Pithiviers pastry chefs have their cake and label it

The catalyst for the move came after a spectacular 36metre version was made for last year’s Foire de la Saint-Georges with all the town’s 20 chefs contributing... but each version of the frangipane sponge with its icing covering and sugared fruit decoration tasted different.

Each chef had their own way of making it, even down to the individual ingredients, and the Confrérie de Pithiviers group, which promotes the area’s specialities, stepped in to create some order.
All Authentique Pithiviers are quatre-quarts with the same quantities of powdered almond, sugar, butter and eggs and flavoured with rum or kirsch (but no additives). The label is only for the fondant cake and not the flaky pastry Pithiviers, created in recent times.

The Confrérie coaxed the chefs to agree a common recipe to protect the name and not lose it as Aix-en-Provence did for its calissons, which were registered in China. Grand-Maître Jean-Philippe Liger said it was a way to promote Pithiviers in the same way as Brie cheese makers or Breton oyster fishermen do.