8 Easy Cake Recipes
& Cookies Too

Bring The Patisserie To Your Kitchen

These are quite easy cake recipes that will give you the most delicious tea time treats!

The French have the most wonderful "gateaux", some elaborate and some quite simple, but all, so delicious!

If you have ever seen the wonderful patisseries in France you will know what I mean when I say they are truly "magnifique"!

So here are some favorite French cake recipes to give your friends and family lots of tea-time treats.

Of course if you want something special for a tea party or a birthday or celebration, they will be the perfect addition to your table.

On the other hand, who needs an excuse to make these gorgeous cakes – they are a treat for you right now!

Easy Cake Recipes To Indulge In

1. Chocolate Cake

A chocolate cake to please all chocoholics!

This is a recipe you can make for a special occasion or just when you want to indulge yourself.

Think Valentine's day – this is so romantic – a cosy meal for two with a mouthwatering chocolate cake to finish off with.

2. Breton Flat Cake

Breton flat cake, known as Galette Bretonne, is traditional throughout Brittany and is a delicious rich buttery cake with a crunchy texture.

It is so good and very easy to make at home.

Great as a dessert or with afternoon coffee!

3. Chestnut Gateau

This Chestnut Gateaux (Gateâu aux Marrons) is quite special and would be a real tea-time treat for your family and friends.

It would also compliment any table for parties or special occasions and is a welcoming change at Christmas instead of the usual cakes and pastries.

4. Paris Brest

This is a wonderful French "gateaux" worthy of a place on your table.

It is made from a light "choux" pastry with a creamy praline flavored filling.

Truly scrumptious!

5. Gateau au Chocolat

This French chocolate cake is just so delicious with a texture almost like fudge.

It is the chocolate cake for chocoholics and you will want to keep this recipe secret!

6. Kuglehof

The shape of these lovely cakes is another of their traditions, being made in a fluted cake mould.

Most of the moulds we buy are tin or aluminium but again the traditional ones are earthenware and come in lovely colours.

You can purchase them in the Alsace and they are a lovely keepsake too if you do ever visit this region of France.

But you can make and eat this wonderful cake now, without having to travel!

7. Millefeuille

A Millefeuille – a 'Thousand Leaves' – is a French patisserie classic and a cake you will see in most French restaurants.

Usually it is made as one large cake, but this is most difficult to cut. So here is a recipe for small millefeuilles that are easier to make and avoid a catastrophe at your table!

8. French Religious Cakes

French religious cakes are seen all over France but more especially in Paris.

They are simply choux buns with flavored custard fillings and covered in icing.

They are said to look like nuns! Once colored in a violet colour of the Cardinal's robes they are now also made in chocolate flavor, rose flavor and coffee.

They are easy to make but you need to make them when you have time as you need patience!

Cookie Recipes, Yum

There are many tasty cookie recipes around the globe and French cookies are no exception!

In school they used to call these biscuits, which is the modern French name and they taught that it means 'twice baked'. 

This caused much confusion to many people, depending also where in the world you are situated.

So if you look at the American English dictionary Merriam-Webster, this is what it will say:

• A cookie is a "small flat or slightly raised cake".
  
  
• A biscuit is "any of various hard or crisp dry baked product" similar to the American English terms cracker or cookie.
  
  
• A biscuit can also mean "a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon"
  
  

A biscuit in most countries usually means a hard, crisp, brittle bread, but in America it may refer to a softer bread like product.

So in the USA they call them cookies.

The Italians use the word biscotto and this again refers to a hard, twice baked biscuit.

Of course a cookie these days could be referring to a web cookie or a web browser! But not here in this context we are only concerned with the gorgeous, tasty little cookies we can make and eat to our hearts desire (and diets allow!)

French cookie recipes are usually quite simple, but turn out the most tasty little gems imaginable.

You can enjoy making them with your kids or grand kids as they are a joy to make and a joy to put in your cookie jar.

I have included some of my favourite French cookie recipes here as they are mostly easy to make and I'm pretty sure you will enjoy them too. Some are even made with leftover pastry such as puff pastry!

Galettes Bretonnes

Galettes Bretonnes are sweet little Breton Biscuits and are just great to have with your morning coffee.

They are ideal for the kids as a treat so will be good to add to your cookie jar.

Easy to make with the simplest of ingredients.

Galettes Nantaises

Gorgeous little Nantes cookies or biscuits that will please everyone.

They are especially good for lovers of almonds as they have a subtle almond flavour and are so delicious they will disappear fast!

Another tasty addition for your cookie jar.

Palmiers Glacés

Palmiers Glacés are beautiful golden palm leaves of light golden puff pastry.

They are very tasty and are just wonderful with a glass of sweet white wine.

They are easy to make and great for the kids, so add these little gems to your cookie jar and enjoy a treat whenever you feel the need!

Madeleines

Little French Madeleine Cookies are a real classic made famous by Proust and now you can enjoy your own home-made classics to enjoy with either a glass of white wine or a coffee.

More Great Recipes