“The best croissant I've tasted... including Paris." 

Suzanne Martinson

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday, December 17, 2000

Breakfast pastries are available daily and are sold individually or at a discount by the dozen.

Please order in advance for more than a dozen.

The breakfast pastries tend to sell out quickly some days.

If you need a special flavor and are afraid it might be sold out when you arrive,

even if it’s one or two pastries, don’t hesitate to call.. We’ll be glad to set it aside for you.

Brioche

(pronounced bree-OHsh...... as in Oh my gosh, these are incredible.)

A light roll rich with eggs and butter; somewhat sweet.

               plain                  sugar                      chocolate                                      

              cheese            raspberry                    almond                              

The year 1404 is was when the word brioche first appeared in print. It is believed

that brioche is of Roman origin due to its similarities to a holiday bread made in Romania.

(Romania was originally part of the Roman Empire)   Another interesting historical reference to brioche is that it is brioche, not cake, mentioned in the famous quote attributed to Marie Antoinette. The quotation was first written in 1766 by French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Confessions.  Rousseau wrote that when the princess was told that the peasants had no bread she said "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche," which essentially means "let them eat brioche." Later, it had become known as, "let them eat cake."  Since Marie Antoinette had not even arrived in France until after Rousseau wrote this, it is doubted that she was the princess he was referring to.  Still it remains a statement that symbolizes the eventual demise of the wealthy from a callous disregard of the great division between the rich and the poor. Because, well, we all know what happened to Marie. In any case, brioche remains a popular breakfast pastry in France. And, stale brioche makes the best French Toast ever.

Croissants

 ( pronounced: kwah sahn)

A leavened type of buttery puff pastry. Croissant means crescent.

The plain and the chocolate croissant are most common in France.

                                         plain                                      raisin & cream                        chocolate                       vanilla cream                 cherry

                                                                                          cinnamon                                almond                              apple                            cheese

There are many stories of the origin of France's best known pastry, the croissant.  The most popular dates back to 1683 when Austria was under siege by the Turkish empire. It is said that the bakers, since they worked at night and underground, heard the Turks digging to get to the city of Vienna.  The bakers alerted the military, thereby saving Austria.  To honor the victory, the bakers made a pastry in the form of a crescent moon, the symbol on the Turkish flag. Then, 100 years later, Marie Antoinette (from Austria) introduced the croissant to the French aristocrats.  Many say both stories are false.  But, most agree that the recipe for the croissant, as we know it today, was first published in a French cookbook in the early 1900's, and went on to become a national symbol of France.

Jean-Marc's Croissants....

“Famous croissants.”                                              Alliance Française de Pittsburgh

“Best croissant I've tasted, including Paris.”    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“I’ve never had better.”                                           Pittsburgh City Paper

Danish

(pronounced: day nish)

Similar to croissant dough, but with eggs and more dense than a croissant.

Made with a butter based danish dough.

            blueberry       cherry                maple           chocolate         

      cheese           apricot       icing with walnuts  

The danish as we know it today is said to have originated in 1850 when Danish bakers went on strike.  The bakery owners brought in Austrian bakers, but the Austrians used their own recipes, one of which was the Plundergeback, which went on to became popular in Denmark. Later the Danish bakers added more eggs to the recipe and called it a danish.

Palmier

(pronounced:  pahlm-yay)

                                              Regular                                                                                           Chocolate Dipped

Palmiers are crisp and delicate palm tree leaf-shaped cookies made of puff pastry and sugar.

The sugar on top caramelizes when baked.  Palmier literally means "palm tree" in French.

Often known in the US as elephant ears. Jean-Marc’s personal favorite.

Palmier are thought to have first been made by the French at the turn of the 20th century.

Strudel

(pronounced: stroo dol)

                                                    apple strudel

                                                      almond strudel

                                                 cherry strudel

Puff pastry wrapped around apple, cherry or almond filling, topped with powdered sugar.

Available in individual slices or whole (24-inches long). Whole is available Saturdays, and by order.

The oldest Strudel recipe is from 1696, in a handwritten recipe at the Viennese City Library. The pastry has its origins in Byzantine (330AD) or Middle Eastern pastries such as baklava. Most agree the strudel that we are familiar with sprung from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which dissolved at the end of WWI.  The word itself derives from the German word "strudel" which means whirlpool.  Forms of strudel are found all over the world. The Pennsylvania Dutch brought strudel to America.

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