7 Incredible French Pastries that Take Breakfast Meetings to the Next Level (No Offense, Donuts.)
Posted by Sara on Friday, August 8th, 2014 with 5 Comments
Donuts are great, whether they’re dusted with powdery sugar, bursting with jelly, or simply shining with a humble glaze. Nobody can argue that donuts aren’t delicious. But sometimes, a box of donuts on the conference table— even delicious, warm, fresh-from-the-donut-shop donuts— won’t cut it. For an important client, a particular boss, or just a special occasion, you need some amazing breakfast meeting food ideas… and that’s where viennoiserie comes in.
Nobody makes magic out of flour, water, and yeast like the French– and viennoiserie is a term reserved for a special category of baked goods that we boorish Americans very simply call “pastries.” Viennoiserie are baked from two kinds of dough: pate viennoise (sweetened, yeast-leavened dough) or pate feuilletee (puff pastry). Croissants are viennoiserie. Brioche is viennoiserie. In fact, most of the buttery, intricately layered, simultaneously airy and rich French treats that are considered “breakfast” pastries are viennoiserie… and nothing will up your breakfast game at the next big meeting like a beautiful array of these mouthwatering treats.
Wake up your next breakfast meeting with viennoiserie.
Image source: Flickr user frenchy
Hungry yet? Get ready. Because we’ve rounded up some truly sublime examples of viennoiserie to inspire your next early-morning catering order!
1) Croissant
You have to start with the classic. From simple plain croissants to those studded with savory ham and melty Gruyere, you can’t go wrong with the beautifully buttery croissants.
2) Kouign Amann
Described by a New York Times writer as “the fattiest pastry in all of Europe,” kougin amman (pronounced like “queen ah-MON”) are certainly decadent. Sheets of leavened dough with sugar and butter layered in between, are folded and baked– resulting in a crispy, caramelized-sugar exterior with a soft, sweet interior. The end result is a cross between a croissant and brioche.
3) Chausson aux Pommes
Flaky dough is filled with a velvety, and not-too-sweet apple compote to create the most-sophisticated apple turnover you’ve ever eaten.
4) Canele
These treats are almost as lovely to look at as they are to eat. Canele have a distinct fluted shape thanks to the special copper tins they’re baked in, which are traditionally coated in beeswax. The resulting pastry has a browned, crispy crust containing a moist, custard-like interior flavored with rum and vanilla.
5) Gibassier
These Provencal treats offer a more unusual flavor profile: they are baked with olive oil, orange-blossom water, and anise seed, then dusted with sugar at the very end. A little harder to find in America than croissants– but worth looking out for!
6) Pain aux Raisins
Not as cloyingly sweet as danish, pain aux raisins are snail-shaped pastries made from buttery dough wrapped around raisins (occasionally plumped up by soaking in rum), with just a hint of custard, and glazed to perfection after baking.
7) Pain au Chocolat
Can’t get by without a little chocolate on the breakfast table? Go for pain au chocolat– essentially a rounder type of croissant with a stick or two of rich, dark chocolate in the middle.
Ready to take your next breakfast meeting to the next level? Contact the company catering experts at Waiter.com– with abundant menus, online ordering, and prompt delivery, we make it easy to provide impressive, delectable fare– like viennoiserie– at any time of day!
When it comes to feeding employees and coworkers, make your company's food program really count! If your workplace dining plan needs to take it up a notch — or if you don't have one at all — Waiter.com is here to help. From Virtual Cafeteria Service to diverse menus to local takeout & delivery, Waiter.com offers customizable dining solutions for every business and budget. Contact us today to get started!
These are all excellent choices but unfortunately most meetings these things are thrown together and donuts become the standard. That is exactly why the company secretary shouldn’t be in charge of the meeting munchies and a good reason for catering.
Maybe you could send a link to the admin assistant in charge — or “helpfully” offer to take the chore off their hands for the next meeting? 😉
This is awesome! We always have this one co-worker who brings in something really great when he comes in, and the rest of us bring in something that we’re all sick of like donuts. I’ve been looking to bring in something new, but I’ve had no idea what to bring in, but this blog is awesome! Where would be the best place to find some of these things? I’m probably going to start with Pain aux Raisins, or anything I can find first, really. Pain aux Raisins just sounds like the most yummy!
Bakeries and coffeeshops are definitely the best place to start your search! Good luck!
Admittedly, I’ve only ever even seen two of these – croissants and pain au chocolat – although at the grocery store where I saw the pain au chocolat, it was called a chocolate-stuffed croissant donut, and had the same sort of glaze on it that a donut has. So really I’ve only ever eaten one.
Really wish I could find a proper patisserie here where I live (east Tennessee), but something tells me I’d have to move to a much larger city to find these gems. Every one of these (but especially the Canele) sounds amazing.
Sadly, the bosses here are too cheap to ever consider even buying something as fancy as mere croissants. Around these parts, it’s Krispy Kreme or nothing! Le sigh.