Sweet

Home baking is less of a national hobby in France than it is in Ireland. A French cook wouldn’t spend entire afternoons producing traybakes, scones and sponge cakes to stock up for coffee mornings and afternoon teas. This, of course, is because entertaining happens mostly around ‘real’ meals - lunch or dinner - rather than quick cups of tea or coffee snatched from the day. And with a boulangerie-pâtisserie seemingly at every corner of even the tiniest French village, the French home cook rarely sees the point of trying to replicate the skills of a pastry chef. There is no shame attached to producing shop-bought cakes for pudding at home. Choosing wisely, making the effort to travel to a good pâtissier and perhaps even ordering his speciality are considered just as skilful and caring towards guests as spending hours making them an elaborate cake.