How to Make Croissants and Pain aux Chocolate

Croissants are not typically Provencal fare, but you can expect every respectable bakery to present their version of this French pastry for sale. However, if you want to find the good stuff listen to the Parisians debating where to find a decent baguette, the best tarte tropézienne and a croissant that might rival their patisserie in Paris.

Or look for a line-up (photo in Antibes).

As some might know, I have been on a quest to find proper butter for making pastries for quite some time. The issue in Canada is finding butter with a high enough fat content. North American butter is very different than European. The higher moisture content makes pastries a little flabbier, and flabby just won’t do when it comes to croissants. I was recently at a little Polish deli in Calgary and noticed they had butter. Fatty butter!

If I am going to the trouble of making pastry, the results better be worth it, and I figured this butter might just be the ticket. I was very pleased with the results, much better than when I’ve used regular Canadian butter. Making croissants and pain aux chocolate is a fun project, great for a chilly weekend.

Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence – Montagne St. Victoire: Full-day Wine tour from Marseille

Embark on a full-day wine tour from Marseille or its surrounding cities to the captivating Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, the westernmost vineyards of Provence.

Book this Experience

Paula Kane

From a background in advertising and design, Paula Kane has forged a career that combines her love of good food and wine with her expertise in marketing to produce highly successful culinary events across Canada. Paula first travelled to France 20 years ago and has been returning ever since. She received a scholarship from the James Beard Foundation to attend Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, from which she was graduated in 2009. She has completed the International Sommelier Guild Wine Fundamentals and recently, the Hautes Etudes du Goût program in gastronomy from which she was awarded a Masters degree from the University of Reims in Champagne, France. For the past ten years, Paula has spent part of her year in the Vaucluse where she cycles, cooks, drinks wine, explores and shares her discoveries with others on her website A Table en Provence. Recently she launched an online magazine —Olive + Sweetpea— dedicated to all things she is passionate about: food, wine, travel, home and women trailblazers.