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Canelé

Ever since I heard word it, I’ve been anxious to try Helmut Newcake, what’s been heralded as the first gluten-free bakery in Paris. While a couple of bakeries and natural food shops offer gluten-free bread, they’re invariably made somewhere where other breads are made (risking cross-contamination with wheat flour), or the salesclerks simply stack the gluten-free breads with the regular ones, which is little comfort to those who can’t tolerate eating gluten.

réligeuse

So it was a nice surprise to visit Helmut Newcake, where pastry chef Marie Tagliaferro whips up classic French pastries using a variety of flours, including chestnut and buckwheat, to create a range of desserts that are so close to the originals that they told me that a majority of the customers who come in have no idea they’re even in a gluten-free bakery.

helmut newcake

lemon meringue tart

The friendly fellow behind the counter said that France was un peu retard when it comes to gluten-free offering. But at Helmut Newcake, they’re off to a good start catching up. I wasn’t expecting traditional French pastries, but more things in the American tradition, like crisps, snack cakes, and cookies, but was surprised (and delighted) to see they hit the right notes with French classics, including one of the best canelés I’ve ever had. A crisp exterior with a chewy center scented with vanilla made it hard not to pick the whole thing up and gobble it down, instead of using the small spoons provided. (Or sharing it with my dining companion.)

le cheesecake choux à la creme

Tartlets are made with ground pistachios and fresh red currants, lemon filling nests in buttery pastry then gets meringuée, and Madame de Fontenay Chocolat has a crown of caramel over a puff of crisp choux pastry and a smear of chocolate ganache. And the French are wild about Le Cheesecake, and my friend Zeva, who I was splitting everything with, said was one of the best she’s ever had. It was great, with the fresh flavor of good cream cheese, not overly heavy and dense. It was a bit crumbly and I dropped more than a few bits on the beautifully finished wood floors while trying to shovel it into my mouth while perched on a high barstool. So like a good guest and seasoned pastry-lover, before I left, I took care to leave not a crumb behind, anywhere.

Canelé

In addition to various cakes and cookies, they’re making bread on Sundays, to go along with le brunch, as they say in Paris, but any day of the week, this is one of the few bakeries in town where you can sit down and have a bite to eat with coffee, New York or London-style. Marie was obviously influenced by the coffee-shop vibe. And happily, the coffee is very good, too.

(I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t a late-night dessert café in Paris. Perhaps because people don’t go out for dessert in the evening, but I think if given a reason to…)

gluten-free products helmut newton gluten-free pastries in paris

There’s a rayon of gluten-free products from neighboring European countries, such as cereals and a few baking ingredients for those wanting to do a bit of browsing shopping. I’m not gluten-free but am thrilled that there’s finally a place where people who are, can come and enjoy French pastries without a care. Because who wants to worry when they’re eating dessert?

Helmut Newcake patio

Helmut Newcake
28 rue Vignon (9th)
M: Madeleine
Tél: 09 9 81 31 28 31

[Note: The pictures in this post were taken at the Helmut Newcake bakery and café when it was near the Canal St-Martin. That location has closed.]

Related Links

Noglu: Gluten-free Restaurant in Paris

BabycakesNYC

Chambelland gluten-free boulangerie

Gluten-Free Brownie Recipe

Canelé Recipe (Chez Pim)

Gluten-Free Eating and Dining in Paris

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80 comments

    • Juan @ Blue Sauger Coupons

    Those tartlets look pretty amazing, the french really do know their pastries.

    • Thanh @ eat, little bird

    Great to see that you can still create exquisite-looking and great-tasting desserts which are gluten-free. I have some friends who will be very interested in visiting Helmut Newcake in Paris!

    • Chaumierelesiris

    All so beautiful!

    • emmycooks

    You’re supposed to eat canelés with tiny spoons?! I have so much to learn! I really should come to Paris and practice…

    • GF Patisserie

    Finally. Paris.
    Really good news

    • Gluten Free Mrs D

    This is fantastic news that a dedicated gluten free bakery has opened in Paris. It’s also wonderful to hear these gluten free pastries are as good (and in some cases perhaps better) than their gluten-containing equivalents. I can’t wait to visit!

    • Christina Grace

    Looks good! think I shall pay it a visit next week!

    • SavvyChristine

    Such good news! This is one of the first dessert posts I’ve read in a long time that didn’t leave me a little sad on the inside.

    • The Duo Dishes

    It is nice to see that options are available. It goes without saying that some of us are curious how old school Parisian pastry chefs feel about making gluten free products. These pastries are gorgeous, by the way.

    • Kim

    Oh David…. you have made my day! London has just got its first GF bakery too. Must add this one to this list to visit when next over. And I love it that you of all people think they are good. Thanks for sharing!

    • Crystal

    Sounds wonderful. Saving this for my next trip to Paris!

    • Lindsey

    I spotted my favorite British tea :) Eager to try the place.

    • Paris Karin (an alien parisienne)

    I was just there yesterday evening, for my second time! When Helmut Newcake appeared in the paper “A Nous Paris” a few weeks ago, I knew I had to go, so my friend, blogger Jennifer from the blog The Accidental Parisienne and another friend of hers and I tried them out a couple of weeks back. Good, good stuff, and a very welcoming atmosphere, too.

    Just so folks know, none of the pastries are dairy-free. About 50% of people who are gluten intolerant are also dairy intolerant, so this could be important for people who are gluten intolerant or have Celiac Disease. But, there are several pastries made with butter alone — no cream or milk are in them — such as the madeleines and the cannelés. I’m one of those who can eat butter from time to time, so I am glad for these options. So far, I’ve tried the chocolate fondant and also the pistachio and current tartlet — both were terrific!

    BTW, the “fellow behind the counter” is Marie’s husband, François. They are operating the shop as a joint effort. They also lived in London for something like four years, and both speak excellent English! (And I know it was him to whom you spoke because we talked yesterday and your name up and he said you’d been in the shop the day before! :) )

    I can’t recommend this place enough! I’m so glad that you hopped on this one, David, and went to try their stuff out. I hope the trend continues and that awareness increases about gluten and its effects on the body, especially for those walking around with undiagnosed Celiac Disease, here in France. I’m super thankful for the work Marie and François are doing.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Ii did later read that he was Marie’s husband, but I didn’t ask them, so didn’t print it initially. It is pretty interesting that they opened here in France, because as he said, France has been a little slow to adopt gluten-free items. But the good news is that means the field is wide-open, so there’s room for more!

    • Jenn

    wow everything looks great! Will definitely remember this place next time I am in Paris!!

    • parisbreakfast

    Everything looks YUM
    Can’t wait to try the citron tarte and the canele and and..

    • Emma

    What terrific news ! Not that gluten-free has arrived in Paris, as that concerns me very little (but is interesting, etc).

    Rather, that my lifelong pipe dream of opening a bakery that opens at 2 pm – so that I could sleep in a bit and not have bags under my eyes – could actually succeed somewhere, maybe. Now to move to France and actually learn the skills needed to open a bakery, run a bakery, bake the goods for the bakery, and so on.

    • Meagan

    I love your attitude towards us who are gluten-free. So many people are not receptive to the idea, but your last comment about enjoying dessert says it all. Thanks for featuring this cafe in your blog post and supporting the gluten-free community!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t quite understand when people aren’t ‘receptive’ to various diets, because people have their own individual needs and diets. It’s true that when I worked in the restaurant business there were guests who had questionable dietary needs (one woman told me she could only eat “white food”, and another person told me they were allergic to “cooked fruit”) and perhaps they are actual allergies…um, but those kinds of things make people skeptical of others who have actual allergies/intolerances.

      Plus I think nowadays, there’s so many interesting flours (buckwheat, corn, etc) and things like coconut milk, that can be swapped out for other ingredients, which add a whole new palette of flavors, rather than just being 2nd rate substitutes – am happy to report her canelés and cheesecake (crust) are just as good, if not better, than the originals.

    • James Brewer

    How lucky to live in Paris and have all these fantastic places to go to. Its good to see places like this opening, so everyone can enjoy foods like this.

    • Andrea

    This is fantastic news. Compared to Italy, France seemed a bit tougher when I was there, when it came to finding wheat/gluten free foods.

    That’s why I had pure buckwheat galettes for many of my meals. It’s a hard life!

    • Chrissy (My Fare Foodie)

    Is their name a play on Helmut Newton? If so, major points for that!

    • Elaine

    This post makes me want to cry! I was in Paris just a couple of weeks ago, and I scoured the webs for information about gluten-free offerings there. I didn’t find much, apart from your post about eating gluten-free in Paris from a few years ago, so I was thrilled to stumble upon 100% buckwheat galettes near the Pompidou. Gosh, I wish I had found this place!

    Looks like I’ll have to make another trip soon.

    • Isabelle

    This is very exciting. I can’t wait to get back to Paris and visit this place. The last time I visited, soon after being diagnosed with celiac disease, I had to visit health-food stores and buy packaged baked goods (of moderate quality) to get my sweets fix. Not exactly the same thing …

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t really like to direct people toward natural food stores in Paris who are gluten-free, because the selection is mostly pre-packaged items. And while I haven’t tried them, I don’t think many visitors to Paris want to eat gluten-free madeleines from a bag. However some natural food stores, like Biocoop, have fresh gluten-free baked goods on the bakery shelves, although for those very sensitive to gluten, they’re stored on the same shelves as the regular baked goods. So it’s great to be able to report a full-on gluten-free bakery in Paris!

    • Bradford Lewis

    caneles. One of my favorite French desserts of all time. Was there any rum in this one?

    • Gali

    Now this is a place I must visit! It’s always been so hard finding anything that I would consider a “proper” dessert in France for me because everything, or almost, has gluten in it and people tend to stare at you when you ask them if they have anything gluten-free (“mais madame, c’est ca veut dire quoi sans gluten? c’est un truc bio? sans OMG?” *headdesk*)

    I must say that I’m quite lucky here in Finland as almost any restaurant or shop will have at least some gluten-free bread/soup and many will have some kind of sweet stuff, so I never have to settle for “just a salad” which pretty much all that I know is safe in many countries. I’m glad that France is catching up, now if only my other base in Marseille also had a GF bakery!

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    France isn’t necessarily a “service” country, so when you eat out, you’re a “guest” (as you would be, at a dinner party) rather than “the king”, as customers are in America. And as you, and the Frenchman at the bakery counter mentioned, things like gluten-free aren’t quite well-known here.

    (I always thought it was interesting because when I moved to France, people were extremely concerned about genetically-modified foods, but would wave me away with a laugh if I mentioned ‘organic’.)

    But I think as French people travel more, especially the younger generation – like the folks who own Helmut Newcake (they were inspired by living in London for a few years) – people in France are starting to be more aware of food allergies and intolerances. For example, there are lactose-free milks and butters in some supermarkets and you can find gluten-free items on the shelves, although they tend to be more pre-packaged items.

    • Wild Dingo

    OMG, I think I may have to kiss you. I just recently discovered my “sensitivity” to gluten. Just as I was becoming a “foodie” and learning to cook. I don’t know to what extent I’m sensitive to it. I do know for now I keep it out of my diet, which i have to say, has made it VERY diffficult to read your blog. The other night, I broke down and used gluten free OAT flour in a white wine butter sauce. I found a source for it that costs a ziilion dollars to ship it here. it’s easy to find “gluten free” baked goods but hard to find “gluten free” Oats or Oat flour etc. because most people don’t “get” the cross contamination thing. I also happen to be sensitive to corn and corn flour. sigh. makes it harder. it’s not as bad as wheat and now and then, i’ll break down and eat the gluten free bread made with corn flour. I bought a bread machine right away to bake my own bread but w/o corn flour, that becomes even a little harder because finding ingredients here in Switzerland is pretty hard. You know what the sad part is? i never learned to bake with “normal” ingredients before this. Now I have to figure out how to “substitute” before I figured out what things like white flour, yeast, and other flours would “do” to baked goods.

    The oat flour in the white wine sauce worked out…so now i have an idea on how to thicken my sauces. :)

    We’re visiting Paris in April. It sounds so cliché to me to say that. Like what other time is there to visit Paris? We’ve become the Euro-cliché. But I’m really thrilled to see this bakery. Can’t wait to try it!

    • Wild Dingo

    PS. the more i read about what happened to wheat over the last 50 years, the sadder I get. We did this to ourselves. I wonder if we never touched it, and just let it be, if we’d have this sudden sensitivity to it.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I was just reading in Carol Field’s book The Italian Baker, how much bakers in Italy rave over American flour because it’s stronger. (She says that “the Italian earth, which remains hospitable to grapes and olives, has been so consistently exploited that it day it produces weak grains that lack the strength and flavor of grains of the past.”) French flour is very finely milled, and not strong, and I wonder if it’s also because the soil has been overworked and instilled with too many pesticides.

      However gluten intolerance has been prevalent in Italy for many years, and a good friend of mine was diagnosed about 20+ or so years ago. And for a number of years, you could find gluten-free products in Italian supermarkets easily. (And most gelaterias have gluten-free cones.)

    • Sugar Daze/Cat

    Looking forward to trying this place out. Love the name – pure genius!

    • Dana B

    those desserts look like any should, gluten-free or not — scrumptious! :)

    • G

    Very good news! Wish this shop was open when I was living in Paris….
    Btw 09 for a Paris landline? Shouldn’t be 01? Or 06 for a mobile phone?

    • Kelly-Jane

    Beautiful pasteries.

    • Desa

    Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve known for a long time that if I were terminal, I’d spend my days in France eating pastries and unpasteurized cheese. When I started dating someone gluten intolerant, I had a sharp little pang when I realized I wouldn’t be able to share the best of the European culinary experience with him. Always a pleasure reading your blog!

    • Ilke

    I always wondered what a gluten allergic French person would do to eat those desserts or if there is any gluten sensitive people in France at all :) I am not gluten free but I know lots of people who would enjoy to see this.
    As to the late night dessert cafes… They just have to find a good marketer who can make French think “they really need” this cafe at night. At least, that is how it works in the Us, we really think we need bunch of stuff that we actually do not :)

    • Jess Davies

    Excellent! A new place to try when I get back to Paris!

    • The Chic Teach

    Never before did I want to go to Paris.

    And then I found this blog.

    • columbine

    ok the gluten-free fad has reached Europe with ridiculous proportions (supermarket here selling candies write “sans-gluten” on the packets just as Americans for a while, or maybe still would write 99% fat-free on the same candies).
    yes, well, why don’t we have egg-free or nut-free bakeries because people get asthma from eggs or eating nuts.
    recently a French food blogger was asking where she could find a gluten-free sushi bar in Paris, no kidding…

    surely, it’s enough to offer gluten-free food along with regular ones? do we really need special shops for this?

    http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-gluten7-2008jul07,0,6367449.story

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I think that because unlike eggs and nuts (to some extent), it’s hard to make something gluten-free if flour has been used nearby because it gets everywhere. And people who work in regular food establishment don’t always know what has gluten in it, or not. (I didn’t know soy sauce, some bottled salad dressings, sausage and some pâtés, often have it, until I had some friends who were gluten-free.)

      I don’t know if it’s a fad or not. But I do know good bakeries – and this is a good one! ; )

    • Susan

    Man, my patisserie list just gets longer and longer. Nice to have something open later than most patisseries — you can have a late snack with more than end-of-day leftovers to choose from.

    I don’t see macaron pictures — that would be a no-brainer for a gluten-free place. Do they make them?

    • animasolaarts

    As a girl with Celiac, this makes me very, very happy. (Note to self, find vacation rental in 10e. I love Paris in the springtime.)

    • Shirley @ gfe

    David, this news is fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing, and in your usual charming manner, too. I quickly was visualizing myself there enjoying all those treats safely. :-) Now I have even more of a reason to visit a friend who recently moved to France!

    Shirley

    • Tracy H.

    Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful news. Will definitely make a visit when I’m in Paris next. And I will put this link in the newsletter I write for the gluten free community in Marin County, California. Lots of travelers to France in our group.

    • Carol Markel

    David,
    You know those ads that say loose your belly fat in 7 easy steps? Well — I just bought this book by Dr. William Davis called “Wheat Belly — Lose the wheat, lose the weight, and find your path back to health.” I was determined to lose my belly fat and look like I did in college, and why not? If anything, I’m shorter now as a 67-year old. I am here to tell you that it works. It has been about 3 weeks, I cut out all wheat, and I have lost 4 lbs of belly fat. (My theory is last on (belly fat), first off — LOFO.) In addition, I guit drinking my 2 glasses of wine a night. According to an article in Bazaar that I read, “…alcohol both slows metabolism and is readily stored as fat.” Not to mention the calories. And of course I exercise. So I am thrilled to see this oddly named patisserie, Helmut Newcake in Paris. Win-win!

    • Sandra Castro

    Beautiful but when I have tried to bake with these flours I find a heavy or fatty taste is that just me or is there a different way to incorporate this flours when baking?

    • martine Jablonski-Cahours

    As you wrote : at last ! maybe American are a bit paranoid about gluten but the French are definitely behind ” en retard”…
    When I had my table d’hôtes, I had a few bookings with gluten-free guests.
    I bought a book “gluten free diet for dummies” , learned a lot from it and from my guests ( before they arrived, we had many exchanges to make sure everything was alright). I know that for the really sensitive ones, none of their food should stand next to gluten one.
    Having such a place available is great.
    Thank you for sharing and I will go as I love cannelés and all the rest.

    • Laura @ Gluten Free Pantry

    Thank you, thank you! My French husband is celiac and finds eating GF in France when we go back for vacation so difficult. We will be going to this bakery next time we are in Paris for sure!!!

    • Kate McDermott

    David-
    When I taught with Kate Hill at Camont in November of this year, I decided to eat whatever baked goods I wanted over the course of the month I was in Gascony. Although I have a gluten sensitivity and have been GF for 6 years, I did not have any reactions. I’ve talked to other GF folks here in the US now that I’ve been back and more than not, they have expressed the same thing as well. Any thoughts on why? Intriguing to say the least. Kate

    • Oana from dishchronicles

    OK honestly, I’ve wondered for years, silently, curious, incredulous sometimes, filled with jealousy others but now, I can’t keep it in any longer…here it is: how on the world do you stay so *thin*?!! How is it humanly possible when divine cream and sugar surrounds you?! OK, I’m done.

    The answer is here. – dl

    • Rachel

    Thanks for the Helmut Newcake posting – will certainly try them out when we pop over from Devon next. A response, really, to Kate McDermott’s comment about having no ill effect from baked goods in Gascony. I experienced much the same thing when I was staying in the Drome de Provence – I gingerly tried croissants and multi grain breads and had hardly any ill effects. I am wheat rather than gluten intolerant – severely so – and yet when I gradually built up the amount I ate each day (from a pinch from the end of a regular butter croissant one day to a whole one by the end of the week), I didn’t have the usual illness. Upon my return to England, I met someone else who is wheat intolerant and had also found that croissants in France were fine for her…

    • Marta Hubbard

    This comment comes from a 70 year old living in Eugene, Oregon. I have been reading your blog for several months now and want to say “Thank You” for sharing your writings about Paris. Looks like I may get to visit Paris next year and look forward to such a long anticipated visit. Also just finished your book “The Sweet Life in Paris” So well written and so enjoyable to read !!

    Best to you,
    Marta Hubbard

    • Suzanne Perazzini

    Oh my gosh I wish I had known about that place when I was in Paris from New Zealand just before Xmas. It looks like they have really captured the spirit of a gorgeous Frenchl bakery while staying true to their aim.

    • huw

    I m not gluten sensitive but if I eat (UK) supermarket bread my stomach bloats almost immediately. My home baked bread (just wheat flour, yeast, salt, water) doesn t have this effect – neither do supermarket pitta/flat breads. I think its the additives and processing that they use that are the culprits.

    • Sarah

    Amazingly, so many of my favorite things end up gluten- free! Macaron’s are a case and point ;-)
    I am not surprised to hear they were able to successfully create fabulous treats. Breads. That’s harder, so, bravo!

    • Margie

    Nut flours offer a dimension that exceeds the expectations. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some of the gluten-free items I’ve tasted. It would be divine to find myself in this little bit of pastry heaven. Yum, yum, yum…

    • Amanda

    I would have been sucked into that bakery from the looks alone (yes, I’m shallow) I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free baking as of late and I must say, it’s been a challenge. Fun to experiment though.

    Side note: I bought a can of white beans imported from Italy the other day and emblazoned on the can in giant letters were the words “Gluten-Free” Guess the Italians are keeping up with the movement too…

    • Joann

    This is wonderful; about 6 months ago, I was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. I LOVE to bake and have thought of owning a tea/bakeshop myself at times….then this. Finding ingredients and recipes that are truly delicious is an arduous task. But, finding places to actually enjoy gluten free delights is almost impossible….

    If I travel to Paris, this lovely discovery will be on my list of must visits….but I truly felt as if I almost went there while reading your wonderful review….you do a marvelous job of telling every detail….

    • Wild Dingo

    That’s interesting what you said about The Italian Baker. However, I was not referring to overworked soil or pesticides so much as genetically modification. I read recently (sorry don’t remember the source, I can try to find it if you’re interested) how over the last 50 years, wheat in general has been genetically modified for many nobel reasons (solving world hunger) and not so nobel reasons (fluffier products). The modifications involved “more gluten.” When I read about gluten as a protein composite that served as a natural pesticide for the plant, and then it was increased through genetic modification to make products fluffier. What I meant was: I wonder if we just left it alone if this would have happened to our population increase in gluten intolerance. Further, I say this movie on TED recently: http://youtu.be/rixyrCNVVGA about corn GMO. And it struck me as odd: creating a corn seed that has it’s “own pesticide built in.” Were they modeling wheat’s natural (pre modified) protein pesticide protection in hopes of producing more corn? and in fact I seriously wondered if that was why i was also sensitive to corn as well. Because it seems to me it’s the same thing; producing a protein through genetics as an automatic pesticide for the plant.

    I’m not a biologist. I’m not a doctor. I’m just observing, learning and wondering. I’m sure any doctor would balk at my theory. However, like you, 8 years ago, i had NO idea what the heck gluten was. I knew it was in pasta. Then I had a guest who came to dinner and I was making my lovely puttenesca sauce and he tells me he can’t have gluten. I’m like “i wash it off the pasta after it’s cooked.” ha-ha. right? then I’m like “ok, well we have this really great freshly made Italian Pizza.” i know, right? dingbell was my name. So i go on with my life and the last few years my health suddenly got weird in that no doctor could figure it out. they tried to give me anti-depressants. A health-nut most of my life, like you, i believe if you stay fit, exercise or walk lots of places, you can enjoy ANYTHING in moderation. I couldn’t figure out why i had such low energy and why my body felt like it had inflammation all over it all the time, or why brain felt like I was smoking a permanent dobbie. It was completely by accident that I made the connection to gluten and went back to the doctors and said “test this.” because like you, i really refused to believe a varied and healthy diet could do this to someone. And like you, i’m always questioning those who claim the really weird food allergies.

    I was always lactose intolerant but that didn’t keep me from dipping into gelato in Italy or the cheeses in france. Which back, in the early 90’s when i traveled, i have to say, the European cheese did NOTHING to me that American cheese/dairy did. Today, it’s not true. I don’t know if it’s from changes in the cheese, the cows, the processing, or that i’m just getting older… anyway, lactose intolerance doesn’t keep me from indulging now and then. Like I said, I don’t know my own intolerance level. I do know when I travel, i’m certain I eat it from contamination at restaurants. Because flour gets everywhere, or they put it in things you wouldn’t imagine. And my body reflects that i”ve had it. I’ve seen gluten in ICE CREAM and frozen yogurt. But I’ve also known people who have the sensitivity and have done a huge purge, given their bodies a cleanse over 8 months or year and can now occassionally have it without too much trouble. I know a bunch of gluten sensitive and celiac disease people will balk at that. but I’ve heard it from first hand experiences. So far I know that if i have it occassionally, it affects my digestion pretty fast, but all the other symptoms don’t appear unless I’m eating it day after day. So it makes travel a little uncomfortable, but not debilitating. And I have to say, I’m going to Venice at the end of February. The Italians may be on the ball with Gluten free products, but I don’t think I’m going to resist the pizza or pasta. We’ll see if I come back swearing never to indulge again!

    • Wild Dingo

    btw: I’ve been wanting to make your lemon tart for ages, but didn’t have the proper tools since I had just moved here to Switzerland. Now I have all the right tools and not the right Body. I need a verse in Alanis Morrisette’s song dedicated the irony of becoming a foodie and discovering this challenging food sensativity. “It’s like 10,000 French Bakeries when you’re starving and you’re gluten intolerant.”

    I am going to make the tart one day normally as planned and then try varied substitutions. I’m not bold enough to just go off and substitute without trying it from the original recipe!

    • Kate

    OH this is fabulous news! But, they stole my idea! Did you hear the program on France Inter about Celiac disease in France? They estimate 1% of the population has it, just as the US. My Celiac is extremely sensitive and I have had fabulous luck at many restaurants when I explain and apologize and say thank you! I think I’m going to convince my husband we need to brave the (-) temps today and head to the 10th!

    • Rachel Willen

    My gluten-intol friends who live in Paris will be thrilled! Though, as a gluten-into person myself, one way I’ve been able to stay slim (at my age!) is by avoiding most grains and all breads and cakes…with the way the gluten-free baking is going…creating more and more wonderful, great tasting and looking stuff…I won’t be able to resist! Oh well…just have to go to the gym more!

    • Stephen

    THANK YOU for this article. You just completely changed the complexion of the next trip to Paris. Merci, merci, merci.

    • Chris

    Do they they make croissants? One of my top-missed baked goodies….

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      They don’t, because I think that’s quite a challenge and they don’t seem set up for morning pastries. But I didn’t make it to Sunday brunch yet, so perhaps they are doing something of the sort.

    • Eleanor

    Thank you for this article. As I come to terms with my son’s serious food allergies (not wheat, but also not a fad, alas) and try to wrap my mind around traveling with these challenges, this sort of step gives me a boost. I wonder if you can tell me if French bakeries tend to use dairy or egg when making, say, baguettes.

    • Drena Paulson

    David, I have been experimenting with canelles recently. Do you know what they use instead of regular flour, butter and milk? I would love to try these bu my chance of getting anywhere near Paris anytime soon is..oh zero. Love your blog by the way.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t know what flours she uses in her baked goods. When I asked, she just said, “Different kinds…” – but didn’t offer any specifics. Professional secrets! : )

    • Jocuri Bile

    Amazingly, so many of my favorite things end up gluten- free! Macaron’s are a case and point ;-)
    I am not surprised to hear they were able to successfully create fabulous treats. Breads. Great news!

    • shauna

    DAVID! Now I can visit you! Plan on it soon.

    • Lisa @ GF Canteen

    I am so happily going back to Paris, now. It was difficult last time, trying to eat GF, but this will make life so much more pleasant. Did they happen to have a croissant?

    • R. Walker

    Oh goody! I’ m going to visit Paris in June with Road Scholar. They promised me GF meals in the hotel and scheduled restaurants. But I will have to look this place up!

    • spiceandmore

    Ah this is so good to know – thank you! I have been wondering how I would survive for three weeks of eating gluten and dairy on a trip to to Paris we are planning (because I could not go to France and not eat the cakes, pastries, cheese, etc!!). I was prepared to suffer for the sake of good food…but now I could have a day or two of “rest” in between and have gluten free versions. Have my cake and eat it too as it were! Yay!

    • Vahtikoira

    Thanks for sharing this. This is my first visit. Never before did I want to go to Paris. Why oh why they don’t make them in my country :)

    • Alana D

    Oh I can’t wait to visit!

    • marguerite

    I am so excited to find this information, thank you so much for sharing everyone. We are going to Paris in April and being recently suspected of being gluten intolerant I was deeply concerned as to how we would manage my diet. This is wonderful news!!!

    • Melissa

    Gives us hope that we will find vegan options when in Paris this summer. Will definitely check this place out, thanks for sharing!

    • Anne

    My mom is gluten-free, and she and her boyfriend are visiting me in Paris this week, so I took them to Helmut Newcake (we all love your blog and The Sweet Life in Paris!). It did not disappoint. The pastries were unreal delicious, and we liked the lunch special they were offering as well.

    • Randy de Paris

    My father was a pastry Chef, so I grew up eating and loving pastries. Unfortunately, I had to go gluten free January 1 of this year. I live in Paris and it’s been a challenge. I’ve been exploring where it’d be easy for me to get gluten free products aside from “bio” stores. Believe it or not Chinatown as alot of pastries that are gluten free made with rice flour, sticky rice e.g, filled (chocolate, bean paste…) mochi balls, cassava cakes etc., etc. Granted they’re not the same as French pastries, but fills the void.

    So, when I heard about Helmut Newcake I was ecstatic. Went today with a friend and we ordered various pastries from fruit filled to cream filled and even a chocolate molten cake. My faves were the fruit filled ones. The cream ones were good, but a little too sugary for my taste. I also bought their gluten free bread flour (Wessex Mill–UK). And, there’s a recipe right on the bag how to make their bread. How cool is that! And, the owner further described how I should use the flour and how to heat up the molten cake. He was VERY helpful!!! We later learned he spoke perfect English, so, if you’re French isn’t that good, and you have questions, ask away in English…

    Now I’m waiting for the day I see gluten free baguettes, then I’ll be in 7th heaven.

A

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