83 Fantastic French Pastries Names With Meanings

Anusuya Mukherjee
Jan 15, 2024 By Anusuya Mukherjee
Originally Published on May 30, 2022
Edited by Shadiya Ahammad
Fact-checked by Pratiti Nath
Famous French pastries names are of great interest to pastry chefs across the world.
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Age: 0-99
Read time: 8.5 Min

Because of their fluffy and delicate texture, French pastries are widely enjoyed around the world.

Patissiers prepare them with a magical blend of different ingredients such as ice cream, whipped cream, custard cream, egg whites, shortcrust pastry, almond paste, and more. This delicacy is abundant in the rich French cuisine, and you may not be aware of all of them.

Some of the French pastries are more of a local domain, while others are relished globally across pâtisseries. There is éclair, macaron, choux pastry, croissants, and various different desserts that can be created using the recipes original to the country.

If you want to open a shop selling caramel praline, flan, or madeleines or any other French food, you must know the elegant French pastries name starting with S and square french pastries name starting with N.

Breakfast French Pastries Names

What else can be a better occasion to relish the buttery chunks of Brioche or croissants? Here are some incredible french pastries that are awesome for your mornings! 

Abricots a L’anglaise is also called apricot log, since the pastry is served with a handsome coat of apricot jam, along with tea.

Apricot Tarte is a flat pastry layer that is topped with apricots or other fruits. It also flaunts a nice custard layer between the fruit and the pastry.

Baba Au Rhum (French origin) is often regarded as a classic French dessert.

Beignets are square French pastries that are sprinkled with sugar and catered hot.

Brasille is another flaky, crunchy, and buttery option you can have for your traditional French breakfast.

Brioche is sort of bread bun, having a golden tint and a glazed exterior.

Buche De Noel (French origin) is a cake which is considered a Christmas staple in France.

Canele (French origin) is a small French cake enjoyed by all.

Chausson Aux Pommes meaning an apple slipper, is a glossy pastry with apple filling, with a balanced sweet and savory taste.

Cherry Frangipane Galette is another French dessert that makes the lavish and posh use of cherries.

Chocolate Mousse would never fail to impress even those who pretend to scorn chocolate.

Crepes are the most versatile grub. You can experiment with them your way and serve them with anything you please such as Nutella, fruits, or just dust with some sugar!

Croissants are another most popular pastry devoured across the globe for their unique, flaky, and versatile taste.

Dacquoise (French origin) is a traditional cake from southern France.

Eclair is an oblong pastry with a strikingly glossy appearance and crispy and creamy texture traditionally enjoyed for breakfast. One of the best French desserts.

Fiadone (French origin) is a Corsican French tart that is popular as a dessert.

Frence Flan (French origin) is a classical variant of the crème brulee.

Fruit Clafoutis is a dessert that lies somewhere between a pancake, custard, and cake, and is extremely delicious.

Fruit Galette is another French Pastry dessert that involves fruits in its makings.

Gateau St. Honore (French origin) is a famous dessert cake in France

Gibassier is a French pastry with a unique, tangy flavor of oranges and is typically enjoyed for breakfast.

Gougère is cheesy puffs forged from choux dough, and are either served cold or at room temperature.

Jalousies is another simple pastry hailing from France that has a stuffing of apple puree or jam.

Kugelhopf (French origin) is a traditional cake loaded with raisins.

Madeliene (French origin) this famous French cake dates back to the 18th century.

Meringues have a crispy exterior and a chewy, sweet core to delight your mouth.

Niflette is a French pastry that is a blend of pastry cream and puff pastry.

Pain au Chocolat is a type of croissant puff pastry with a thick load of chocolate spread over it. The puff pastry is prepared with butter and sugar.

Pain aux Raisins are somewhat shell-shaped spirals quite similar to croissants, and are also called escargot aux raisins.

Paris-Brest is another decadent French treat. Paris Brest has a hazelnut and almond mousseline cream filling inside.

Pastis Landais is another golden yellow French pastry legend for breakfast.

Piece Montee (French origin) is essentially a dough pastry pyramid.

Profiterole will make your breakfast a heavenly moment when you chomp a bite of this custard-filled and chocolate-wreathed delicacy.

Puits d’amour is another traditional baked pastry relished in the country.

Tarte Tatin is a kind of apple tart. Tarte Tatin is usually served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

French Pastries Names Starting With S

Here is a curated list of French pastry names starting with S. Read on!

Savarin is a ring cake soaked with distinct alcoholic blends invented by Julien Brothers.

Semolina Pudding originated in the Roman era and is served with cinnamon, powdered sugar, raisins, or cocoa powder.

Soufflé is another traditional French delicacy is flavored with different fruits and jams.

Soufflé Rothschild is another soft delicacy from France started by Marie-Antoine Creme.

Sponge Cake is a cake that comes in diverse varieties such as Plava, trifle, and Angel food cake.

St Honoré is a dessert made of choux dough with a glaze of crunchy caramel crust, while it is filled with creme chiboust.

Strawberry Clafouti is another French dessert with a crispy and creamy body, scented with vanilla essence.

Strawberry tart (Tarte aux Fraises) is another French dessert you will find irresistible to skip.

Sundae is an ice cream dessert that comes with different toppings such as cherries, peanuts, marshmallows, etc.

Swiss Roll is also called a cream roll, Swiss log, or jelly roll. Whatever you call it, the taste will always flatter you.

Best French baked pastries are enjoyed by all food lovers across the world.

French Pastries Names Starting With N

It can never be that your eyes notice an Eclair or macaron and your mouth doesn’t water craving for it. With few ingredients, coats, and fillings, bakers can get you into a paradise of taste. Here is a list of such yummy French pastries that start with the alphabet N.

Napolean Cake is a multilayer cake that has ultra-thin and flaky layers with coats of pastry cream and icing.

Neapolitan Ice Cream also called Harlequin ice cream originated in Naples.

Nectarine Blueberry Cake is another dessert that can make your day!

Nectarine-Vanilla Bean Scones will crank up your breakfast coffee sips with their glazed scones stuffed with nectarines.

Nesselrode Pudding is a Victorian soft dessert that is also presented with Viennese biscuits or shortbread.

Norman Tart is a French pastry stuffed with almond bits, apples, and sugar.

Nougat is a chew patisserie product containing sugar, roasted nuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and more.

Nougat is a chewy and sweet grub that contains nuts, honey, sugar, and much more.

Nut Bread is sweet and soft which gives a nutty crunch to each bite you take.

Nutty Brownie is a name that will just make you drool by the mere mention of it.

Square French Pastries Names

The art of French Pastries is nearly inimitable and requires great expertise to blend butter, egg, sugar, creme, and other ingredients into a magical dessert, we famously call pastry. Here is a list of square French pastries names you should know.

Apple Tart Tatin is another French dessert with zesty lime tang often served with Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream.

Babas au Rhum is baked from the yeast-risen dough. The cake is topped with dry fruits and is dunked in warm rum syrup.

Breton Butter Cake is a classic Brittany dish that has a spiral look featuring sugar and butter in it. Often whipped cream or berries may be used to decorate the dessert before serving it.

Canelé is a dessert with a filling of custard, typically served with red wine.

Chausson aux Pommes is a puffy dessert with a stuffing of apple, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter.

Cherry Clafoutis is a traditional French cake, also called Clafouti aux Cerises.

Chouquettes are funky yet lavish-looking pastry spheres.

Éclair au Chocolat is a classic choux pastry known for its creamy texture and lightening glaze.

Financier is rectangular delicacies that have a tad crisp exterior and fluffy with a flavor of beurre noisette.

Jésuite is another heavenly delicacy that is covered with almond bits and dusted sugar.

Kouign Amann means cake of butter in the Breton language. Kouign Amann belongs to the world of the croissant family.

Lemon Tart is a quintessential French grub that is best served with Chantilly cream. This flaky and tad sweet pastry is available at every cafe and patisserie throughout the year.

Les Gâteaux is another fruity sweet you can’t take your eyes off the patisserie.

Les Viennoiseries are a class of French desserts made with yeast dough, that gives them a fluffy and flaky texture.

Madeleine is a petite spongy cake with a peculiar shell frame, often with a tang of lemon.

Mille-feuille literally means a thousand leaves, Mille-feuille is a name that aptly suits its light ultra-thin- layers structure.

Opera Cake is a heavenly dish with rich layers of dark chocolate ganache and buttercream.

Opera is fundamentally a cake that has an immodest layer of coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache on top of the almond sponge.

Orangettes is another decadent French treat that is basically an orange peel dunked into chocolate.

Pain au chocolat is a square-shaped croissant with a chocolate core. Pain au chocolat can be dusted with powdered sugar.

Pain aux raisins also known as escargot is a buttery delicacy featuring raisins in it.

Palmier also called French heart or elephant ear will give your tongue a caramelized crunch in its bite. The traditionally prepared caramelized flavor is famous for being light and delicious.

Paris-Brest is a choux pastry ring sliced horizontally to be filled with praline-flavored creme and topped with almonds.

Parisien Flan is a dish originally created in Rome, and was adopted by the French who made their version of it.

Pâte à Choux is another light, crunchy, and flaky traditional French pastry popular across the world.

Pears Belle Helene is a dinner party celebrity dish garnished with cinnamon flavor.

Religieuse is a kind of profiterole tower where a small one is balanced on the head of a bigger one. Religieuse essentially features two choux pastry filled with crème pâtissière.

St Honoré is a French dessert that flaunts a crunchy caramel top and creme chantilly on the inside.

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Written by Anusuya Mukherjee

Bachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

Anusuya Mukherjee picture

Anusuya MukherjeeBachelor of Arts and Law specializing in Political Science and Intellectual Property Rights

With a wealth of international experience spanning Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, Anusuya brings a unique perspective to her work as a Content Assistant and Content Updating Coordinator. She holds a law degree from India and has practiced law in India and Kuwait. Anusuya is a fan of rap music and enjoys a good cup of coffee in her free time. Currently, she is working on her novel, "Mr. Ivory Merchant".

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Fact-checked by Pratiti Nath

Bachelor of Science specializing in Microbiology, Masters of Science specializing in Biotechnology

Pratiti Nath picture

Pratiti NathBachelor of Science specializing in Microbiology, Masters of Science specializing in Biotechnology

A Master's in Biotechnology from Presidency University and a Bachelor's in Microbiology from Calcutta University. Pratiti holds expertise in writing science and healthcare articles, and their inputs and feedback help writers create insightful content. They have interests in heritage, history, and climate change issues and have written articles for various websites across multiple subjects. Their experience also includes working with eco-friendly startups and climate-related NGOs.

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