London Cafe

Whether it’s in the crisp flaking of an early morning croissant, the aromatic puff of steam wafting from a lunchtime sausage roll, or the delicate curl on the crust of a sneaky dessert apple pie, there’s surely something wonderful about pastries at any time of day. We hit up London to sample the very best pastries we could find, and the fair city did not fail to deliver.

But watch out: all pastries are not made equal, and the unaware pastry shopper might find themselves with a stale or sour mouthful of disappointment. Here’s our go-to guide to buying good London pastries.

Freshness is Quality (and can be found more cheaply than you think)

When you buy pastries in London, it’s easy to assume that luxury patisseries piled with treats and bon bons will be the source of the best morsels. This can be true, but is not always the case. Before re-mortgaging your house for a few luxury bites, try your most popular local supermarket first thing in the morning. Supermarkets will often bake on-site, and their high turnover serving eat-and-run commuters means that a pain au chocolat or croissant may have been baked only an hour previously.

If you do try that boutique bakery, aim for places with queues that sell out around lunchtime. Fresh and sold out today means it is far less likely to be stale and on sale tomorrow. Look out for grease spots below the pastry; this usually means the item has been sitting out for some time.

The French are still King

Many good pastries in London hale from French origins. Pastries are a way of life in France, and some of the best have found their way over the Channel. Look out for regional specialities, such as canelés from Bordeaux (small fluted rum and vanilla confectioneries served as breakfast or dessert). Or try a pain aux raisins, sometimes known as an escargot for its spiralised, snail-like appearance. Like the croissant or pain au chocolat, this is made from leavened butter pastry, swirled with crème pâtissière, and studded with raisins (we like to tell ourselves this almost makes it the ‘health food’ of French pastries! Raisins are fruit, after all). Perfect pastries are crisp on the outside and warm, airy and light within, like a day in early Autumn.

France also has the benefit of having absorbed other cultural influences, such as the delicious flavours of Moroccan and Armenian cuisine, featuring rosewater, almonds, and other delicate and fragrant scents and tastes, so look out for these cultural mash-ups when you want to buy pastries in London.

Better Butter

The quality of butter used can make or break a pastry, and in London where butter can be sourced from all manner of dairies and farms, this is the number-one defining factor in pastry quality.

The water and fat content of the butter will affect the colour and consistency of a pastry, so look for good butter and good colour (not too brown, not too pale — we’re aiming for beautifully golden here). And don’t even go near flaky pastries listing palm oil or canola oil as a primary ingredient — it’s not worth it.

Organic, grass-fed butter, properly stored, will be more likely to create a delicious pastry.

Pastry Patriotism

British pastries such as pies, Cornish pasties, and sausage rolls don’t have to be stodgy nightmares: a good British pastry can be a delicate, deeply satisfying affair, and have its own life form. Look for establishments that have been around for a while and that have a good reputation for classic British pastries, or for owners/bakers who hail from a region famous for pasties, such as Cornwall.

Think Outside the Geographical Pastry Box

When you go to buy pastries in London, don’t limit yourself to English and French pastries. Look at Middle Eastern and Turkish places, where there are a wide range of beautiful, exotic, and delicious delicacies available. Common middle eastern ingredients include dates, almonds, rosewater, figs, pomegranate, and pistachios. Börek (savoury Turkish pastries) and baklava are beautiful when fresh.

Warning Signs

If the pastry you’re looking at is glazed with icing, covered in cheese, sprinkled with multi-coloured confetti, or wrapped in bacon, it is usually to keep the pastry longer and disguise a lack of freshness. Any place selling good London pastries should know better.

Be wary also of refrigerated pastries, as this can make the oil or butter content of an otherwise delicious mouthful harden and congeal. Flaky pastry is not designed to be chilled in this way, and the mouth-congealing effect of cold pastries is not a pleasant sensation.

Be careful also of cafés in museums or galleries: often these places have extremely inflated prices. You don’t want to be paying 12 pounds for a chewy, day-old croissant… right?

Are you Filo-ing it?

A perfect almond croissant is a wonderful thing, but don’t write off other less common forms of pastries, such as delicious creations made of filo, or the retro appeal of puff pastry morsels. Pre-rolled, frozen pastry (again, don’t forget to go for quality butter content), is a great way to experiment with pastry creations at home. Again, Turkish and Middle-Eastern places have a way with filo pastry, often pairing it with sticky honey syrups and delicate flavours.

At the end of the day, there’s only one reliable way to research the best pastries in London: using your tastebuds. Immerse yourself in the incredible range of flavours and options available, slow down, and taste every bite. Savour the moment, and really explore the full character of the pastry. Is it fresh? Meltingly delicate? Subtly rich? Indulgently sweet? If the answer is yes, you might just have found your new favourite pastry shop!

If you want to know what is happening in the world of food, look no further than London. The bustling city is where you’ll find the latest and greatest food trends, and the rest of the world watches eagerly to see where London will lead.

We’re happy to say that one delicious trend is the comeback of pastries—whether it’s global uncertainty, being sick of too many kale smoothies, or just because they taste so good, Londoners are reaching for a chocolate croissant or a new spin on a Danish.

You only live once, so drop the diet, and sink your teeth into something blissfully delicious. Pastry is back, and it’s more creative and pleasurable than ever.

Here are some of the best morsels in London to watch out.

Global Influence

London is a melting pot of cultures, so it’s the perfect place to find a delicious pastry with a twist from another culture. Look out for the influence of Indian sweets like kulfi and magus, South-East Asian fruits like durian and jackfruit, and the inescapable influence of Japanese macha. It’s common in Japan to see green tea-flavoured filling inside everything from cream buns to cat-shaped waffles, so look out for green tea fillings in your favourite pastries as London gets in on the buzz.

Home Flavours

As well as looking around the world for inspiration, pastry chefs are also making increasing use of the bounty of produce available in their own backyard. Rather than just boring old apple, lemon curd, or maybe the occasional tinned apricot, keep your eyes and nose alert at markets and pastry shops for creative morsels using fragrant local quinces, heritage peach and apricot varieties, fresh local raspberries, that English garden staple, rhubarb, and more.

Chefs like Nigel Slater and Jamie Oliver have led the way championing local produce, and the benefits can be seen in increased awareness of the bounty of England’s garden, and increased availability of previously hard-to-find fruits and vegetables. Elderberry turnover, anyone?

A Return to the Classics

They say that burgers, ice-cream sundaes, and cereal bowls had a boom in popularity around the time of the 2008 financial crisis, and in our current uncertain times, people are once again turning to the simple classics. When the going gets tough, people want something comforting, familiar, and delicious. This means the classics, such as pain au chocolat, pain au raisin, almond croissants, donuts, cream buns, custard squares, and éclairs.

Look for the best: find yourself a bakery with high turnover (and apple turnovers!), that doesn’t use any artificial colours or flavours. Find yourself a regular haunt that you think makes the best London pastries: where the buttery flakes are juuuuust right, and every mouthful is melt-in-the-mouth tender.

Another trend that is spilling across from the world of desserts is complete over-the-top indulgence. “Freakshakes”, giant milkshakes featuring so many toppings you can barely see the glass, are a big Instagram-worthy trend, and we can expect to see some of this unrestrained exuberance spilling over into pastries in London. Think chocolate sprinkles, multiple toppings, whipped cream, chocolate AND caramel sauce, and anything else you can imagine. Now is not the time to think healthy!

The Flipside: Health Craze

At the other end of the spectrum, some of the most creative, best morsels in London involve new-era ingredients that ARE a little healthier. Coconut flour brownie, anyone? How about cashew cream custard, thickened with ground chia seeds? Maca and cacao cookies? Or maybe a slice of dairy-free chocolate cheesecake, made with coconut oil, freeze-dried açai, and activated almond flour?

The most exciting things to look out for in this buzzing area are interesting flours, such as buckwheat, coconut, besan (chickpea), and nut flours; superfoods from around the world, such as maca, chia, hemp seeds, goji berries, açai, cacao, macha, and bee pollen; and creative sweeteners, such as agave nectar (made from the agave cactus plant, which is also where tequila comes from!), coconut sugar (made from the nectar of the flowers, and then dried), dates, raw natural honey, and stevia (a naturally sweet leaf that can replace sugar).

Our knowledge of superfoods and creative food chemistry just keeps increasing, so if you have allergies or intolerances, or enjoy eating outside the box, look out for creative reinterpretations of old favourites, using some of these new-era ingredients.

Be warned, however: there are a few things to watch out for. Some of these treats can be very pricey, so if it’s not completely delicious, don’t bother. Watch out for food-world followers, such as big supermarket chains, trying to get in on the trend by adding negligible amounts of certain superfoods: read the labels to check you’re actually getting what you’re paying for. And finally, don’t get too caught up in the (expensive, often-pretentious) health-food buzz: If it tastes disgusting (or anything less than swoon-worthy), it’s probably not worth it. “Pastry” and “healthy” were never meant to go together in the same sentence. What’s the point in living longer if you you’re not going to eat chocolate croissants?!

Beyond Trends: Deliciousness is Never Out of Fashion

London is full of crazy food trends, but some things will never go out of fashion: simple, sweet, melt-in-the-mouth, fresh London pastries—preferably warm out of the oven. In our complex world, it’s the quiet moments that count: sitting down on a park bench with a lemon custard tart. Sharing a custard scroll with someone you love. Pulling a sticky raspberry bun from the brown paper bag at the end of a summer’s picnic, and licking the icing from the paper. Pastries mean pleasure, so start searching for your go-to source now!