By Julie Jerbet

Paris is experiencing a revival of interest in the sweet thing. After wine cellars, sweet stores seem to be the latest fad of fashionable chefs. Although, more than just an idea, the craze for these reassuring "cuddly foods" in this troubled era seems to be on the way to lasting success. Accessible - you can buy a "chou" or a piece of flan, however luxurious it may be, for a few euros -, irresistible, "instagrammable", pastries, "croissant" and other "rum babas" never cease to feed the imagination of chefs. Where, a few years ago, the fashion was for "jewellery pastries" and where the slightest cake liked to take itself for a trompe l'oeil, sublime, coldness, almost too beautiful to be ate, the era has changed and so have the desires, for ultra-gourmand less fixed, sometimes more rustic, less fancy, but just as delicious. Here are a few trends that have been noticed :

- a taste for neo-classicism, like what Tâpisserie, the new pastry shop of the Septime team (15th in the Worlds 50 best restaurants), or MAM, the caterer-pastry shop of the 2-star chef Stéphanie Le Quellec. Here and there, classics with a touch of pimping: chubby chou flavoured with fragrant flouve, Parisian vanilla flan, kouign amann, lemon tart or Bourdaloue tart on the Tâpisserie side; at MAM: baba rhum, Paris-Brest or that same unmissable flan... 

- completely frightening ice creams: at Folderol, Rigmarole's little brother, flavoured with sesame, oolong tea, banana, clementine etc.

- a return of love for local specialities: Basque cheesecake (voted "Hottest Dessert of the Year" in 2019), Breton kouign amann, northern sugar tart or kouglof;

- the "artistic" pastry of Bogato Marais or Andréa Sham ;

- the brioches of the world: after the levantine Babka, Paris is enthusiastic about the Mexican Concha;

- Local above all: the pastry shop is getting in tune with the more conscious supply (small producers, seasonality, nutritional quality of the products...) which has become the norm in restaurants - no more strawberries in winter, hello Perche nuts, French kiwis and Bachès citrus fruits.