{"id":8335,"date":"2026-10-19T23:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8335"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:46","slug":"tarte-conversation","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/tarte-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarte Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cracks run through the pale icing, and thin strips of puff pastry cross it diagonally in a lattice. Tarte conversation is a French pastry in which almond cream is enclosed in laminated puff pastry and baked with a white icing already on top. The surface has thin bands of pastry and dried icing; beneath them lie many layers of pastry and moist almond cream. Whether it is made as a large tart or as tartlets, the cut face reveals layers of differing firmness.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A conversation from Vial, a bakery and pastry shop in Bo\u00ebn-sur-Lignon (June 26, 2023). A single small pastry layered with icing and a thin pastry lattice. Photo: Romainbehar \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. Made available under CC0 by the photographer. No alterations to the content and no cropping on our part.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A name said to come from \u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie\u201d<\/h2>\n

Conversation is the French word for \u201cconversation.\u201d The name is linked to \u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie,\u201d in which Louise d\u2019\u00c9pinay depicted, in the form of dialogues, a mother\u2019s education of a young girl named \u00c9milie. The first edition was published in 1774, and before long further editions appeared in Paris as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cLe Larousse des desserts\u201d relates that a small almond pastry was created in the late 18th century, named after that popular book. Neither the first shop to make it nor the year sales began is known, and 1774 is the publication year of the book, not of the pastry. The pastry, whose connection to the book is told in this way, has kept a name that evokes \u201cconversation\u201d at the table.<\/p>\n

Not over-whipping the almond cream, and not overfilling<\/h2>\n

The filling is a cream made by combining soft butter, sugar, almond flour and eggs. Some formulas round out the flavor by adding dairy cream, rum or citrus zest. The recettes (formulas and methods) of Mercotte and of the specialist magazine Saveurs agree on not whipping this cream too vigorously. The fat is softened before mixing, but not melted into a liquid.<\/p>\n

If the mold is overfilled, the filling can rise during baking and overflow at the edges. In Mercotte\u2019s method, the cream is kept to about half the height. Rather than packing the thin shell to the brim, the method leaves room for the filling to rise as it bakes.<\/p>\n

One home-style example combines the almond cream with custard and adds brandy for aroma. Changing the filling formula changes the dairy flavor and the mouthfeel, even within the same pastry casing.<\/p>\n

At Chez Tomitaka, a pastry shop in Beppu, both the pastry and the confiture are made in-house, and there is an example with raspberry confiture sandwiched inside. It is a maker\u2019s own touch that layers the tartness of fruit over the almond flavor.<\/p>\n

Spreading icing on the pastry lid and laying the lattice<\/h2>\n

Cream goes into the pastry base, a second sheet of pastry is laid on top as a lid, and the edges are sealed tightly. Apart from the lattice visible on the surface, there is another sheet of pastry underneath it, so the filling is enclosed by pastry above and below.<\/p>\n

The strips for the lattice are cut separately, brushed with egg and chilled. Even thin dough that stretches easily is less likely to lose its shape when moved if it is cold. The icing is spread thinly over the assembled lid, the strips are laid diagonally across it, and the pastry is chilled before baking.<\/p>\n

\"Tarte<\/p>\n

Tarte conversation topped with white icing and strips of dough. Photo: Rystheguy, 2016-02, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Original size, no additional processing.<\/p>\n

\n\"Cross-section\n
Cross-section of the same pastry broken open (Vial, June 26, 2023). The white icing on top, the pastry crust and the filling inside are layered together. Photo: Romainbehar \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. Made available under CC0 by the photographer. No alterations to the content and no cropping on our part.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Baking that dries the icing and expands the pastry layers<\/h2>\n

For this pastry, the glace royale is applied before baking. Powdered sugar and egg white are combined and spread thinly, and thin strips of puff pastry are laid over it. As it bakes, the icing dries and the pastry underneath puffs up, producing a surface marked with cracks.<\/p>\n

Some recettes add a small amount of flour to the icing. In Mercotte\u2019s formula, it is used to give a pale color during baking and can be omitted. A little lemon juice is also used to adjust the softness of the icing. It is not that only icing containing flour counts as glace royale; the version with flour is one formula adjusted for baking this pastry.<\/p>\n

In laminated dough, steam generated by the heat pushes apart the layers of thin dough and butter. Cutting the dough without crushing its edges and baking without making the icing too thick give a clean lattice outline and layers that break crisply. The pastry is baked while watching the color of the surface and cooled slightly before it is removed from the mold. Rather than being decorated in white afterward, this is a pastry in which the icing and the pastry change in different ways in the same oven.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Glace royale<\/strong>: An icing made mainly of powdered sugar and egg white. Royal icing.<\/p>

Almond cream<\/strong>: A cream for baking, made by combining butter, sugar, almond flour, eggs and other ingredients.<\/p>

Tartlet<\/strong>: A small tart.<\/p>

Chez Tomitaka<\/strong>: A pastry shop in Beppu, Oita Prefecture.<\/p>

Mercotte<\/strong>: A French culinary researcher and pastry writer who publishes formulas and explanations of techniques.<\/p>

Louise d\u2019\u00c9pinay<\/strong>: An 18th-century French writer. Her \u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie\u201d is cited as the origin of this pastry\u2019s name.<\/p>

\u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie\u201d<\/strong>: A book in which d\u2019\u00c9pinay depicted, in the form of dialogues, a mother\u2019s education of a young girl named \u00c9milie. Original title: \u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie.\u201d Published in Leipzig in 1774 and in Paris in 1776.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 nin, \u201cConversation,\u201d Cookpad<\/a> \u2014 A home-style example combining almond cream with custard and brandy.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 Mercotte, \u201cTarte conversation, recette, trucs astuces et explications,\u201d 2012-11-28<\/a> \u2014 Almond cream, flour in the icing as optional, lemon juice, filling amount and air, top and bottom pastry and chilling, and the traditional account of the name.\n\u2022 Pierre Herm\u00e9, \u201cLe Larousse des desserts,\u201d Conversations<\/a> \u2014 The recette for small conversations on page 159 of the PDF, and the history section stating that the pastry is \u201csaid to\u201d derive from a 1774 book. Not a contemporaneous record by the author or a pastry shop.\n\u2022 Voltaire Foundation (ed.), \u201cLes Conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie,\u201d bibliographic record<\/a> \u2014 The scholarly edition\u2019s commentary gives the first edition as 1774 and describes the book\u2019s content. Does not indicate the pastry\u2019s release date.\n\u2022 Project Gutenberg, \u201cLes conversations d\u2019\u00c9milie,\u201d digitization of the original 1776 Paris edition<\/a> \u2014 Bibliographic details of the 1776 edition. Not used as a basis for any statement about the pastry.\n\u2022 Saveurs Magazine, \u201cTarte Conversation\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Filling with dairy, rum and lemon zest; egg-white icing and flour; chilled strips; coloring during baking and the composition in the mold.<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u2022 Chez Tomitaka, \u201cConversation: The Conversation Sweet\u201d<\/a> \u2014 One example from this shop, with raspberry confiture sandwiched inside and both the pastry and the fruit confiture made in-house.<\/p><\/li>

  4. Research note<\/h3><\/li>

  5. The book\u2019s first edition was published in Leipzig in 1774, and the Paris edition in 1776. This is publication history, not the date the pastry was first sold. The link with the name is an origin story passed down in \u201cLe Larousse des desserts,\u201d and it is not proven by 18th-century pastry shop advertisements or by sales records from the time.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Tarte conversation is a French pastry in which almond cream is wrapped in laminated puff pastry, topped with white icing and a lattice of dough, and baked. Fine cracks form across the baked surface, and the pale icing shows between the lattice strips. The many crisp layers of the crust combine with the soft almond center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7252,"menu_order":106,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Tarte conversation","subtitle":"Almond-filled puff pastry covered with baked white icing and a lattice","topics":"The white icing is baked along with it\uff0fAssembled cold, without too much air\uff0fCarrying on the name \u201cconversation\u201d","country":"France","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["nuts","cream","egg"],"texture":["moist"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[163],"class_list":["post-8335","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t