Gâteaux, Gâteaux Secs et Glaces de Sucre

“Paris is a woman’s town, with flowers in her hair,” or so wrote American poet Henry Van Dyke. In the realm of food, the feminine spirit of Paris is nowhere better expressed than through the plain cakes that become fashionable ladies.

Through the two basic cakes—Pâte à Génoise and Pain de Gênes, we will introduce you to the most gorgeous ladies of the cake world. Pâte à Génoise gives us such gracious ladies as Charlotte Portugaise and the ever-famous gâteau sec called Madeleine. Through Pain de Gênes, we meet the crisp Sylvia and create Mirror cookies in which these luscious ladies reflect themselves.