Pastries

The term “pastry” traditionally denoted any sweet or savory dish that had the slightly antiquated sounding “paste,” a dense dough made from flour, fat, and liquid, as a key ingredient. In current parlance, “pastry” loosely embraces most sweet foods (candy is a notable exception) that are eaten for breakfasts, desserts, or snacks, regardless of whether “paste” is an element of the dish. Starting in the 1970s, “pastry” chefs built architecturally complex desserts from cakes, creams, spun sugar, fruits, nuts, or molded chocolates, often with nary a paste foundation. “Pastry” maintains its older meaning of “crust” when applied to savories.