The best Paris-Brest in Île-de-France now has a name. This Sunday, November 1, 2026, the inaugural Grand Prix du Paris-Brest de la Pâtisserie Française announced its winners on the stage at the Chocolate and Pastry Fair, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles (15th arrondissement).
And the surprise comes from Seine-et-Marne (77). Gold goes to Fontainebleau, to Frédéric Cassel, while two patisseries in the 15th arrondissement round out the podium. A nice win for the outer suburbs over the capital, for a cake that nonetheless bears the name of Paris.
Fifteen finalists competed at the Salon du Chocolat, and three awards were presented at the ceremony on November 1. Here are the winners from this inaugural edition:
The winners leave with a trophy, an official certificate and a dated sticker to display in their window. A handy guide for food lovers passing by in the coming weeks.
That is what makes this event so distinctive: no yuzu or black sesame Paris-Brest pastries here, and no éclair-shaped ones either. The rules require a recipe faithful to the spirit of the cake devised in 1910 by Louis Durand, a pastry chef in Maisons-Laffitte, in the Yvelines, to celebrate the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling race. Hence its famous bicycle-wheel shape.
In practical terms, candidates had to make a ring-shaped choux pastry filled with almond and/or hazelnut praline cream, using praline made exclusively from these nuts. Fanciful decorations, alternative shapes and flavorings that would alter the cake were not allowed. The only concession to modernity was craquelin, now widely adopted by the profession.
Almost a countertrend at a time when Parisian shop windows are all vying to reinvent the classics. Like a return to the original score, played without a single false note. The Durand family’s historic shop, still in Maisons-Laffitte, is also featured in Gault&Millau’s selection of France’s best Paris-Brests.
The selection took place in two stages. A preliminary round was held on September 14, 2026, at EPMT in Paris, featuring a blind tasting by a panel of professionals. The 15 top candidates then secured their place in the final at the Salon du Chocolat.
Each pastry chef had to submit two completely identical Paris-Brest pastries, one for visual assessment and the other for tasting. The cakes had to be entirely anonymous, with no logo or lettering, and accompanied by an ingredients and allergens list, or risk disqualification. The temperature of the products could even be checked upon submission.
The final score was out of 200 points: 120 for taste, 30 for the quality of the cut and 50 for appearance. Taste therefore accounts for more than half the score, leaving little room for cakes that rely entirely on their looks.
Conceived by Nathalie Bohbot, the Grand Prix is backed by the Confédération Nationale des Artisans Pâtissiers (CNAP), chaired by Meilleur Ouvrier de France Laurent Le Daniel. Its official patron is none other than Pierre Hermé, who also worked alongside Frédéric Cassel early in his career at Fauchon.
For this inaugural edition, only establishments in the Île-de-France region and neighboring departments were eligible to compete. The competition was open to professionals aged 18 or over working in pastry shops, bakeries and pastry shops, chocolate shops, ice cream parlors, or hotels and palaces with a retail outlet, with only one entry permitted per establishment.
The winner can be savored in Fontainebleau, on Rue Grande, at the shop opened in 1994 by Frédéric Cassel, just steps from the château. It’s a great excuse to combine a walk in the forest with a gourmet break in Seine-et-Marne. The business also has a shop at the Carré Sénart shopping center in Lieusaint.
In the 15th arrondissement, the award-winning duo offers a little walking tour of sweet treats. L'Équilibre, the bakery and pastry shop run by Benjamin Roc and Clémentine Rapp (both of whom worked at the George V and Cheval Blanc), is on Rue Blomet, behind a listed Belle Époque storefront. On Rue George Bernard Shaw, Toshiya Takatsuka's pastry shop combines French classics with Japanese touches.
A quick tip: the award-winning Paris-Brests are likely to be in high demand in the days following the announcement of the awards. It’s best to go early in the day or check with the shops before making the trip.
To extend the tasting, we recommend checking out our selection of the best Paris-Brest pastries in Paris, our top spots for traditional French pastries, and the ranking of La Liste’s best pastry shops and bakeries in France for 2026.
Location
Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles
1 Place de la Porte de Versailles
75015 Paris 15
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