Planning and preparing all of the desserts and pastries served at the White House seems like an unfathomable amount of work to begin with, so the fact that Yosses found time to pen a cookbook between all of those state dinners and catered events is doubly impressive. And The Perfect Finish is a real show-stopper of a dessert book. Each week for the next month we'll spotlight a different recipe. Enter to win a copy here! More

Piroshky (or pirozhok—but not to be confused with pierogi) is the Russian version of an empanada, calzone, or any other stuffed hand-held pie. Common fillings include poppy seeds, sausage, and cabbage. At Piroshky Piroshky in Seattle's Pike Place Market, they add a Pacific Northwest twist with a version that rolls up smoked salmon pate. More

Note: Over the weekend I visited Montreal and thanks to Montreal food blogger Katerine, forgot what it felt like to be hungry. Stay tuned this week for my snapshots from Montreal. [Photographs: Erin Zimmer] Calling a pastry "buttery" seems a little redundant, but the Kouign Amann, is like a croissant multiplied by a stick of butter. Originally from the French region of Bretagne (where it actually translates as "butter cake"), it has that delicate layer thing happening inside kind of like babka, topped with a golden crackly sugar shell. At Patisserie Kouign Amann in the Plateau neighborhood of Montreal, they make warm batches of the namesake pastry all day long. The recipe sounds simple enough: a round of dough with... More

[Image: Susan Hochbaum] "In Paris, everything looks like desserts," says designer Susan Hochbaum in her film/slideshow Pastry/Paris, in which she compares French pastries to compatible scenes and elements around Paris, whether its in form, color, or both. Now when you walk around this city of endless patisseries (hopefully buying treats along the way), you might see an éclair in a Metro sign, a cannelé in a doorknob, or a slice of cake in a topiary garden. [via The Improvised Life] Related Paris Bite: Matcha and Adzuki Duomo from Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki Where to Find Macarons Best Boulangeries in Paris... More

Jacques Torres posing with his class. [Photographs: Tressa Eaton] With colored balloons, heavy cream, and chocolate galore, it was pretty clear that the participants in Jacques Torres' "Chocolate Creations" class at the New York Culinary Experience last weekend were having way more fun than the other classes. Yes, those are balloons. Torres is very encouraging to those who want to try difficult pastry recipes at home. He tells would-be pastry chefs who mess up a project the first time to just do it again until they get it right. He took a minute away from cracking jokes and teaching the class how to make his whimsical creations to share the top fives tools you need when you want to... More

[Stephen Shull from The Eaten Path] Imagine a croissant, but made with pork fat instead of butter and topped with something sweet like powdered sugar, custard, or apricots. Apparently that's what an ensaïmade is like, a common pastry found in the Spanish island of Majorca. Stephen Shull fondly describes the pastry on The Eaten Path, specifically the one from Can Joan de s’Aigo, the oldest operating café and pastry shop in Palma. That's going on my list of "Pastries to Eat Before I Die."... More

"Krinos kind of feels like the Greek version of Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, minus all the powdered sugar on the ground." Cafeteria can mean mystery meat and hair nets, or it can mean landmark Athens doughnut hotspot. Since 1922, the good souls of Krinos have been frying loukoumades, or small doughnuts in ring or ball form (in this case, ring) drenched in a honey-citrus syrup. Even though it's on a shopping street near Omonoia Square, instead of being attached to a high school gym, it still gets the cafeteria classification because self-service cutlery and plastic trays are involved. Though there was a pile of fried rings waiting when I approached the counter, they apparently weren't fresh enough. They... More

Photograph from Henry Ko on Flickr That would be a Canadian pastry made of whole-wheat dough, shaped like a much-respected national symbol: a beaver's tail. Cooked in canola oil, they are served hot with a variety of toppings like cinnamon and sugar, chocolate hazelnut, maple butter, and apple cinnamon. In honor of President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa tomorrow, the Beavertails chain will make a special ObamaTail: the same base topped with cinnamon and sugar, a whipped cream "O," chocolate sauce, and some maple. For $3.75, they'll be available at the ByWard Market flagship store and for $4 at kiosks along the Rideau Canal Skateway.... More

Photograph from stickygooeychef on Flickr Apparently yesterday was World Nutella Day. Though we forgot to celebrate, this doesn't compromise the glory of a gnome wheelbarrowing nutella and banana filled aebleskiver in celebration of the hazlenuty goo holiday. Aebleskiver are spherical Danish pancakes, and in a perfect world, a gnome would always be delivering them. Previously Nutella Champagne Shooter Recipe Got Nutella? Hand me the Jar and a Spoon, Please. [Talk] Nutella Ravioli [Photograzing]... More

There are several schools of thought when it comes to breakfast pastries. There are the French loyalists, who rely on a time-honored repertoire of croissants, brioche, and pain au chocolat. Then there’s the anything-goes sweet tooth contingent—lovers of sticky buns and coffee cake, donuts and muffins, not bound by patisserie tradition but looking for a breakfast that’s gooey and satisfying. Can these two camps ever reach across the aisle? Yes, they can—in the morning bun. In my mind, the morning bun is the perfect synthesis of the classic croissant and the irresistible sticky bun. Call it a croissant in cinnamon roll clothing. It’s made of a buttery croissant dough, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (and often walnuts or pecans), then... More