France has made many contributions to culture, and I think its desserts are where it truly shines!
If you need a showstopping sweet for your next event, I’ve gathered 25 amazing French cake recipes that will make you feel like you’re in Paris.
From rustic yogurt cake to dazzling opera cake, there’s something here for everyone!
1. French Apple Cake
Do you want to add a little French style to your baking? This apple cake will be your ideal partner.
The batter is rich and infused with rum, and you can whip it up easily. It’s sweet, delicate, and goes wonderfully with a hot cup of joe.
The best part? With a dusting of sugar or a drizzle of caramel, you’ve got a showstopping dessert that’s sure to impress.
2. Madeleines
These are cakey butter cookies with a trademark scallop shape, and they’re so delicious! It might appear easy to replicate their decadent taste and texture, but it can be tricky to get it just right.
When incorporating your butter and eggs into the batter, make sure to do it gently. That’s the secret to achieving a cookie that melts in your mouth.
3. Gâteau Basque
Gâteau Basque is a marvelous pastry composed of a flaky, round base filled with fruit preserves or a lightly sweetened custard. The two layers of pastry and creamy filling make this my ideal dessert.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve as-is, or bring in some fresh cream and berries to enhance the flavor. What’s more, it’s pretty and yummy, but really easy to throw together!
4. Marjolaine, aka Dacquoise
This cake contains layers of dacquoise, a nutty meringue, filled with buttercream. Before serving, top with caramel or chocolate ganache.
This cake carries extra significance, since it’s served at Christmas and at wedding feasts. You might have to go the extra mile to track down the ingredients, but I promise it’ll be worth it.
5. Ridiculously Easy French Butter Cake
Let’s kick things off with an easy one: French butter cake! This yummy confection is strikingly similar to my beloved Kentucky butter cake.
But here, it gets a dash of almond extract and some Greek yogurt for extra moisture. The final touch is a generous dose of sweet butter sauce, which intensifies the rich taste.
If you really want to go all-out, dust with powdered sugar.
6. Galette Des Rois (French King Cake)
Known as the French King Cake, galette des rois is served every year for the festival of Epiphany. Between the flaky pastry and custard filling, you won’t be able to resist.
The festival celebrates the Three Kings, and it’s generally decorated with icing with a trinket inside. Whoever finds the trinket in their slice will be crowned royalty!
7. Kouign-Amann
This French pastry has a delicious caramelized outside. Layers of delicate dough filled with butter and sugar are sealed in like a laminated croissant.
The folding process makes this pastry incredibly flaky and wonderful. When baked, the exterior gets a beautiful glaze and a delightful crunch.
One bite, and you might ditch regular croissants for good!
8. French Chocolate Cake
This confection will make your tastebuds soar! It’s a lovely pairing of rich, moist chocolate cake and a crisp outer crust.
Whether you want to serve it cold or hot, its rustic presentation and wonderful taste are sure to make any occasion feel special.
9. Authentic French Financier
These are incredibly moist, dense, and buttery. Made with butter, egg whites, almond meal, and honey, they have a unique flavor and texture.
The cake is denser than most, making it great with tea or coffee. This makes a version that looks like mini muffins, which is great for parties.
10. Easy Opera Cake
This layer cake consists of almond sponge, coffee-infused cream, and chocolate ganache. What’s more, it tastes just as delicious as its appearance indicates.
The soft cake, silky ganache, and coffee blend to make wonderfully complex flavors. If you’re looking to indulge your sweet tooth, this cake is a surefire choice!
11. Mille Feuille Cake
Its beauty and remarkable taste and texture will take your breath away. This great dessert consists of three caramelized puff pastry layers filled with rich custard, topped with fresh berries.
While this mille feuille (‘mil-foy’) cake looks daunting, it’s really quite straightforward. You’re already halfway done if you grab store-bought puff pastry!
12. Bûche de Noël Recipe (Yule Log Cake)
Bûche de Noël (‘boosh-duh-no-el’) means “Log of Christmas,” or Yule Log. Its base is a light chocolate sponge rolled with chocolate frosting or whipped cream for the filling.
The traditional holiday dessert is often enhanced with ganache or chocolate frosting and meringue mushrooms. Each bite of this log is sure to put you in the holiday spirit.
Serve as-is, or spruce up with cranberries and blueberries.
13. Traditional Gugelhupf (Kugelhopf in France)
This yeasted cake is an aromatic dish famous throughout Central Europe. This cake has a distinct appeal with its lemon, rum, raisins, almonds, and butter.
The dough needs a significant amount of proofing, which gives it its light texture and delicious flavor. Its charm is enhanced by its shape, generally baked in a special mold.
14. ULTIMATE Paris-Brest
You can’t visit Paris without trying the scrumptious Paris-Brest. The buttery hazelnut praline mousseline filling and flaky almonds on this choux pastry ring are exquisite.
With its ideal combination of smooth cream and crispy pastry, you can fall in love with Paris all over again.
15. Barefoot Contessa Baba au Rhum
This is a light, delicate yeasted cake drenched in rum sauce and brushed with glaze. The cake can also be studded with currants or raisins, enhancing its texture and sweetness.
It features a fantastic mix of sweet and boozy flavors, making it perfect for the holidays.
16. French Fraisier Cake
This traditional dessert is a wonderful summer treat filled with strawberries. Start with a Genoise sponge, similar to angel food cake: the eggs are whipped until thick before carefully adding in the fat and flour until smooth.
However, Genoise calls for whole eggs, which leads to a richer taste. Brushed with syrup and filled with diplomat cream, it’s sweet, tangy, and really beautiful.
17. Quatre-Quarts
This pound cake contains equal parts eggs, sugar, butter, and flour. In fact, the name means “four fourths,” which references the four ingredients and the pan used for easy dividing.
Enjoy this cake as-is, or dust with cocoa powder for a flavor boost.
18. Fiadone-Style Cheesecake with a Cherry Coulis
This is one of the easiest cheesecakes you can make. This recipe only calls for four ingredients: lemon, sugar, eggs, and ricotta cheese.
This easy batter turns into a rich cake with a great balance of flavors. Serve your cake with a sweet cherry coulis as a topping or on the side.
19. Cherry Clafoutis
This treat provides a unique spin on standard cake. It’s a mix of cake and custard made by pouring batter over cherries in a dish before baking.
That leads to a wonderful treat with a crisp top layer and creamy custard inside. I think you’ll like it!
20. Far Breton ~ French Custard Cake
This custard cake originated in Brittany, in northwestern France. The thick custard has rum-soaked prunes.
Baked in a round mold, this cake has a melt-in-your-mouth creamy texture. You’ll want to make this one ASAP!
21. Croquembouche (Profiterole Tower)
This pastry tower is made up of little choux buns held by caramelized sugar. Also known as cream puffs, the choux buns are filled with pastry creme.
A croquembouche generally looks like a tree or cone, decorated with sugar, flowers, and ribbons. This dessert goes back centuries and is used at weddings and birthdays.
22. Gâteau St. Honore
Like the croquembouche, this elegant dessert has circular choux buns filled with cream and has caramel ribboned spun sugar as decoration. Sometimes, you might even find a tiny eclair or tart in there.
While not as grand as other desserts, it’s more manageable to make at home. Still, making this refined cake can be hard, but it’s so rewarding.
23. French Yogurt Cake
This cake is light and delightful and is sure to impress. It has a light sponge that calls for flour, eggs, and yogurt.
It’s dense, but moist and soft. Top with citrus zest or seasonal berries to enhance the French classic even more.