Pastry Class in Bordeaux, France
- Amaris Scipione
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
This morning we are sailing back to Bordeaux. It’s nice to be sailing down the river. This river cruise is much different than the other ones that I’ve experienced. There is actually not a lot of sailing on it. Most of the destinations are very close to Bordeaux so we don’t have to move that much. I wasn’t expecting that element to the cruise, but it makes sense since the river is comparatively much shorter compared to the Rhine and Danube. It is much wider though!
We make a quick stop in Bourg on our way back to Bordeaux and a pastry chef boards the ship. He’s onboard to give a cooking demonstration. There is a pastry that is unique to this area of France called a Canele. It’s something that I tried on my food tour and looks like a little bundt cake and tastes a little bit like a rum cake. They are made from copper molds, and this creates a caramelized crunchy outside and a soft cake-like inside. The pastry chef shows us how to make this pastry and then we eat them! He’s added a sweet caramel cream to the top of the cake which really adds to the pastry. I like this one better than the one that I had on the food tour.
It’s Sunday in Bordeaux and that means there is a pop-up market right by the river. We have time to explore the market which was nice to see. It has a familiarity about it because little farmer’s markets just seem like one of those universal experiences.
We are going rogue this afternoon. The ship is offering a walking tour of Bordeaux, but we decided we want to do our own tour. We pre-booked our own pastry making class at The Gastronome Bordeaux. It takes about 30-minutes to walk from the ship to the store-front for our pastry class. It’s a private tour for our group of 13 and it’s a wonderful experience.
We’re greeted by the two owners: one is a retired doctor and the other retired from working in finance. Our pastry making consists of making caneles, gateau Basque, and pastry cream. They also have some fresh strawberries and radishes from the market. It’s an afternoon of laughing, baking, and eating. A wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
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