Chocolat, Pâte à choux, Croissant - OH MY!

When someone says a « French Bakery »- what it is that you think about? Buttery croissants? Baguettes? Pies with every fruit you can think of? Or maybe invigorating smells of breads and cakes? 

Better yet : ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Our students had a good week and a half of sightseeing and loved it! However, now, it’s time to get their hands dirty! LITERALLY! This part of the session can be characterized as the 'hands-on activities' portion of their stay. Oh la la, you said? That’s right. They have done sports (tree climbing and zip lining in Tours) and have also started getting in touch with their artistic side with workshops and creations with experts in Street Art, drawing, and now pastry making.

Students went to Chef Square, in Paris' 3rd district, where they learned how to make Chouquette and chocolate filled cream puffs. And what more they got to do a dégustation (French for taste testing). They rocked it! For some students this was "just like home" but for others this was an amazing new experience. 

The Pastry Chefs split them into groups of three and assigned jobs to everyone. As they worked together to make sure everything was done correctly they got to see the steps to making some of France’s iconic pastries. They cut, chopped, cracked, mixed, mashed, scooped, squoze, powdered and last but not least... TASTED.

C’était délicieux!! (Thats French for "It was delicious!!" Because you know….we’re fancy!)

FUN FACT : Pâte à choux or choux pastry dates all the way back to one of Catherine de Médicis' pastry chefs. This dough is used to make all sorts of French pastries including éclairs, Paris-Brest, chouquettes, and more. Our students got tips from local chefs on how to make the perfect pâte à choux for their chouquettes today.