4 French Bakeries to Visit in Boston

If you haven’t noticed this is French week on the blog in commemoration of my beautiful trip to Paris a year ago!  I started the week with the best methods to learn French and now I am combining my hometown with my hearttown and sharing my favorite French bakeries in Boston!

Cafe Madeleine

I had to start on my French bakery trek with a trip to Cafe Madeleine for, you guessed it, a croissant.  I have heard rave reviews about the croissants at Cafe Madeleine and so I went in knowing exactly what I was going to get.  I ended up getting it as a sandwich with ham and swiss and that croissant did not disappoint.  It was perfectly flaky and buttery and the only thing that would’ve made it better was if it would’ve been hot.  The cafe has a strict policy about using cameras inside so I snapped what I could of the inside with my camera phone.  I love how there is a glass window where you can see the bakers making all the delicious pastries.  If you find yourself grabbing a quick snack in the South End definitely stop into Cafe Madeleine to give it a try!

 

Tous Les Jours

 This small little shop that has a blend of French and Korean pastries.  I was with my family when visiting the cafe and so I got to try quite a few things!  It was lunch time so I had a pork rib sandwich which had good flavor.  It was a little on the peppery side but still good.

Then we dove into the pastries.  Many of the pastries are an amazing blend of the tastes of France and Korea.  We tried classic macarons, Milky Bread, Chocolate Shell Bread, and Honey Toast.   For the macarons we had coffee, chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla.  They were all very delicious.  Sometimes I don’t love macarons because they can be very sweet but these were not overly sweet at all!  The chocolate had a good amount of milk chocolately filling and my favorite was the coffee! The Chocolate shell bread was filled with a DELICIOUS chocolate mousse.  It was so smooth and lightly flavored and the bread is soft and sweet. Perfect combination.  The Honey Toast was similar to a french toast but with a strong honey flavor to it instead of cinnamon.  It was good but I would love to taste when it’s warm.  I think that would take it over the top.  The Milky Bread was by far my favorite.  It almost tasted like a sweetened croissant.  It’s huge and killed pretty much the whole thing by myself.  I had it with a hot vanilla latte and it was just heaven!  This was by far my favorite bakery for their variety and overall deliciousness!

 

Patisserie on Newbury

Patisserie, I just love that word and I just loved the setting of this Newbury St cafe.  This is a great little lunch spot as they have lots of deli options.  I decided to stick with pastries and go traditionally French so I tried this pretty little lemon charlotte.  If you love lemon cake this is the dessert for you! Perfect blend of sweet and tart.

Next time I go back I would definitely like to try the a savory breakfast pastry or something from the deli as this bakery has lots of very traditionally French treats!  They also have a small outside sitting area that is perfect for a sunny day with a coffee and a pastry and really good book!

 

Finesse Pastries

Finesse is located inside of the Boston Public Market and they specialize mainly in French macarons so of course I had to try some here as well.  I also decided to get a cream puff.  The cream puff was less like the French equivalent, a profiterole, and more like a classic Italian dessert topped with rich dark chocolate.  The dough was not too sweet but the pastry cream inside was delicious.  Not so much pastry cream but more of the classic Chantilly cream known to French desserts.  It was perfect.

The macarons were a little more like an American version of a macaron than a classic french one in that they were very sweet and brightly colored.  They were a little more like eating cake and the outer shell separated fro the macaron a little too easily.  I tried four flavors.  Watermelon which tasted more like a sweet cream that was decorated to look like watermelon, Chocolate which a yummy gooey dark chocolate, Rose which definitely tasted very floral and rose-like, and Blueberry Pie a la mode which was my favorite.  It tasted like ice cream!  I’m sure their flavors change all the time but if you are ever taking a stroll through the Boston Public Market, making sure to grab the Blueberry macaron for dessert!

 

Boston may be a big jump over the pond from beautiful Paris but we have some lovely classic (and not so classic) French bakeries that will having you dreaming of a walk down the Seine!

Have you been to Boston?  Do you live here?  What are your favorite bakeries to visit and what’s your favorite treat?