Pastry Glossary: Different Pastry Types

• Pastry Terms A
• Pastry Terms B
• Pastry Terms C
• Pastry Terms D ~ F
• Pastry Terms G ~ L

• Pastry Terms M ~ O
• Pasty Terms Pa
• Pastry Terms Pe-Pu
• Pastry Terms Q ~ S
• Pastry Terms T ~ Z

DANISH PASTRY or DANISH
A variety of rich, buttery breakfast pastries made from a slightly sweetened yeast dough that is rolled out, dotted with butter, then folded and rolled several times in the manner of puff pastry (see laminated pastry). The dough may be flavored with vanilla or cardamom. Danish pastries are made in a variety of shapes with different fillings, including sweetened cream cheese, cooked fruit (apple, apricot, cherry and prune are popular), poppy seed, almond paste and nuts.

DEVONSHIRE CREAM PIE
Two circles of plain pastry filled with cream pie filling and topped with a ring of pastry. The pie is garnished with fresh strawberries or other fruit plus whipped cream. The fruit can be glazed with melted currant jelly.

DIPLOMAT
A Parisian breakfast pastry: flaky croissant pastry filled with custard and raisins. Photo at right.

DOUGH
Dough is made from flour, fat, salt and water: The fat (butter, margarine, olive oil or suet, e.g.), flour and salt are combined, water is added, and the paste is rolled into dough.

DOUGHNUT or DONUT
A doughnut is a small, fried ring of sweet, leavened dough. Doughnuts leavened with baking powder are more dense than the fluffier, yeast-leavened doughnuts. Originally a Dutch recipe without a hole, the dough is dropped into hot oil, and was originally called an olykoek, or oily cake. The first written reference to “doughnut” is in Washington Irving’s 1809 in History of New York, where he writes of “balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog’s fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks.”

DUMPLING
There are different types of dumplings, but they all involve a piece of a piece of dough. Sweet dumplings are dough wrapped around fruit, baked and served as a dessert, such as apple dumpling. Savory dumplings are sometimes filled with meat or vegetables, and can be cooked in liquid such as water or soup, and served in soup. Others are served as a side starch, instead of potatoes. Some people refer to fried balls of sweet or savory dough as dumplings.

ÉCLAIR
An elongated, finger-shaped pastry made of pâte à choux (puff pastry), filled with whipped cream or custard and topped with ganache or a glacé icing (glaze). The éclair is known to have originated in France around the turn of the 19th century. Many food historians speculate that éclairs were first made by Marie-Antoine Carême (1874-1833), the first “celebrity chef,” considered the founder and architect of French haute cuisine: cookbook author, and chef to Talleyrand, the future George IV of England, Emperor Alexander I of Russia and Baron James de Rothschild.

ELEPHANT EAR COOKIE
See palmier.

EN CROÛTE
En croûte (French for “in crust”) refers to a food that is wrapped in pastry and baked. Meats, fruits, vegetables and cheeses are prepared en croûte. Foods with the exception of cheeses, which have long cooking times, are usually cooked partially prior to wrapping so the crust doesn’t overcook.

ENTREMET

The French word for mousse cake, a light confection that typically has a base of cake, a mousse layer, a thin layer of pastry cream layer and a topping of fruit coulis. See photo at top of page.

FILO PASTRY
An alternative spelling for phyllo pastry.

FLAKY PASTRY or ROUGH PUFF
PASTRY
A crisp, buttery pastry that is a simpler, more quickly prepared version of puff pastry. Flaky pastry expands when cooked due to amount of layers. The “puff” is obtained by beginning the baking process at a high temperature and then lowering it. See pastry.

FLAMBÉ
French for “flamed” or “flaming,” a dramatic method of presenting foods aflame. This is done by warming liquor, such as brandy, igniting it, and pouring it over the dessert immediately prior to serving. The fire goes out when the flames consume the alcohol. Steamed puddings (especially Christmas Pudding) and Crêpes Suzette are two popular desserts to flambé.

FLAN
In the pastry world there are two definitions for flan. (1) A single-crust (open) pie with a sweet or savory custard filling. Spinach flan or leek and bacon flan are examples of savory flans. (2) A single-crust pie filled with pastry cream (crème pâtissière) and topped with fruit. Both examples are baked in a fluted flan ring, a short pan (about 11/2-inch-high) with a removable bottom. (3) Outside of the pastry world, flan, known as creme caramel in Spain where it originated, is a baked custard topped with a layer of caramel that is baked on the bottom but becomes the top when the custard is inverted onto the plate.