What are 5 essential French pastry styles?

French cuisine is the foundation of modern cookery with French style pastries sold in patisseries and bakeries around the world. If you're interested in learning to make beautiful pastries, here are 5 traditional French pastry styles you will study at Le Cordon Bleu Australia.

With over 120-years' training the world's most celebrated chefs, Le Cordon Bleu is an internationally recognised institution delivering world-class culinary and hospitality management education to passionate individuals. To study patisserie at one of the world's most prestigious cooking schools, take a look at the internationally recognised patisserie programmes at Le Cordon Bleu institutes in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane.

The basis of éclairs and profiteroles, pâte à choux (or choux pastry) is made from cooking butter and flour together, and then gradually incorporating egg while the batter is warm. When baked, steam rises inside the batter to create a hollow pastry, which can then be filled with crème pâtissière or ganache. When fried, choux pastry is used to make beignets or churros.

This is a sweetened, leavened dough named for its origin in Vienna. It is bread-like, but sweeter and richer, and is the basis of a number of popular viennoiserie such as brioche.

Better known as puff pastry, this is another staple of viennoiserie. The dough is kept chilled as it's made and laminated multiple times with butter, creating distinct layers which, when cooked, form pockets of air throughout the pastry. Pâte feuilletée is used to make croissants, palmiers, and even savoury dishes such as the Beef Wellington.

Translating to "beaten dough", this family of mixtures is used to make popular French desserts. Within this family is pâte génoise, a dry sponge cake and the basis of opera cakes, tiramisu and madeleines. Another member, pâte biscuit, is the traditional foundation for sugar cookies, made with similar portions of butter and sugar.

These doughs are used to make the base for tarts and quiches. A pâte brisée is the most basic form, made from only flour, water, salt and butter. Pâte sablée is an enriched version, with sugar, eggs and sometimes almond flour - perfect for a classic tarte au citron.

A range of gourmet short courses are available throughout the year, and perfect for those passionate foodies looking for a short culinary adventure (1- or 2 day hands-on workshop) in French Choux Pastry,Classic French Morning Pastries, or Viennoiserie - French Breakfast Pastries.