Last week, I stopped at artisanal baker Eric Kayser’s shop to buy a pain au chocolat but it was too late.

When the manager told me that they were sold out yet had something even better – I looked at him doubtfully, but he wasn’t kidding.

Now I’m head over heels for this “plié” au chocolat – a long rope of croissant dough filled with pastry cream and semi-sweet chocolate chips, folded over and over and over again to create an opening in the middle. The top is brushed with egg and sprinkled with finely ground sugar.

In one delicious moist, crisp and decadent bite - I knew that a twenty-year love affair with pain au chocolat was over and it was time to move on...

These beauties are the first to sell out in the morning so make sure to get to a location in Paris near you, bright and early.

Eric Kayser, www.maison-kayser.com