Pastries. Rudy and Peter Skitterians / Pixabay.com / 2017 / CC0 1.0
The 9th of December is Pastry Day.
There are many different types of pastry to choose from to celebrate today, anything from filo-type pastry to pie crust. You could have a French pastry, a Danish pastry, a Middle Eastern pastry, a Greek pastry or a Chinese pastry — the list goes on because just about every cuisine makes them now. In Italy, it’s typical to have a sweet pastry for breakfast.
If you are not into sweets today, quiche and plain croissants count as pastry, too.
There are pastry chefs who dedicate their entire careers to making pastry. Many take the French to be the champions of pastries. Haute French pastry requires both exact science and creativity.
You could make something with pastry today. You can buy frozen pastry dough as a shortcut if you are short of time. Many cooks who have surmounted the challenge of making puff pastry now buy it frozen, reasoning that they’ve already proved themselves capable of surmounting the challenge.
If time or inclination doesn’t permit, you can of course buy a pastry. It might be a good day to support your local, independent bakery by getting a pastry there. In fact, you could get a bunch to share with your family, neighbours or co-workers.
Some restaurants and bakeries are now getting in on the day by offering special creations or promotions.
#PastryDay #NationalPastryDay
See also: Pastry, Pastry War, Beavertails Pastry Day, Pastry Blender, Pastry Brush, Pastry Cloth, Pastry Cloth Pad, Pastry Cream, Pastry Frame, Pastry Frames, Pastry Jigger, Pastry Wheels
Recipes
History
The first mention that CooksInfo is aware of for a Pastry Day in December dates from 1995 in California:
“Apparently it was National Pastry Day at the office. Croissants, muffins, and big, fat doughnuts were strewn about.” — Lane, Judy. Hurry up and Fast. Tuesday, 12th December 1995. Page A19, col. 6.
No date is specified for the day, however.
In 2000, there’s a reference on the 4th December 2000 attaching it to a specific day 5 days later:
“5 Days until National Pastry Day” — Countdown. Orlando, Florida: The Orlando Sentinel. Page A3, col. 3.
In 2004, Emily Nunn of the Chicago Tribune, includes it in a list of “silly food holidays”:
“December…. Gazpacho Day (6), Cotton Candy Day (7), Pastry Day (9), Noodle Ring Day (11), BouillabaisseDay (14) …” — Nunn, Emily. Surrender to never-ending glut of silly food holidays. Chicago Tribune. Reprinted in: Kerrville Daily Times. Kerrville, Texas. 22 Sep 2004. Page 3C, col 1.
Another mention occurs several years later in December 2013 in the Del Rio News-Herald in Del Rio, Texas:
“Unusual holidays this week: 9th [December] – National Pastry Day (Cream puffs, always go for cream puffs.)” — Bouldin, Bill: Drones helping in the hunt for swine. Del Rio, Texas: Del Rio News-Herald. 8 December 2013. Page 4A, col. 6.
Sources
Kang, Anna. 7 sweets restaurants are baking for National Pastry Day. Nation’s Restaurant News. 7 December 2017. Accessed November 2020 at https://www.nrn.com/dessert-trends/7-sweets-restaurants-are-baking-national-pastry-day
Porpora, Tracey. It’s National Pastry Day: How are you celebrating? The Staten Island Advance. 9 December 2018. Accessed November 2020 at https://www.silive.com/news/2018/12/its-national-pastry-day-how-are-you-celebrating.html
Sazegar, Nicole. National Pastry Day: 5 Fun and Weird Facts About Pastries. Entity Magazine. 28 August 2017. Accessed November 2020 at https://www.entitymag.com/national-pastry-day-5-facts/
Top 10 places to celebrate National Pastry Day. Toronto.com. 1 Dec 2015. Accessed November 2020 at https://www.toronto.com/shopping-story/6121442-top-10-places-to-celebrate-national-pastry-day/
Waldock, Julie. Happy National Pastry Day. WTVM TV. 9 December 2018. Accessed November 2020 at at http://www.wtvm.com/2018/12/09/happy-national-pastry-day/