cuire
/kɥiʁ/
To bake in French is cuire.
The verb cuire means to cook or to bake. While it is a general term for heating food, it is often used with the phrase au four to specifically denote baking in an oven. In recipes, you will frequently see the causative phrase faire cuire to mean 'to cook' or 'to bake' a specific ingredient. Related culinary terms include pâte for dough, levure for yeast and casserole for a baking dish.
Meaning: to cook in an oven (verb)
Which one should you use?
In English, there is a strict distinction between 'to cook' and 'to bake', but in French, cuire serves as a general term for both.
How do you pronounce it?
/kɥiʁ/
Did you know?
- The term cuite is used colloquially to describe someone who is very drunk.
- In an artistic context, cuire is used for the process of firing ceramics or pottery in a kiln, not just for food in an oven.
- Because cuire is so general, French uses a separate verb enfourner specifically for the act of putting something into the oven.
Examples in context
- Faire cuire au four préchauffé pendant 1 heure.Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.This sentence is useful for instructing how to use a preheated oven with cuire.Tatoeba #3574463 by Lebensfreude, translation #3574432 by Lebensfreude
- Mamie, peux-tu nous faire cuire des biscuits, s'il te plaît ?Grandma, can you bake us biscuits, please?This sentence shows how to use cuire when asking someone to bake a treat.Tatoeba #14006626 by Ioan_Cristian, translation #14006625 by Ioan_Cristian
- Après, faire cuire dans un four préchauffé à 175 °C pour environ 1 heure.Afterward, bake in oven preheated to 175°C for about 1 hour.This sentence is useful for providing specific temperature instructions with cuire.Tatoeba #3559736 by Lebensfreude, translation #3559606 by Lebensfreude
- Pour réaliser un délicieux gâteau, il faut le cuire au four pendant 45 minutes.To make a delicious cake, you must bake it in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Cette recette traditionnelle demande de cuire les croissants au four à une température précise.This traditional recipe requires baking the croissants in the oven at a precise temperature.
- Je vais cuisiner au four un délicieux gratin ce soir.I'm going to bake a delicious gratin tonight.
- On doit faire cuire le poulet pendant 30 minutes à 180 degrés.We need to bake the chicken for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.
- Enfourne les biscuits pendant 10 minutes puis laisse-les refroidir.Put the cookies in the oven for 10 minutes, then let them cool.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Gabriel are in the kitchen preparing a dessert.
- LéaJe vais faire cuire le gâteau.I am going to bake the cake.
- GabrielEst-ce que je dois faire cuire le pain aussi ?Should I bake the bread too?
- LéaNon, laisse-moi juste cuire le dessert.No, just let me bake the dessert.
- GabrielD'accord, je vais préparer la table.Okay, I will set the table.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bake” translations and entries cuire, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
