be a dessert.
Croquembouche - A tall cone of cream puffs glued together with caramel. It's often served at weddings!
Custard tart - A pastry shell filled with a creamy custard.
Dariole - A small, cylinder-shaped mold used for baking desserts.
Dame blanche - A dessert with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and warm chocolate sauce.
Éclair - A long pastry made with choux dough, filled with cream, and topped with icing.
Flaugnarde - Like a clafoutis, but made with different fruits, often apples or plums.
Floating island - A dessert with light meringue "islands" floating on a creamy vanilla sauce.
Galette des Rois - Also known as Kings' cake. This special cake is traditionally eaten in early January. It often has a small charm hidden inside!
Kouign-amann - A round, crusty cake from Brittany, made with layers of butter and sugar.
Macaron - A colorful, delicate sandwich cookie with a creamy filling. They come in many flavors!
Marjolaine - A fancy layered cake with different nut meringues and creams.
Mousse - A light and airy dessert, often chocolate or fruit flavored.
Mendiant - A chocolate disc topped with nuts and dried fruits, representing different monastic orders.
Mont Blanc - A dessert made of sweetened chestnut purée, shaped like a mountain, often with whipped cream.
Norman Tart - A tart from the Normandy region, often made with apples.
Opera cake - A rich, layered almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache.
Pain d'épices - A type of gingerbread or spice bread.
Paris-Brest - A round pastry made of choux dough, filled with praline-flavored cream. It looks like a bicycle wheel!
Pêche Melba - A dessert with peaches, raspberry sauce, and vanilla ice cream.
Pièce montée - A large, decorative pyramid of pastries, often cream puffs, used for celebrations.
Poire à la Beaujolaise - Pears poached in Beaujolais wine.
Poire belle Hélène - Pears poached in sugar syrup, served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
Pot de crème - A loose, creamy custard dessert, often served in small pots.
Pralines - A sweet candy made from nuts (like almonds or hazelnuts) coated in caramelized sugar.
Profiterole - A small, hollow pastry filled with cream or ice cream, often topped with chocolate sauce.
Riz à l'impératrice - A fancy rice pudding dessert with candied fruit.
Soufflé - A light, airy baked dish that puffs up when cooked, can be sweet or savory.
Tarte conversation - A tart with a puff pastry crust and an almond cream filling.
Tarte Tatin - An "upside-down" apple tart where the apples are caramelized before baking.
Teurgoule - A traditional rice pudding from Normandy, baked slowly until it's thick and creamy.
Yule log - A cake shaped and decorated to look like a log, traditionally eaten around Christmas.

Popular French Pastries

An assortment of petit fours, which are small, bite-sized treats.

Religieuse pastries are made from two cream-filled choux pastry cases.

French pastries are often delicate and beautiful, perfect for a snack or a special treat. Many are made with flaky dough or light choux pastry.

Angel wings - Light, fried dough, often sweet.
Baba au rhum - A small yeast cake soaked in rum syrup.
Beignet - A type of fried dough, often square-shaped, and usually dusted with powdered sugar.
Bichon au citron - A pastry with a lemon filling.
Brioche - A rich, buttery bread that's often slightly sweet.
Canelé - A small pastry from Bordeaux with a soft, custardy center and a dark, caramelized crust.
Chouquette - Small, hollow choux pastry puffs, often topped with pearl sugar.
Coussin de Lyon - A specialty candy from Lyon, shaped like a cushion, with chocolate ganache inside.
Croissant - A buttery, flaky, crescent-shaped pastry.
Croquembouche - A tall cone of cream puffs, often used as a centerpiece.
Croustade - A pastry shell that can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients.
Divorcé - A pastry made of two choux pastry pieces separated by vanilla cream.
Éclair - A long, cream-filled pastry with icing.
Financier - A small almond cake, often shaped like a gold bar.
Gâteau à la broche - A cake cooked on a spit, creating many layers.
Gougère - A savory choux pastry puff, often flavored with cheese.
Jésuite - A triangular puff pastry filled with frangipane (almond cream).
Macaron - A small, colorful sandwich cookie.
Madeleine - A small, shell-shaped sponge cake.
Mille-feuille - A pastry with many layers of puff pastry and cream, also known as a "Napoleon."
Nonnette (dessert) - A small gingerbread cake, often with an orange marmalade filling.
Pain au chocolat - A sweet roll with one or two pieces of chocolate inside. In some parts of France, it's called Chocolatine!
Pain aux raisins - A swirl-shaped pastry with raisins and custard.
Palmier - A crispy, flaky pastry shaped like a palm leaf or heart.
Paris–Brest - A round choux pastry filled with praline cream.
Petit four - Tiny, bite-sized cakes or pastries.
Puits d'amour - A small pastry with a crispy crust and a creamy filling.
Religieuse - A pastry made of two cream-filled choux pastry cases, stacked to look like a nun.
Savarin - A ring-shaped cake soaked in rum syrup.
St. Honoré cake - A fancy cake with a puff pastry base, choux pastry, and cream.
Tarte des Alpes - A tart from the Alps region.
Tarte Tropézienne - A brioche filled with cream, from Saint-Tropez.
Tuile - A thin, crispy cookie, often shaped like a roof tile.
Viennoiserie - A category of baked goods that are like pastries, often made with a rich dough, like croissants and pain au chocolat.
Vitréais - A pastry from Vitré, in Brittany.