French confectionery, chocolates, pralines and caramels

If you think French confectionery means fancy macarons, you’re missing the point entirely. The real stuff, the confections that French people actually care about, comes from small towns you’ve probably never heard of, made by families who’ve been doing it since before your great-grandparents were born.

We’re talking about pralines that predate the French Revolution, caramels invented by chocolatiers who said “what if we just add salt?”, and nougat so protected by law that you can’t call it by its proper name unless you follow strict ingredient ratios. This isn’t chocolate-box prettiness. It’s serious business.

So here’s your guide to the French confections actually worth seeking out, the ones locals queue for, the ones with centuries of history, and the ones you absolutely cannot find anywhere else.

Pralines Roses de Lyon

Bright pink almonds the size of large peas, coated in vibrant pink sugar. They’re absolutely everywhere in Lyon, piled up in shop windows or tucked into brioches. The story goes that an 18th-century Lyonnais pastry chef was inspired by rose gardens and decided to tint his pralines pink.

In Lyon, they’re baked into things more often than eaten as sweets. The famous tarte aux pralines is crushed pink pralines cooked with cream in a pastry shell, ridiculously sweet and gooey. There’s also the Praluline, a brioche studded with pink praline pieces, created by Auguste Pralus in 1955.

Historic makers like Chocolaterie Voisin still produce them using artisanal methods in copper equipment. One or two are fine. A handful will make your teeth ache.

Caramels au Beurre Salé de Bretagne

Henri Le Roux invented these in 1977 in Quiberon, Brittany. Salted butter caramel with crushed almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts. In 1980, his CBS (Caramel au Beurre Salé) won Best Sweet in France.

Brittany was exempt from France’s historic salt tax, so they’ve been using salted butter for centuries whilst the rest of France used unsalted. Le Roux simply made what seemed obvious in Brittany, caramel with local salted butter.

The recipe remains unchanged and known only to a select few. Made in copper cauldrons using artisanal methods. The sweet-savoury combination with crunchy nut fragments contrasting against soft caramel is instantly addictive. Now available worldwide but still made in Brittany.

Nougat de Montélimar

White nougat made with honey, almonds, and egg whites, cooked slowly for five hours in copper cauldrons. To be called Nougat de Montélimar, it must contain at least 30% almonds and 32% honey (minimum 7% lavender honey). It has Protected Geographical Indication status.

Legend says agronomist Olivier de Serres had almond trees planted near Montélimar in the 18th century. The sweet became famous when President Émile Loubet (Montélimar’s former mayor) offered it to all foreign heads of state visiting France. The Beatles even mentioned “Montélimar” in their song “Savoy Truffle.”

There’s also black nougat, caramelized honey with almonds, cooked at high heat. It’s darker, crunchier, and has a burnt caramel flavour. Both types are part of Provence’s traditional 13 Christmas desserts.

La Praline de Montargis

The original praline, created in 1636 by Clément Jaluzot, chef to the Duc de Plessis-Praslin. Legend says the duke’s cook had the idea to coat almonds in caramelized sugar, and the sweet was named after his master, “praslin” eventually becoming “praline.”

These aren’t the pink Lyon pralines or Belgian chocolate pralines. Montargis pralines are whole roasted almonds individually coated in smooth caramelized sugar with a glossy finish. They’re crunchy, not too sweet, and you can taste the almond properly through the sugar coating.

The Maison Mazet in Montargis has been making them since 1903 using the traditional method. They’re cooked in copper cauldrons and hand-finished. The almonds are from Provence, and each praline takes several coating stages to get that perfect shell.

They’re elegant, sophisticated, and taste nothing like modern mass-produced versions. If you’re in the Loiret region, Montargis is worth a stop just for these. The town is quite proud of inventing the praline, there are even praline-themed walking tours.

Les Cocons de Lyon

Small chocolate sweets shaped like silkworm cocoons, a nod to Lyon‘s historic silk industry. Created in the 19th century when Lyon was Europe’s silk capital, these sweets celebrate the city’s famous canuts (silk workers) and the silkworms that made it all possible.

They’re made from chocolate-covered almond or hazelnut praline paste, moulded into oval cocoon shapes and dusted with cocoa powder or icing sugar. Some versions have a crunchy praline centre, others are smoother ganache.

Various chocolatiers in Lyon make their own versions, each claiming theirs is the most authentic. Voisin (the same one that makes pralines roses) is one of the best-known producers. They’re often sold alongside other Lyon specialities like Coussins de Lyon and pralines roses. They’re elegant, refined, and taste far better than the slightly odd concept might suggest.

Le Gallien de Bordeaux

A chocolatey caramel sweet from Bordeaux, created in 1818 by a confectioner named Gallien. These are small, round sweets with a soft caramel centre flavoured with chocolate and vanilla, wrapped in shiny foil.

They’re quite elegant, not too sweet, with a proper chocolate flavour rather than that artificial cocoa taste you get in cheaper sweets. The caramel is soft and melting, and they’ve got a reputation for being a sophisticated sweet, the sort of thing you’d offer guests with coffee.

The Gallien family made them for generations in Bordeaux, and whilst the original shop closed, the recipe was bought and is still produced today by Saunion. They’re particularly associated with Bordeaux’s wine trade, apparently they were popular with négociants (wine merchants) who’d offer them during tastings as a palate cleanser between wines.

Négus de Nevers

A soft chocolate or coffee caramel wrapped in a shell of hard caramel. Think toffee trapped inside toffee. Created in 1902 by Maison Grelier after the Ethiopian emperor known as the Negus visited Nevers. There’s also a coffee version called L’Abyssin, named after Abyssinia.

The outer shell is amber-coloured and crunchy, you have to properly bite through it to get to the soft centre. They’re particularly sensitive to humidity, so they come in sealed metal tins with desiccant packets.

The recipe isn’t written down, it’s passed orally from generation to generation and apparently can’t be mechanised. À La Mère de Famille bought the company in 2013 specifically to preserve this “real French sweet heritage.”

Niniches de Quiberon

Long, twisted sticks of buttery caramel from Quiberon in Brittany. Created in the 1920s, these striped caramels are softer and chewier than hard sweets but firmer than fudge. They’re made with Breton salted butter, cane sugar, and milk, cooked in copper cauldrons.

The name “niniche” apparently comes from a Breton word, and they’re traditional seaside sweets—the sort of thing you’d buy at the beach as a kid. They come in various flavours now (pear, lemon, coffee, hazelnut), but the original salted butter version is still the best.

They’re buttery, moreish, and last ages in your mouth. Adults love them as much as kids. Henri Le Roux (yes, the same one who invented CBS caramels) used to make these before he became famous for his more sophisticated caramels. They’re less known internationally than CBS but beloved locally.

Les Coucougnettes de Pau

Pink oval confections from Pau in the Pyrénées, created by Francis Miot and SG Sender (Gaston Lenôtre’s pastry chef) as a cheeky tribute to Henri IV. Whilst the name and shape do evoke certain masculine attributes, the meaning is actually more romantic, “coucougne” in old Béarnais means to cuddle, cajole, or cherish. A coucougnette is therefore “a little moment of love” that you give someone.

They’re made of three concentric layers: a roasted almond at the centre, covered in dark chocolate (70% cocoa), all rolled by hand in a pink almond paste flavoured with raspberry, ginger, and Armagnac. The combination sounds odd but works brilliantly, the fruitiness of raspberry, the kick of ginger and Armagnac, and the crunch of the roasted almond.

They won the Prize for Best Sweet in France in 2000 at the 45th International Confectionery Salon, so they’re not just a novelty. The pink colour and cheeky name are a nod to Henri IV (born in Pau), who had 57 mistresses and 24 children, earning him the nickname “le Vert Galant” (the frisky old gentleman). Perfect as gifts for people with a sense of humour.

La Brique du Capitole de Toulouse

A sweet confection shaped like the terracotta bricks that give Toulouse its nickname “La Ville Rose” (the Pink City). Created in 1951 by chocolaterie-confiserie Nougalet, it’s a crispy, flaky sweet made from sugar, almonds, hazelnuts, and vanilla.

The texture is somewhere between praline and brittle, crunchy and layered, with that distinctive caramelized flavour that comes from perfectly controlled cooking. The shape and colour reference the traditional “brique foraine” (local terracotta bricks) used to build Toulouse’s iconic pink buildings, including the Capitole itself.

It’s all about the quality of ingredients and the precision of cooking temperatures, that’s what gives it its particular flavour and crunch. The know-how has been passed down since 1951, and it remains a Toulouse speciality.

Marrons Glacés

Whole chestnuts preserved in sugar syrup, then glazed, one of the most luxurious and labour-intensive confections in France. They’ve been made since the 16th century, with various regions claiming the tradition, though Ardèche is particularly renowned for them.

The process takes days. Fresh chestnuts are carefully peeled (keeping them whole is crucial), then slowly candied in sugar syrup over multiple stages. Each day, the syrup concentration increases slightly, allowing the sugar to penetrate the chestnut without collapsing its structure. Finally, they’re glazed to give that characteristic glossy finish.

The result is sweet but not cloying, you can still taste the chestnut’s earthy, slightly smoky flavour beneath the sugar. The texture is soft and yielding, almost buttery. They’re delicate and break apart easily, which is why they’re always individually wrapped and packaged with extreme care.

Mind you, they’re expensive. Properly made marrons glacés cost a small fortune because of the time, skill, and high failure rate, many chestnuts break during the candying process. They’re traditionally given as gifts at Christmas or New Year, often in elegant wooden boxes.

So, what’s your pick?

Look, I know what you’re thinking, “Do I really need to travel to Montélimar just for nougat?” And the honest answer is: probably not. But will you regret it if you end up nearby and don’t try them? Absolutely.

So here’s what I’m curious about: if you could only try three of these, which would they be? I’m genuinely interested whether people go for the safe bets (pralines, nougat) or whether you’re the sort who’d dive straight into something weird like the Coucougnettes just for the story.

And more importantly, what have I missed? France has hundreds of regional confectioners I’ve never heard of, making things I’ve never tried. If you’ve got a favourite that didn’t make this list, or you know a confectionery that’s been making the same thing since 1823 in some village I’ve never visited, tell me about it in the comments!