‘Terribly chic’: how to make chouquettes

I have become obsessed with the French idea of goûter, the time in the afternoon when French schoolchildren have a sweet treat to tide them over from the end of the school day until dinner. It’s just teatime, really, a pause for an afternoon snack – my kid has the same, but we don’t have such an elegant word for it (and his tends to be a gobbled Babybel, and rejected cucumber sticks, which is far less fun) – but giving it its own distinct name and place in the day is charming.

Actually I think I’m just always looking for an excuse for another snack; always happy to introduce extra little codified meal times to my daily life – not just goûter, but Swedish fika (a kind of ritualised coffee break, morning or afternoon), Italian aperitivo hour (to mark the end of the working day), perhaps a German Kaffee und Kuchen (traditionally mid-afternoon).