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Best Pain aux raisins in Chicago
“A spiral viennoiserie of laminated butter dough, raisins, and crème pâtissière filling—breakfast in three textures.”
What the real thing tastes like
Pain aux raisins (French pronunciation: [pɛ̃ o ʁɛzɛ̃] ), also called escargot (pronounced [ɛskaʁɡo] ) or pain russe, is a spiral viennoiserie often eaten for breakfast in France. Its names translate as "raisin bread", "snail" and "Russian bread" respectively. It is typically a variant of the croissant or pain au chocolat, made with a leavened viennoiserie dough laminated with butter, with raisins added and shaped in a spiral with a crème pâtissière filling. It is often consumed for breakfast as part of a continental breakfast. In Paris, the name pain aux raisins is also used for a type of raisin bread – a loaf of bread made from wheat or rye and stuffed with raisins.
0 voices, one story
Pain aux raisins arrives at the French breakfast table as a spiral of laminated, buttered dough studded with raisins and filled with crème pâtissière—a close cousin to the croissant, but wound tight like an escargot shell. The name alone tells you three stories: raisin bread, snail, Russian bread, each name carrying its own geography. It's the kind of viennoiserie that asks you to unroll it as you eat, each turn of the spiral releasing warmth and pastry cream.
Order it here when it has
- familiar shape evokes the snail
- combines raisins with pastry cream
- part of classic continental breakfast
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