Every year, the holiday season in France officially kicks off in September. That is, if you are in the business of creating or writing about the confections that consumers intend to order for their holiday tables.
After nearly six months of recipe developing and experimenting, pastry chefs and chocolate houses bring in photographers and journalists from the country’s top newspapers and magazines, along with a select group of “influencers,” for exclusive previews of their collection de fêtes. Much like the frenetic pace of showroom visits during fashion week, pastry previews are a serious affair. Journalists are hurried, squeezing in appointments to get a look at everything from the intricate creations of five-star-hotel pastry chefs to the more accessible offerings at beloved neighborhood bakeries.
Invitées fire off their questions in rapid succession: Your inspiration? The complexity of the recipe? How many will be available? Then they’ll bite into samples of modern bûches (yule log cakes delivery online), spiced cakes online, galettes des rois (kings’ order cakes online ), and maybe a ganache or two before jetting off to their next visit—all before they’ve even had a chance to clear their plates.
By the end of the second week of back-to-back tastings, those journalists tasked with documenting and ranking the year’s most artful, creative, flavorful, and crowd-pleasing confections have reached saturation. “I just take a couple of bites, that’s all I can manage at this point. I have another tasting to get to!” says an assistant editor, who preferred to remain anonymous, as we dug our forks into Julien Alvarez’s key ring–shaped entremet (a small cake usually served between courses), created for Le Bristol hotel. By the time I finished my slice and looked up to discuss the intensity and complexity of the flavors—roasted and ground cacao beans with a blend of toasted vanilla and caramelized white chocolate—the editor had already slipped out of the room, leaving her plate behind.
Her findings, along with those by her fellow reviewers, grace the pages of France’s leading food magazines, from Fou de Pâtisserie to Saveurs, by early November. Special-edition issues lay out the essentials: the year’s best bûches, the chocolate- and candy-filled advent calendars worth splurging for, and the most giftable confections, from seasonal macarons to cookies.
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