Darioles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small traditional French molded cakes typically filled with custard or fruit ; individual small molded pastries often containing cream or fruit-based fillings ; mini French-style molded desserts usually filled with sweet custard or other flavorful ingredients
2. Petite cakes made using a small mold, filled usually with custard or fruit preserves ; compact French pastries involving rich cream or fruit fillings in a distinctive shape ; bite-sized molded sweets commonly filled with custard, fruit, or flavored creams
3. Tiny French confections shaped using a dariole mold and filled with custard or fruit ; mini molded cakes from French cuisine featuring custard or fruit fillings ; small individual dessert molds filled with creamy or fruity ingredients in French baking traditions

Etymology: The original dariole was a small pastry case filled with frangipane, and it appears in print in the works of Rabelais, the sixteenth-century French satirist. Its name comes from Old Occitan "daurar", meaning "to brown" or "to gild", a reference to the golden crust that gave the little case its character. The word passed into French as "dariole" and was later carried over into English cookery writing. Over time the name outlived its original pastry and attached itself to the mould used to shape it. A dariole mould is a small, deep tin with sloping sides, and the term now describes whatever is cooked in one: custards, flans, individual babas, rice puddings and small cakes. The plural "darioles" simply counts these little moulded creations, which is why the word follows the shape of the tin rather than the crust that first gave it its name.

Synonyms: custard, tart, pastry, dessert, flan