The best pastry shops Vaucluse

A true Carpentrassian institution, the Jouvaud house opened its doors in 1948! A longevity that is no stranger to this family passion - 3 generations in succession - for quality, inventiveness... and gourmet food! Over the years, the range has grown and diversified, from macaroons to rocailles (sublime meringues with roasted hazelnuts caramelized inside). The decorative objects selected by Nicole and her daughter Maïe find a nice resonance with the sweetness of father and son.

"Cakes, sweets, chocolates and gifts", four little words that take on their full value here. The reputation of Maison Jouvaud, also in Carpentras and Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, has not wavered for 3 generations! You can sit there at tea time after shopping. In addition to sweets, tarts, millefeuilles and their famous XXL meringues, there is a savory snack section with well-stocked sandwiches. In summer, salads are added. Dishes, tablecloths, cushions, lights are part of the decor and are for sale.

The 250 m² of bright, airy space features a pastry shop, a tea room, a juice and ice-cream bar and a snack bar. The counter where you sit opens onto the laboratory, where a young brigade in chef's hat and impeccable uniform is hard at work. The pastries, cakes, entremets and viennoiseries are very good, but more expensive than elsewhere. At lunchtime, a snack menu offers a few suggestions and daily specials for a break. When the weather's fine, there's a lovely terrace to sit out on.

Since 1988, this master pastry chef and disciple of Escoffier has been a favorite of Pernois food lovers and connoisseurs alike. People come from far and wide for his travel cake: Soleil Pernois, a delectable marriage of raspberry pulp and candied melon, which you can easily slip into your luggage because it's not afraid of heat or transport. The same goes for "La Perle de la Nesque", a meringue base with an orange praline center. This is not the case for "Esprit Blanchard", a chocolate bonbon with a cinnamon aroma created in honor of the Pernois music master, but never mind, we'll eat it right away! As for the rest, the shop windows are overflowing with pastries, ice creams, petits fours and other sweets that rival, among other temptations, the chocolates, made exclusively from selected beans. And the welcome is extremely kind.

The maleoùs are small cakes made in the Vaucluse by Éléonore. She uses only organic and local products, and in season. The maleoùs, which look like big macaroons, are available in salted butter caramel, fig-rosemary, melon-fennel, pomegranate and Zaatar, a spicy Lebanese mixture with a lemony taste. And also in salty flavors chorizo-tarragon, goat-basil, tuna and cumin... They keep for several days, you can bring them back in your luggage as a little piece of Provence. Éléonore sells them at markets and online.

While madeleines originated in Commercy in eastern France, where Madeleine Paulmier invented the recipe in the ^18th century, in the Luberon region of France Émeline has been making hundreds of handmade madeleines every day since 2021, to the delight of gourmets. Crunchy and soft, not too sweet, plain, with chocolate, preserved lemon or almonds, they are shaped like a scallop shell. Émeline sells them at the La Tour d'Aigues and Pertuis markets, but they can also be ordered via her La Luberonnaise website.

Michel Bourbouze, artisan patissier and master chocolatier, keeps the traditions alive. He's the home of the famous cadenette: a braid designed by the Seigneur de Cadenet in the early ^17th century, which was used to adorn the hairstyles of soldiers and "incroyables" or "muscadins" after the French Revolution. Michel's braids are much less vindictive: they consist of orange zest macerated in Grand Marnier, a melting ganache, all molded into a dark chocolate braid, and attractively presented in a small drum. You'll also find classic pure-butter viennoiseries and personalized cakes, all made on the premises from fresh ingredients.

We're a stone's throw from the tourist office. The front says as much as the name of the sign! Inside, the shop windows are a showcase for the pastries, desserts and chocolates made daily. The fine pastries follow the seasons as do the macaroons which come in original flavours, apricot with rosemary, mango ylang ylang. Calissons, meringues and homemade chocolates are beautifully presented.

Théodore Volpert is a pastry goldsmith; he's not even 30, and since 2019 his reputation has been attracting gourmets from all over the Luberon. We come for the classic tarts, millefeuilles, operas, éclairs, macaroons... And you'll fall for the creations: Saint-Elzéar, Sainte-Delphine - saints celebrated locally in Provence - and Mistral qui chasse les nuages, unless it's a cake in homage to Frédéric Mistral, the bard of the Provencal language. In honor of the finest local produce, Le Cévennes has the flavor of chestnuts.