Guadeloupe is an overseas department and region of France, meaning it is legally and administratively part of France rather than a former colony or territory. This status has a direct effect on food culture — French pastry training, ingredients, and techniques are fully integrated into Guadeloupean baking alongside Creole and Afro-Caribbean traditions. Guadeloupean pastry chefs train within the French system, and French-style tarts, éclairs, and mille-feuille appear in bakeries alongside traditional Creole preparations.

Tourment d’Amour is the most distinctly Guadeloupean pastry — a layered tart with a shortcrust base, coconut or guava jam filling, and a sponge cake top. It originated on Les Saintes, a small island group south of the main archipelago, and is sold widely across Guadeloupe. The name translates to ‘torment of love’ and the pastry is closely associated with the fishing community of Les Saintes.

Coconut appears across the dessert tradition in flans, sorbets, cakes, and cassava-based preparations. Tropical fruits including guava, passionfruit, banana, mango, and pineapple are used in jams, tarts, fritters, and compotes. Rhum agricole — rum distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses — is produced in Guadeloupe under an AOC designation and appears in cakes, syrups, and fruit preparations. Guadeloupe’s rhum agricole is legally distinct from industrial rum and is considered a separate product category in France.

Kassav’ — a cassava flatbread that can be prepared sweet or savory — is common across the French Caribbean and reflects the Indigenous Arawak foodways that predate European settlement on the island.