On Tuesday, June 2 and Wednesday, June 3, the National Federation of French Bakeries and Pastry Shops organized a nationally significant event: the election of the best butter croissant in France. A competition of utmost importance, where 20 establishments battled it out for the ultimate reward. And good news, the gold medal is just a hop away for Parisian butter lovers, as it is located at Versailles.
A Dozen Criteria to Crown the King of Croissants
To try and snag the crown, the contestants had 5 hours to whip up no less than 30 delicacies. But beware, they were monitored throughout the preparation to ensure the jury could confirm the compliance with several characteristics and techniques.
: hygiene, following the steps, quality of the rolling, glazing, consistency. The tasting also followed a number of criteria to be met: weight of 60g after baking (with a tolerance between 55 and 65g—how nice are these bakers?), but also baking of the croissant, layering, shape, consistency, taste, crumb, and aroma. A moment that we can imagine being absolutely dreadful for anyone who had to test the pastries.Voir cette publication sur Instagram
A Royal Delight
And, joy and happiness, the best of the best can be found on the lands of the Sun King (the person, not the croissant here), in Versailles. Indeed, it’s the artisan Dylan Delmaire who has been crowned and is currently working at the bakery L'Épi du Roi. He has distinguished himself with a creation of impeccable quality that, to top it all off, is easily accessible with just a ride on the RER C for us city folks! A beautiful recognition for this establishment, which had already won the title of best buttery croissant in Île-de-France "Grande Couronne" 2026, as well as awards for traditional French baguette from Yvelines and best almond galette from Yvelines 2024.
See this post on Instagram