Crispy Crêpe Wafer

Crêpe Dentelle from Brittany, wafer-thin and crispy

Gavottes’ Crêpe Dentelle is a wafer-thin, eight-fold rolled waffle from Brittany, baked using wheat flour, butter, and sugar. This is no industrial snack, but a classic based on Marie-Catherine Cornic's 1886 recipe.

Crêpe Dentelle translates to "lace crêpe" – and that is exactly what this delicate pastry from Brittany looks like: golden, intricate, and as thin as a sheet of paper. Each 125g pack contains 24 rolls, always nested in pairs in gold foil. They are baked using only wheat flour, butter, and sugar, with no palm oil. A piece of France that shatters softly at the first bite.

Golden, delicate, and melt-in-the-mouth

The Crêpe Dentelle melts with a soft snap – first crispy, then buttery and delicate, with a subtle caramel sweetness derived from the light baking of the thin dough layer.

It doesn't provide a loud crunch like a biscuit, but rather a delicate crumbling that immediately releases the butter. If you hold a roll up to the light, it shimmers almost transparently, finely layered like genuine lace.

The aroma is reminiscent of freshly baked waffles: butter, caramel, and warm wheat. Because the layers are rolled so thinly, you taste primarily two things: high-quality butter and the wheat that encases it. A pastry that does not draw attention to itself, which is exactly why it tastes so good. Stored in a dry, airtight place, it remains as crispy for weeks as it was on the first day.

Marie-Catherine Cornic's ingenious mishap

The Crêpe Dentelle originated in 1886 when crêperie owner Marie-Catherine Cornic in Quimper left a crêpe on the hot bilig, the Breton cast-iron griddle, for too long.

Instead of throwing the thin dough away, she simply rolled it up – and the result was a golden, crispy roll. From 1920 onwards, a small biscuit factory in the Loc Maria district of Quimper began mass-producing the pastry; initially, 100 crêpes per hour, all by hand. The roll owes its name to its folding: turned in on itself eight times, like the steps of the gavotte, a swirling Breton dance. This eight-fold process remained purely manual work for generations and was a closely guarded trade secret.

Today, Gavottes is part of the traditional Breton bakery Loc Maria Biscuits, whose two factories near Dinan fold around 800 million Crêpes Dentelle annually. Yet every roll tastes as if it came fresh from Madame Cornic’s kitchen. Her recipe has endured through the decades: wheat flour, butter, and sugar – that is still all it takes today.

With coffee, tea, and fine desserts

Two rolls with an espresso, a few crumbled over mousse au chocolat or vanilla ice cream: the Crêpe Dentelle is the understated companion to sweet moments, sometimes a spoon biscuit, sometimes a crispy crown on a dessert.

It tastes especially lovely with a cup of strong coffee in the afternoon or with a light tea. With fresh berries and a scoop of ice cream, these few ingredients quickly become a small dessert, and at the turn of the year, the roll pairs beautifully with a glass of champagne.

In patisserie, the thin layers are often crushed and sprinkled as a crunchy layer into creams and tarts. For those who prefer chocolate, there is the Crêpe Dentelle with milk chocolate from the same producer. Those who prefer savory snacks will also find crêpes apéritives for their cocktail hour at Gavottes.

These delicate rolls are naturally fragile; a few broken pieces in the bag are part of the experience and do not diminish the enjoyment in the slightest. Perhaps Detective Dupin unwraps a couple of these with his morning café at the harbor, too. If you would like to delve deeper into Brittany, you can find the entire Gavottes range with us.