Pain aux raisins: a flaky pastry filled with raisins and custard
Chaussons aux pommes: French apple turnovers
Pâte à choux: a light, buttery puff pastry dough
Éclair: oblong dessert made of choux pastry filled with cream and topped with icing (often chocolate)
Tarte au citron: lemon tart
Macaron: a meringue-based confectionary sandwich filled with various flavored ganache, creams, or jams
Croquembouche: a cone-shaped tower of confection created out of caramel-dipped, cream-filled pastry puffs and swathed in spun sugar threads, often served at French weddings or on special occasions
Saint-Honoré: a dessert named for the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs
Pâte feuilletée: a light, flaky puff pastry
Vanilla crème pâtissière: vanilla pastry cream
Hazelnut crème chiboust: a pastry cream lightened with Italian meringue
Paris-brest: a wheel-shaped dessert made of pâte à choux and filled with praline cream. Created in 1910 by chef Louis Durand to commemorate the Paris-Brest, a bicycle race.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to the talented team at Montlake, whose hard work keeps everything running smoothly. To my editor, Lauren Plude, for her thoughtful feedback and support; my books are so much better in your capable hands. And my agent, Kimberly Brower, who always has my back.
My gratitude to Amanda Bouchet and Adriana Anders for graciously looking over my French terms and phrases. Any mistakes there are my own.
And a special, huge thank-you to my Twitter friends and followers who, when I asked if I should write a story about a grumpy ex–hockey player who woos his heroine by baking her sweets, responded with an enthusiastic yes! This book wouldn’t exist without you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kristen Callihan is an author because there’s nothing else she’d rather be. She has written New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestsellers. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Her debut book, Firelight, received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence and was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, Best Book of Spring 2012 by Publishers Weekly, and Best Romance Book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. When she’s not writing, she’s reading.