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Pays de la Loire
Beneath its golden pastry pierced with a chimney, the Anjou summer concentrates into a reine-claude juice simmering all afternoon — the bake one cannot travel through without encountering, from the farmhouses of the past to the corner bakery.
Pastry or bakery speciality from Pays de la Loire.
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The origins of pâté aux prunes are intertwined with those of the plum tree in Anjou. The fruit, native to the Middle East and already known in Greek and Roman antiquity, is said to have arrived in France upon the return from the crusades: legend has it that a knight, returning from a particularly unfortunate expedition, brought back only a few plum saplings as his sole trophy — hence the saying 'y aller pour des prunes!'. The cultivation of the fruit has since become firmly rooted in the Anjou countryside, where reine-claude plums abound.
This covered pie was originally baked after the bread, in the ovens of Anjou farmhouses. Gradually, after the 1914–1918 war, bread baking died out on farms, and its preparation was entrusted to the baker: until 1950, pâté aux prunes was to be found only at artisan bakers and pastry chefs. Today, it is found in most bakeries and patisseries across Maine-et-Loire, and summer in Anjou could hardly pass without encountering it.
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The speciality has also become the prize in a professional competition: a first prize for the best pâté aux prunes in Maine-et-Loire was awarded in 2018 to a baker and pastry chef from Châteauneuf-sur-Sarthe, during an event organised by the department's professional federation. The contest took on global proportions from August 2021, with a first 'pâté aux prunes world championship' organised in Angers by the Fédération de la boulangerie-pâtisserie de Maine-et-Loire. The 2026 edition, held on 27 August in Angers, brought together nine finalists divided into three categories — owners, employees, apprentices — following a selection round organised in July; the title went to Jessy Ruaux, of Boulangerie Célestine in Beaucouzé, ahead of his colleague Yohann Boué, from the same establishment, and Solène Amy, of Boulangerie Bressin in La Possonnière.
Appearance
Round, covered pie formed of two pastry rounds sealed at the edges, browned during baking, and pierced in the centre with a chimney.
Flavour
The plum juice, kept at the boil by the chimney during baking, concentrates the fruit's aromas; the presence of the stones, left in during preparation, gives it a distinctive taste.
Texture
Puff or shortcrust pastry depending on the artisan, encasing melting reine-claude plums bursting with juice.
shortcrust or puff pastry is rolled out into two discs, one for the base, the other for the lid.
the pastry base is pricked, then filled with washed, unstoned reine-claude plums and sprinkled with sugar.
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Pâté aux prunes is enjoyed keeping in mind the presence of the stones, which are retained in the filling throughout baking. It pairs traditionally with a sweet white wine from Anjou, such as a Coteaux du Layon.
Pâté aux prunes carries no official quality mark (PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP), Label Rouge). The Fédération professionnelle de la boulangerie-pâtisserie du Maine-et-Loire presents it as listed in the Inventaire du patrimoine, and organises a world championship for the speciality in Angers every summer, bringing together the region's artisan bakers and pastry chefs.
No producer is listed for this product yet.