The 15 Best Pastries in the World
Pastry is where baking turns into engineering: laminated butter, shattering phyllo, dough twisted around cinnamon or cheese. France laminates, Turkey layers, Morocco wraps pigeon in sugar-dusted warqa. These are the 15 best pastries in the world, each with a recipe worth the flour on your shirt.
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Croissant
FranceLaminated dough with 27 layers of butter. Austrian in origin, French in execution.
Discover the croissant, the buttery, golden crescent that has become a symbol of France itself. With its crisp, flaky shell and tender, airy layers, this classic pastry brings a touch of Parisian elegance to any breakfast table. …
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Baklava
TurkeyPhyllo, pistachios and syrup, cut into diamonds. The Ottoman kitchen's best export.
Few sweets capture the spirit of Turkey quite like Baklava, glistening layers of paper-thin pastry packed with crushed nuts and bathed in fragrant honey syrup. This celebrated dessert turns a handful of simple ingredients into …
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Cannoli
ItalyFried shells piped with sweet ricotta. Sicily fills them to order so they stay crisp.
Discover Cannoli, one of Italy's most iconic sweet treats and a true jewel of Sicilian baking. These crisp, golden pastry tubes are filled with a luscious, sweetened ricotta cream and finished with chocolate chips, candied fruit …
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Pastilla
MoroccoPigeon and almonds under sugar-dusted warqa. Sweet and savoury in one pie.
Say hello to Pastilla, one of Morocco's most treasured dishes. In this homely take, crisp pastry parcels are filled with tender, spiced chicken or fish, then fried until beautifully golden. Fragrant with paprika, lemon and fresh …
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Kanelbullar
SwedenCinnamon buns with cardamom in the dough. Sweden gave them a national day in 1999.
Meet Kanelbullar, the fragrant cinnamon buns that sit at the very heart of Swedish coffee culture. Perfumed with cinnamon and cardamom and rolled from a soft, buttery yeast dough, these little spirals are the ultimate companion to …
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Apfelstrudel
AustriaDough pulled thin enough to read a newspaper through, wrapped around cinnamon apples.
Discover Apple Strudel, the dessert that has come to define Austrian baking far beyond its borders. Wafer-thin pastry wraps around a fragrant filling of tender apples, cinnamon and plump raisins, then bakes to a crisp, golden …
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Bougatsa
GreeceSemolina custard in crackling phyllo, cut with scissors and dusted at the counter.
Discover Bougatsa, the golden Greek pastry that wakes up cafés and bakeries across the country every morning. Crisp, paper-thin layers of filo wrap a soft, fragrant vanilla custard, with a final flourish of icing sugar and …
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Pączki
PolandRich yeast doughnuts filled with rose jam. Poland eats around 100 million on Fat Thursday.
Meet Pączki, the plump, filled doughnuts that Poland adores. With their airy yeast dough and generous heart of fruity jam, these little treats are pure indulgence. Traditionally fried up for Fat Thursday just before Lent, they …
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Ensaïmada
SpainA lard-laminated coil from Mallorca, dusted with icing sugar and eaten for breakfast.
Treat yourself to the sweet flavour of Mallorca with Ensaïmada, the island's most beloved pastry. Light, airy and gently sweet, this coiled spiral of enriched dough has been pleasing bakers and holidaymakers alike since the …
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Korvapuusti
FinlandFinland's slapped ears: plumper than the Swedish bun and heavier on the cardamom.
Meet Korvapuusti, the cinnamon bun that fills Finnish kitchens with one of the most comforting smells in northern Europe. Soft, springy yeast dough is rolled around a generous swirl of cinnamon and sugar, then scented with …
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Berliner
GermanyJam-filled yeast doughnuts, fried and sugared. Germany eats them at New Year and carnival.
Treat yourself to Berliner, the pillowy jam-filled doughnuts that are a cornerstone of German baking. Light, airy and dusted with snowy icing sugar, these little parcels of joy are made for a relaxed coffee break or a festive …
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Samosa
IndiaCrisp shell, spiced potato inside. It travelled from Central Asia to India and then everywhere.
Discover Samosa, one of India's most iconic snacks. These crisp, golden pastry parcels are filled with a fragrant mix of vegetables, potatoes, pulses or meat, then fried until beautifully crunchy. Equally at home at a lively party …
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Pastel
BrazilThin fried envelopes of cheese or meat, made at market stalls while you wait.
Discover Pastel, one of Brazil's most beloved street foods. These crisp, golden parcels of dough come stuffed with all manner of fillings, savoury minced meat, melting cheese, or even sweet fruit and chocolate. Easy to make and …
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Khachapuri
GeorgiaCheese-filled bread with a dozen regional shapes. The Adjarian one holds an egg.
Khachapuri is bread and cheese, and the Adjarian version is a boat with an egg yolk in the middle that you stir into the molten cheese at the table. It arrives too hot to eat and nobody waits.
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Cozonac
RomaniaSweet bread swirled with walnut paste. Romanian households bake it at Easter and Christmas.
Meet Cozonac, the pride of Romanian festive baking. This airy sweet bread is famous for its feather-light crumb and its very good swirls of filling. Think toasted walnuts, rich cocoa or fragrant poppy seeds. Traditionally baked …
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