The Summer Olympics are almost here, and while they’re all about sports, athleticism and, well, expending energy, there are those of us for whom the Paris Games bring to mind something else entirely: pastries.
Anyone who has walked into a patisserie at home or abroad — or watched “The Great British Baking Show” — knows how renowned France is for all manner of baked goods. Whether everyday baguettes or showstopping entremets (look them up!), French sweet and savory specialties could easily sweep the gold, silver and bronze medals in many of our hearts, and stomachs.
So to honor this heritage and these Olympic Games, we decided to pair 10 of the featured sports with the pastries that best represent them. Yes, it’s silly and subjective. Yes, we’re okay with that. So if baking and eating are your spectator sports of choice, join us on this culinary tour through France.
(Amber Day for The Washington Post)
Cream puff and Basketball 3×3
Like several other pastries here, cream puffs rely on choux pastry (pâte à choux), a dough briefly cooked in a pot and then beaten to incorporate the eggs that give it its lift. To assemble the cream puffs, the baked spheres are typically split or hollowed out and then filled with custard, whipped cream or another filling, such as ice cream, as in the case of profiteroles. The cream puff is closely related to the religieuse, which stacks two cream-filled, ganache-topped choux buns.
Madeleine and Rugby Sevens
Memorialized by French novelist Marcel Proust as something that can evoke a long-lost memory, these dainty sweets are an ideal accompaniment to tea or coffee, and may even be dipped in the hot beverage. While sized more like a cookie, madeleines are small, spongy cakes that can be flavored simply with vanilla or modified to incorporate fruit, coffee, chocolate and more. Their scalloped shape comes from a specialized pan, and while not mandatory, some bakers use melted chocolate or another glaze and a sprinkle of toppings for extra flair. The goal is to achieve a crispy exterior and moist interior along with the coveted bump that forms on the side opposite the scallop.
Croquembouche and Sport Climbing
Croquembouche takes cream puffs to the next level. The puffs are filled with custard or whipped cream and then assembled into a showstopping tower using a cone-shaped mold. Caramel holds the cream puffs in place, and spun sugar adds even more decorative flair. A croquembouche is a festive holiday centerpiece for Christmas or New Year’s celebrations, though it may also appear at other big occasions, such as weddings.
Éclair and Artistic Gymnastics
Similar to cream puffs, éclairs are based on choux pastry. But instead of getting shaped into balls, the dough is piped into a smooth or fluted line to form an oblong. To gild the lily, éclairs get both a sweet icing and filling, typically a pastry cream or crème pâtissière in French. To evenly distribute the filling, pastry chefs often pipe it into the baked shell in several places along the bottom as opposed to just through one end.
Le Paris-Brest and Cycling — Track
A pastry with a legitimate sports connection! Pastry chef Louis Durand created this ring-shaped treat in 1910 to promote a bike race between Paris and Brest, a city in the Brittany region of northwest France. So, yes, it resembles a bike wheel. The foundation is a circle of nut-laced choux pastry that’s baked, cut in half and filled with a pastry cream enriched with a hazelnut-caramel praline paste, though contemporary riffs often employ other flavors. (Some versions also include a thin inner pastry ring set into the filling.) In addition to the expected large-format Paris-Brest, you may also find single-serving versions.
Galette des Rois and Trampoline
This round cake fills bakery cases before and after Christmas, as it’s a traditional dessert during Twelfth Night festivities in the lead-up to Epiphany on Jan. 6. The version of galette des rois, or king cake, seen here consists of two layers of puff pastry encasing an almond cream. While it’s relatively simple in presentation, decorative scalloping around the edges and scoring on top add visual appeal. Like an American king cake, the galette des rois often contains a hidden bean or token (fève), intended to convey good luck to the person who finds it.
Macaron and Athletics — Discus
These colorful sandwiches consist of small, round cookies made with beaten egg whites, sugar and ground nuts, often almonds, held together by a smooth filling, such as buttercream or ganache. The flavors and colors of the cookies and fillings span the rainbow and may feature chocolate, fruit, caramel, liqueur, florals and more. The mark of an excellent macaron is the “pied,” or little foot, around the bottom edge. Paris-based macaron boutique Ladurée helped turn these gemlike treats into a worldwide phenomenon.
Mille-Feuille and Diving
This composed dessert is dressed to impress. Fittingly translating to “thousand layers,” a mille-feuille, also known as a Napoleon, typically features at least three layers of flaky puff pastry (each of which boasts numerous layers) alternating with pastry cream or whipped cream. Chocolate or fruit may be incorporated into the fillings or toppings, and the decor on top can be as simple as dusted confectioners’ sugar or as eye-catching as two-tone vanilla and chocolate icings swirled into a pattern.
Croissant and Weightlifting
Funnily enough, many argue that the origins of the flaky, buttery croissant lie in Austria, either from the crescent-shaped kipfel (or kipferl) cookie or as a commemoration of a 17th-century Austrian victory over the Ottomans (whose flag, along with the current Turkish flag, sported a crescent). Regardless, there’s no question that 19th-century French bakers helped make the croissant what it is today, a treat made with laminated pastry formed by building layers of yeasted dough and butter through a series of folds and turns. Pain au chocolat, pain au raisin and filled almond croissants are all close relatives.
Financier and Equestrian
Like madeleines, financiers are small cakes that eat like a cookie. According to lore, these sweets, made of browned butter and ground almonds, came to be in 19th-century Paris as an on-the-go indulgence for bankers — hence, the common rectangular shape that resembles a gold bar. You can also find versions baked in mini-muffin tins to achieve small rounds. A good financier, with a crisp exterior and tender interior, needs no additional ingredients or adornment, but they can be dressed up with pieces of fruit or chocolate, as well as sliced or chopped nuts and melted chocolate.
