France is the home of many excellent gâteaux and pastries - but some of them are traditionally eaten at a certain time of year. Here's your guide to French cake season.
We're not suggesting that it's illegal to eat these at any other time of the year, and plenty of them are on sale year-round, but each of these French sweet treats have their own traditional season.
In fact, some of them come with complicated rituals while eating to ensure good luck for the year ahead.
A Galette des Rois, French Epiphany cake. Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
Galette des rois
The 'kings' cake' is traditionally eaten on Epiphany (January 6th), the Christian festival of the three kings - hence the gold paper crown that accompanies it.
Epiphany in France is nothing like as big a deal as it is in Spain, but French families still enjoy getting together for this special cake, traditionally drunk with cider or Champagne.
But it's not just about eating - whoever gets the lucky fève (bean) hidden inside the cake gets one year of good luck, and also wears the paper crown that accompanies the cake. If you really want to go all-in on the ritual, you can make a child sit under the table.
The cake itself is quite plain - flaky pastry with a frangipane filling, although some bakers offer alternative fillings such as fruit purée or chocolate, which are less traditional but are (in our humble opinion) nicer.
READ ALSO: Galette des Rois: What to know about France's 'royal' tart
Buche de Noël made by French pastry chef and chocolatier Pierre Hermé in Paris. Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP
Bûche de Noël
This is the traditional Christmas dessert, the 'Christmas log', stemming from the pagan midwinter tradition of the yule log.
It's a rolled sponge with layers of filling and icing made out of chocolate or chestnut, although fruit versions are also available.
The traditional dessert is a large cake, designed to be shared by the family after their Christmas meal - but from the start of December bakeries start offering mini bûches as a festive sweet treat for one or two people. This also helps avoid arguments if everyone in the family has a different flavour preference.
Chocolate-shaped fish on display in the workshop 'Atelier N° 5' in La Foret-Fouesnant, western France. Photo by Fred TANNEAU / AFP
Chocolate fish
These will suddenly appear in French patisseries, chocolate shops and supermarkets around April each year.
It's really a combination of an April 1st tradition and an Easter tradition, but as those two things usually fall quite closely together in the calendar, there's now a sort of crossover tradition.
The fish refers to the poisson d'avril (April fish), which is the French equivalent of April Fool's - on April 1st, children play pranks on each other and try to secretly glue paper fish to their classmates' backs, while April Fool jokes are known as poissons d'avril.
The chocolate tradition comes from Easter, when chocolate is widely eaten, but while most neighbouring European countries have chocolate eggs, rabbits or chicks, France also adds the chocolate fish.
READ ALSO: 'Poisson d'avril': Why do the French get fishy on April 1st?
Marie-Catherine Quéau, known as Mimi, prepares a crepe on a hot griddle. Photo by FRED TANNEAU / AFP
Crêpes
Crêpes are popular all year round, especially in Brittany, but they also have their own dedicated festival, la Chandeleur, which falls on February 2nd.
On this day, it's traditional to eat pancakes, and there is also a fun ritual involving a wardrobe and a piece of gold which will - apparently - bring you good fortune for the rest of the year.
READ ALSO: La Chandeleur: The day the French get really superstitious... and eat crêpes
A mini croquembouche. Photo by Neilson Barnard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Croquembouche
This is more a cake for an occasion than a specific date - it is the traditional dessert at a French wedding. The above example is small, but a wedding croquembouche is usually a towering affair made up of hundreds of choux pastry buns.
The tower is then dismantled and served to guests as a dessert - it's made up of cream-filled choux buns with a caramel sauce. Guests should chew carefully on the hard caramel necessary to 'glue' the dessert together.
READ ALSO: 9 French wedding traditions you should know
A Paris-Brest cake. Photo: Wikicommons
Paris-Brest
This pastry is on sale year-round, but is linked to a specific date - the Paris-Brest cycle race. The pastry was originally made to advertise the cycle race, and traditionally consisted of two circles of pastry with a cream and almond filling, each representing one wheel of the bicycle, with a sculpted bike 'frame' linking them together.
The race (technically the Paris-Brest-Paris) still happens, but these days it is a non-competitive cycle event allowing riders up to 90 hours to complete the 1,200 km course.
The next race is in August 2027, or you could serve it at a Tour de France watch party as a general celebration of cycling (or eat it at any time of the year because it is delicious).
