pâte feuilletée
/pat fœj.te/feminine
The English phrase "puff pastry" is translated into French as pâte feuilletée.
When you want to refer specifically to the flaky texture or the technical process of creating those layers, the term feuilletage is used.
Meaning: light, flaky pastry (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of pâte (dough/pastry) and feuilletée (layered/flaky), literally meaning "layered dough".
Which one should you use?
While pâte feuilletée refers to the dough itself, feuilletage is often used to refer to the flaky texture or the process of creating the layers.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun is feminine, so the indefinite article used is une rather than un.
How do you pronounce it?
/pat fœj.te/
Did you know?
- The adjective feuilletée comes from feuille, meaning 'leaf', implying that the pastry is made of many thin, leaf-like layers.
- While pâte feuilletée is the general term, the 'inverted' version used by professional chefs is called pâte feuilletée inversée, where the butter envelops the dough instead of the other way around.
- In French, the word pâte is used for both dough and paste, such as toothpaste dentifrice or a paste of garlic. This versatility comes from its root meaning of a soft, malleable mass.
Examples in context
- La pâte feuilletée est la base de nombreux desserts français.Puff pastry is the base of many French desserts.
- J'ai besoin de connaître les techniques du feuilletage .I need to know the puff pastry techniques.
- Chez le boulanger, j'ai acheté un feuilleté aux pommes.At the bakery, I bought an apple puff pastry.
- Cette pâte feuilletée est très croustillante.This puff pastry is very crunchy.
- Je prépare une pâte feuilletée maison.I am making a homemade puff pastry.
Example conversation
Emma and Hugo are deciding what to bake.
- EmmaVeux-tu faire des chaussons aux pommes ?Do you want to make apple turnovers?
- HugoOui, mais avons-nous de la pâte feuilletée ?Yes, but do we have any puff pastry?
- EmmaNon, je n'en ai plus au frigo.No, I don't have any more in the fridge.
- HugoAlors, je vais en acheter maintenant.Then, I will go buy some now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “puff pastry” translations and entries pâte feuilletée, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
