List of French desserts

Desserts in Paris

This is a list of French desserts, sweet pastries and cakes that come from French cuisine. In France, a chef who prepares desserts, cakes and sweet pastries is called a pâtissier, who is part of a kitchen hierarchy in French cuisine termed brigade de cuisine (kitchen staff). In France, both the bakery and the goods they make are called Pâtisserie, although simple rustic goods are made at home.

A to C

Name Image Course Description Reference
Baba au rhum Dessert A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in syrup made with alcohol, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. [1]
Beignet Breakfast / dessert / snack A deep-fried dessert or snack made from either choux pastry, rice flour or a yeast leavened batter. [2][3]
Bichon au citron Breakfast / dessert / snack A puff pastry turnover filled with lemon curd. [4]
Biscuit rose de Reims Biscuit/Cookie A pink biscuit used in French pâtisserie, including Charlotte. [5]
Bombe Alaska Dessert A cake of ice cream and meringue [6]
Bombe glacée Dessert An ice cream dessert frozen in a spherical mould so as to resemble a cannonball, hence the name ice cream bomb [7]
Bûche de Noël Dessert / snack A Christmas cake made up of a rolled sponge filled with a buttercream or ganache, and then covered by the same ingredients to resemble a log. [8]
Bugnes Dessert / snack Similar to a Beignet [9]
Café liégeois Dessert A French cold dessert made from lightly sweetened coffee, coffee-flavoured ice cream and Chantilly cream [10]
Calisson Dessert A French candy that is consumed as part of the 13 desserts of Christmas [11]
Canelé Breakfast / dessert / snack A pâtisserie made with a batter, rum and vanilla. It has a soft and tender, custardy centre and a dark, thick, caramelized crust [12]
Charlotte Dessert Classed as a Bread pudding or an icebox cake, either Bread, sponge cake, crumbs or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mould, which filled with fruit puree or custard, and then baked. [13]
Chichis fregis Snack A type of donut shaped similar to a Churros. [14]
Chouquette Breakfast / snack Small pieces of Coux pastry, sugared and baked. [15]
Clafoutis Dessert / breakfast A baked dish made with sour cherries and batter [16]
Compôte Dessert Fruit stewed in water with sugar and spice [17]
Crème bavaroise Dessert A dessert consisting of an egg-based cooked custard and gelatin or isinglass, into which whipped cream is folded. [18]
Crème brûlée Dessert A rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. [19]
Crème caramel Dessert A custard dessert with a layer of clear caramel sauce. [20]
Crème chiboust Dessert A type of crème pâtissière. Sometimes called Crème Saint Honoré. [21]
Crêpes sucrées Dessert A dessert made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle [22]
Crêpe Suzette Dessert A dessert consisting of crêpes with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier, triple sec or orange Curaçao liqueur on top, flambéed tableside [23]
Croquembouche Dessert Dessert consisting of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. [24]
Croustade Dessert / snack French fruit pies or tarts [25]

D to G

Name Image Course Description Reference
Dacquoise Dessert A dessert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. The term dacquoise can also refer to the nut meringue layer itself. [26]
Dame blanche Dessert An ice-cream sundae created by Auguste Escoffier [27]
Dariole Dessert A French term for a small culinary mold in the shape of a truncated cone used in making desserts, but also can be used to name the dishes made inside the molds. [28]
Diplomate au Bavarois Dessert A cold dessert prepared in a mold, made with Creme bavaroise [29]
Divorcé Dessert / snack Two choux pastry balls, one filled with chocolate, the other with coffee flavoured pastry cream, are joined together and covered with corresponding fondant icing and a piping of pastry cream to separate the two different balls. [30]
Éclair

Dessert / snack A choux dough in an oblong shape, filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. [31]
Far Breton Dessert / snack A cake or dessert made with a batter similar to Clafoutis, normally with prunes or raisins. [32]
Fraisier Dessert A celebratory strawberry cake. [33]
Financier Dessert / snack A small French almond cake, flavoured with beurre noisette, usually baked in a small mold. [34][35]
Flan pâtissier/parisien Dessert / snack A baked tart consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with custard [36]
Flaugnarde Dessert A baked dessert with fruit arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick batter. [37]
Galette des Rois A flaky puff pastry traditionally filled with frangipane. [38]
Gâteau à la broche Dessert / snack A cake made with butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in the oven or over an open fire [39]
Gâteau opéra Dessert A cake made with layers of almond sponge cake (known as Joconde in French) soaked in coffee syrup (or Grand Marnier), layered with ganache and coffee-flavoured French buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze [40][41]
Gâteau des rois

Dessert / snack A crown-shaped brioche dough decorated with candied fruit and coarse sugar. [42]
Gâteau St-Honoré Dessert A dessert made of a circle of shortcrust pastry at its base with a ring of pâte à choux piped on the outer edge. Baked choux puffs are dipped in caramelized sugar and attached side by side on top of the circle of the pâte à choux. [43]
Gâteau au yaourt Breakfast/ snack A yoghurt cake [44]

H to M

Name Image Course Description Reference
Jésuite Snack A triangular, puff pastry filled with frangipane cream and topped with sliced almonds and sugar. [45]
île flottante Dessert A dessert consisting of soft meringue floating on crème anglaise [46]
Kouign-amann Dessert / snack A sweet, round laminated dough baked product, originally made with bread dough, but is also made with laminated viennoiserie dough, containing layers of butter and incorporated sugar. [47]
Macaron Dessert / snack A sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, ground almond, and often food colouring, often filled with a ganache, buttercream or jam. [48]
Madeleine Snack Small sponge cakes with a distinctive scallop-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. [49]
Marjolaine Dessert A dessert of Dacquoise meringue layers with chocolate buttercream [50]
Mendiant upright=0 5 Dessert A traditional French confection composed of a chocolate disk studded with nuts and dried fruits representing the four mendicant religious orders, eaten as part of the 13 desserts for Christmas [51]
Meringue Dessert A dessert made with whipped egg whites and sugar. [52]
Mille-feuille upright=0 5 Dessert A puff pastry layered with pastry cream. [53]
Mont Blanc Dessert A dessert of sweetened chestnut purée in the form of vermicelli, topped with whipped cream. [54]
Mousse Dessert A dessert made with flavoured whipped cream. [55]

N to P

Name Image Course Description Reference
pouding à la Nesselrode Dessert A chestnut-based frozen dessert [56][57]
Nonnette (dessert) Dessert / snack A small gingerbread cake made of honey, rye flour, and usually filled with orange marmalade or honey. [58]
Oreilette Dessert A fried sweet fritter made with dough, part of the 13 desserts of Christmas and Mardi Gras. [59]
Pain d'épices Dessert / snack A spiced cake, part of the French baking category of Gateau de Voyage. It is made with rye flour, honey and spices. It is the closest French dish to a Gingerbread. [60]
Pain perdu Dessert / snack A dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and often milk or cream, then pan-fried, known as French Toast in English [61]
Paris–Brest Dessert A choux pastry filled with a praline flavoured cream and covered with flaked almonds. [62]
Pêche Melba Dessert A dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream [63]
Petit four Dessert A small bite-sized confectionery, pâtisserie or savory appetiser. [64]
Plombières upright:0.5 Dessert An almond extract ice cream , flavored with kirsch and candied fruit [65]
Profiterole Dessert A filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. [66]
Poire à la Beaujolaise Dessert A dessert of pears poached in red wine. [67]
Poire belle Hélène Dessert A dessert of pears poached in a sugar syrup served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. [68]
Pot de crème Dessert A dessert of baked custard. [69]
Puits d'amour Dessert A French pâtisserie made with puff pastry with a hollow center filled with redcurrant jelly or raspberry jam. [70]

Q to Z

Name Image Course Description Reference
Quatre-quarts Snack A creamed sponge or pound cake. [71]
Queyras pie Snack, dessert A tart filled with jam and covered with lattice patterns of pastry, similar to a Tarte de Alpes. [72]
Religieuse Dessert A dessert made of a small choux pastry case stacked on top of a larger one, both filled with crème pâtissière, commonly flavoured with chocolate or mocha [73]
Riz à l'impératrice Dessert An elaborate molded version of a rice pudding [74]
Roulé à la cannelle Snack A cinnamon roll [75]
Savarin Dessert A cake similar to a Baba au Rum [76]
Soufflé Main, Dessert A baked egg dish. [77]
Tarte des Alpes upright=0 5 Snack, dessert A tart filled with jam and covered with lattice patterns of pastry. [78]
Tarte à l'badrée Dessert A type of custard tart. [79]
Tarte à la brimbelle Dessert A blueberry tart [80]
Tarte à la châtaigne Dessert A sweet chestnut pie from Cevennes d'ardeche [81]
Tarte au citron Dessert A Dessert tart made shortcrust pastry and a lemon curd. [82]
Tarte conversation Dessert A type of tart made with puff pastry that is filled with frangipane cream and topped with royal icing. [83]
Tarte aux mirabelles Dessert A sweet French tart, combining pastry and mirabelle plum. [84]
Tarte Normande Dessert / snack A shortcrust pastry variant of the apple tart made in Normandy, filled with apple, sliced almonds and sugar, topped with creamy egg custard and baked until the topping is slightly caramelised. [85]
Tarte Tatin Dessert A tart in which the fruit (usually apples) is caramelized]l in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. [86]
Tarte Tropézienne Dessert A dessert viennoiserie consisting of a halved brioche filled with a mix of two creams, thick crème pâtissière and buttercream. [87]
Teurgoule Dessert A rice pudding that is a speciality of Lower Normandy. [88]
Tuile Dessert A baked wafer served as an accompaniment of other dishes. [89]
Vitréais Snack, dessert A sponge layer cake made of apples with salted butter caramel, eggs and almonds. [90]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rum babas". BBC Food. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  2. ↑ Davidson, Alan (1999). Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780192115799.
  3. ↑ Goldstein, Darra (May 1, 2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. pp. 226, 478, 654. ISBN 9780199313617.
  4. ↑ "Bichons au citron". Marmiton.org (in French). Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "The Biscuit Rose". Chalons en Champagne. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "L'omelette norvégienne : un parfum d'Alaska – Ça m'intéresse". Ça m'intéresse – La curiosité en continu (in French). 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  7. ↑ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004-12-29). Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-45572-9.
  8. ↑ "The Food Timeline--Christmas food history". www.foodtimeline.org. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  9. ↑ "It's Mardi Gras…Let's eat Bugnes!". Taste of Savoie. 21 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Café liégeois | Traditional Dessert From France | TasteAtlas". www.tasteatlas.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
  11. ↑ "Christmas Dessert : a Provençal tradition rooted in families". Office de Tourisme Loisirs & Congres Marseille. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Aquitaine: produits du terroir et recettes traditionnelles (in French). Vol. 13. A. Michel. 1997. ISBN 9782226087225.
  13. ↑ "La Charlotte, le dessert anglais adoré des Français". Marie Claire (in French). 31 October 2017. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  14. ↑ "Les chichis fregis". Office de tourisme Loisirs & Congres Marseille. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
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  19. ↑ Ayto, John (2012). The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink. Oxford University Press. pp. 103. ISBN 978-0199640249.
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