Breton pastries | Brittany tourism

What could be better than a touch of sweetness to round off a meal – or to treat yourself whatever the time of day? In Brittany, cakes and biscuits are known for their key ingredient: butter. Also called “lichouseries” (from the Breton “lichou”, meaning someone with a sweet tooth), Breton pastries and sweetmeats never fail to find their audience.

In the blink of an eye

Kouign-amann

Invented in Douarnenez circa 1865, this is a cake that’s sure to melt every food-lover’s heart. Its ingredients are simple enough but there’s a real knack when it comes to making it: as the saying goes, “anyone can try, few succeed”. It’s composed of bread dough mixed with sugar and salted farmhouse butter, folded over and over again, much as if you were making flaky pastry. When it’s cooking, the butter and sugar mixture melts, providing the cake with a creamy texture inside and a caramelised finish outside. Hard to resist! To enjoy wherever you are in Brittany.

Worth remembering: In Cornouaille, bakers and pastry-makers have formed the “Véritable Kouign Amann de Douarnenez” association with a view to spreading the word on this speciality – a veritable institution!

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Expérience Bretonne - Catamaran (Morgat)
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DEQUIN Nicolas

Far Breton

The second great classic! Its recipe? Easy: flour, eggs, milk (preferably full-fat milk for creaminess), butter and sugar. The whole shebang baked in the oven. Simple, delicious! In its best-known version, it contains prunes, as in bygone days sailors used to bring back dried plums from their voyages and they add a fruity touch to the traditional recipe. Some people add a spot of rum to their far, and even sultanas.

Did you know?

Biscuits have been making a comeback these past few years… So, in addition to well-known industrial brands, Brittany’s artisanal biscuit makers are enjoying ever-increasing popularity thanks to companies who have taken the ambitious path to excellence. If you happen to be on the Guérande peninsula, for example, stop off at the Biscuiterie Saint-Guénolé in Batz-sur-Mer… And if you land on Belle-Ile, head for La Bien Nommée and fill your basket with delicious biscuits – and why not pay a visit to their production workshop while you’re about it?

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Gâteau Breton

Originating in Pays de Lorient, gâteau breton is a dense salted-butter cake, its crust decorated with crisscross patterns made with a fork. In days gone by, it was regarded as a “travel cake” as it could keep for several weeks, making it the sailors’ treat. From 12 to 25 cm in diameter and 3 or 4 cm thick, the cake must be at least 20% butter to earn the name “gâteau breton”. It’s sometimes filled with prune cream, apples or salted butter caramel. Gâteau breton is an emblematic recipe: it’s the subject of numerous competitions and even has its own brotherhood.

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Fouesnant - L'archipel des Glénan - Gâteau breton
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Noémie Lefèvre

Breton biscuits

Great with a cup of coffee or tea, or as a teatime treat for children, Brittany’s many kinds of biscuits are made from simple recipes and ingredients, including the essential salted butter of course! In its most basic version , round, fine, scalloped or otherwise, the galette bretonne (savoury pancake) was made famous by the renowned Galettes de Pont-Aven created by Isidore Penven in 1890. Thinner and crispier than the galette, the punch is a speciality from central Brittany, originating in Uzel in Côtes-d’Armor. The palet breton is a salted-butter biscuit more than a centimetre thick; it was invented in 1920 by Alexis Le Villain, a baker in Pont-Aven, who named it Traou Mad (“good things” in Breton). It owes its name and appearance to the traditional “jeu de palets” game (Breton shuffleboard), which consists of throwing iron “palets” (discs) at a target on a wooden board. Another speciality: the hand-rolled cigarette pur beurre de baratte(pure churned butter cigarette), which led to the creation of the La Trinitaine biscuit factory in 1955.

Fondant baulois

Beneath its thin, slightly meringuey crust, this chocolate fondant cake conceals an inimitable texture with a hint of salted butter caramel. Its red seal is a guarantee of authenticity. In a tip of the hat to La Baule’s emblematic beach huts it comes in a pretty blue and white-striped box.

Crêpe dentelle

Invented in 1886 by the crepe-maker Marie-Catherine Cornic, who forgot a crepe on her billig, the crêpe dentelle (lace crepe) is a light, golden sweetmeat rolled around itself 8 times. A nod and a wink to the traditional 8-count Breton dance, the biscuit is better known under the brand name Gavotte. There are also chocolate- flavoured Gavottes and a savoury version for cocktail hour.

Breton confectionary

Salted butter caramel

It was Henri Le Roux, a chocolatier in Quiberon, who created the recipe for this very successful delicacy in 1977. Semi-salted butter caramel, walnuts, hazelnuts and crushed almonds: CBS® was born and went on to win the “Meilleur Bonbon de France” (France’s Best Sweet) award in 1980. The recipe has given rise to a good many variants and can be enjoyed as a sweet, a topping for crepes and ice creams…or simply by the spoonful!

Niniches

Brittany also has its own artisanal lollipops, known as niniches. In Quiberon, the Maison d’Armorine confectionery company makes some fifty varieties, created from original caramel- and fruit-based recipes. In La Baule, Confiserie Manuel has been making melt-in-the mouth niniches since 1974, stuck on a wooden stick and coming in 20 flavours and colours.