This Lesser-Known French Pastry Is Way More Chocolatey Than a Pain au Chocolat

Tucked amid rows of golden croissants and pains au chocolat, between tender, pearl sugar–crowned chouquettes and crisp palmiers, lies the pain suisse — a long, rectangular-shaped pastry filled with satiny vanilla custard and chocolate chips. 

Pain suisse is traditionally a brioche-based pastry, but at bakeries across France, it’s more commonly made with flaky laminated croissant dough. The result is an immensely satisfying combination of a buttery, shatteringly crisp shell and a soft, rich filling. It’s a pastry that feels both sophisticated and familiar, indulgent and comfortingly quotidian.

To make pain suisse, bakers spread a thick layer of vanilla pastry cream and scatter small chocolate chips over buttery laminated or brioche dough. Then they fold the dough over itself and cut it into long rectangular slices before proofing and baking the pastries until golden. Sometimes, though not always, it’s brushed with a sugar syrup for a glossy, sweetened finish.

Pain suisse is a more luxurious, chocolate-forward alternative to a standard pain au chocolat. Each bite offers an interplay of texture and flavor: The slightly melted chocolate’s bitter edge balances the sweetness of the cream, and the crunchy, caramelized dough complements the soft filling. 

While its name suggests Swiss origins, pain suisse belongs to the broader French tradition of viennoiserie, eaten in the morning or for goûter, France’s late-afternoon snack. And though it is certainly not a new addition to the canon of French pastries, it’s one that is often passed over for its more well-known flaky counterparts. 

Chatting over a table scattered with the remaining shards of pains suisse, my friend Farah Keram, a journalist and author of Faire son Pain and Cuisines d’Afrique du Nord, remarked that when she was a child in Paris, it seemed like pains suisse were everywhere. Now, after pain suisse apparently took a bit of a hiatus, she’s happy to see her childhood treat begin to pop back up onto counters and racks across the city. 

3 pains suisse to try in Paris

From classic versions at storied bakeries to modern, newfangled iterations, the pain suisse is having a renaissance in Paris — and we’re all the better for it. Here are a few to try during your next visit. 

La Panifacture

This tiny bakery in the 11th arrondissement makes perhaps my personal favorite classic pain suisse in Paris. The laminated pastry is crisp and buttery with plenty of layers, the cream filling is just south of overflowing, and the chocolate chips are bittersweet.

Du Pain et des Idées

Just around the corner from the canal Saint-Martin, this corner bakery boasts a beautiful 19th-century facade and a very classic, very good pain suisse. This version is square and a bit flatter in shape. It has a crunchy, sugar syrup–brushed croissant dough filled with vanilla-forward custard and both dark and white chocolate chips. 

Pleincœur

The pain suisse from acclaimed French pastry chef Maxime Frédéric eschews the typical folded-over rectangular shape. Instead, it looks more like a Danish, with a flaky swirl of laminated pastry surrounding a smooth vanilla pastry cream that’s studded with chocolate chunks and topped with a thick, glossy layer of chocolate ganache.