National Pastry Day

Celebrating National Pastry Day this December 9 is easy when you pick from delicious pastries like a homemade pie, apple turnover, strudel, baklava, quiche, or eclairs.

Try your hand at making your pastries, or stop by your local bakery for a bunch of delectable treats for you and the whole family.

But before you dig in, take a look at these frequently asked questions to learn more about National Pastry Day.

When is National Pastry Day?

Lovers of pastries celebrate National Pastry Day on December 9 each year.

How do I celebrate?

The most straightforward way to observe this holiday is to set aside some time to enjoy the wonder of a freshly-made pastry on December 9. Pretty easy, right? Here are some more ideas to consider:

Visit your local bakery. Put your diet on hold for a day and support small businesses in your area. Bring home extra pastries for friends, family, neighbors, and workmates.

Learn something new. Check out a cooking show on TV or the internet. Popular baking shows like “The Great British Bake Off” and “Cupcake Wars” are good choices to get ideas.

Make your pastry dough from scratch. Nothing is more rewarding than creating a delicious, made-from-scratch pastry to share with your family.

Be sure to post photos of your pastry masterpiece on social media with the hashtags listed below.

Cook with kids – your own, your grandchildren, or neighborhood children.

A quick history of pastries

The making of pastries dates back to as early as 2600 BC. Some of the earliest known pastries are doughnut-like pastries created by the Egyptians. They made pastries from a mix of grain-meal flour and honey.

By the 7th century, pastry baking became a culinary art form in the Middle East, eventually spreading to Europe. Chefs in France and Italy experimented and created many new pastry versions and techniques we know today.

Check out our National Ice Cream Cone Day page.

National Pastry Day FAQs

Here are some questions and answers about this fluffy holiday celebration.

What are the 7 types of pastry?

1.) Puff pastry – Known as the king of pastries for its remarkable rise and structure. Made from layers of dough and butter, rolled together and overlapped.

2.) Short Crust Pastry – An easy-to-prepare pastry mainly used to line the tops and bottoms of pies, tart, quiches, etc.

3.) Pate suchrée (or Sweet shortcrust pastry) – A sweeter and richer version of the shortcrust pastry from France. Add sugar and egg yolks.

4.) Phyllo pastry (or sometimes spelled filo) – This low-fat pastry has flaky layers. They are typically used in making baklava and spanakopita.

5.) Rough puff pastry (or flaky pastry) – Lumps of shortening keep layers of dough separated, resulting in a flaky, light pastry. Often used in lunch and dinner dishes.

6.) Choux pastry – Another French-influenced pastry made with eggs for extra richness and often filled with creams using pastry bags. Good examples are cream puffs and éclairs.

7.) Hot water crust pastry – A versatile pastry for holding together meat pies and other saucy and dense ingredients.

What are the 3 types of pastry dough?

1.) Brisée – The traditional French crust made with these ingredients: flour, butter, salt, and cold water.

2.) Sucrée – As the name implies, this light, crisp pastry dough has sugar added.

3.) Sablée – The richest pastry dough and the most difficult to work with. It also has a more crumbly texture than the other doughs.

What are some other related holidays to National Pastry Day?

National Ice Cream Day – July 18

National Cupcake Day – October 18

Cake Day – November 26

National Cookie Day – December 4

National Brownie Day – December 8

What are some National Pastry Day hashtags to use on social media?

#NationalPastryDay

#NationalBakeryDay

#PastryDay

#Pastry

#Dessert

#Patisserie

#PastryChef

#Bakery

#DonutGiveUp

#GlazedAndConfused

Pastry quotes

There are only four great arts: music, painting, sculpture, and ornamental pastry—architecture being perhaps the least banal derivative of the latter.
Julia Child

The great thing about pastry is there are so many avenues—it’s very hard to get bored doing this.
Adriano Zumbo

Being a great baker and pastry chef requires the utmost open mind. I try every dessert that comes my way!
Christina Tosi

We can’t all be bakers or chefs. Many of us have modest ambitions. But we can all buy a piece of the pie.
Amah Lambert

A pastry usually tastes better if it looks nice. A cream pastry, now that looks nice—in fact, there is nothing I mind as long as it looks nice.
Arne Jacobsen

It could be argued that there is an element of entertainment in every pie, as every pie is inherently a surprise by virtue of its crust.
Janet Clarkson

I’m living on things that excite me, be they pastry, or lobster, or love.
Jimmy Buffett

Everyone has a favorite cake, pastry, pudding, or pie from when they were kids.
Paul Hollywood

Pastry sayings

I fell in love with pastry because I felt I could be much more creative. It’s precise, and you don’t have to kill anything.
Johnny Iuzzini

You may feel that you have eaten too much… But this pastry is like feathers – it is like snow. It is in fact good for you, a digestive!
M.F.K. Fisher

Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.
Lemony Snicket

All food starting with p is comfort food: pasta, potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter, pastrami, pizza, pastry.
Sara Paretsky

Pastry is different from cooking because you have to consider chemistry, beauty, and flavor. It’s not just sugar and eggs thrown together. I tell my pastry chefs to be in tune with all of this. You have to be challenged by using secret or unusual ingredients.
Ron Ben-Israel

The First Law of Pies: ‘No Pastry, No Pie.”
Janet Clarkson

You don’t have to do everything from scratch. Nobody wants to make puff pastry!
Ina Garten

The fine arts are five in number, namely: painting, sculpture, poetry, music, and architecture, the principal branch of the latter being pastry.
Marie-Antoine Careme

Pastry Jokes

What’s a baker’s favorite tree?
A pastry.

What did the pastry say to the apples as they were placed in the oven?
“Let’s get ready to crumble!”

Why shouldn’t you date a pastry chef?
He’ll desert you!

Where was the first pastry cooked?
In Greece.

Which pastry is the most religious?
The donut — its holiness can not be denied.

What did the pastry chef say to her supervisor to get a raise?
“C’mon, I need the dough.”

Why did the clock in the pastry shop always run slow?
It always went back 4 seconds.

How does Bob Marley like his pastries?
Wi’ jam in!

Happy Holidays!

By Jill Swanson

Jill writes about food, cooking, and family.

Etcetera

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