Somewhere in Paris a tray of croissants is coming out of an oven that has been hot since four in the morning. The butter pools at the edges. The layers pull apart. Twenty-five watercolor-inspired illustrations follow French baking from that moment to the display case: macarons in their pastel rows, a soufflé past the rim of its ramekin, a madeleine broken to show the gold inside.

The work is in here too. A rolling pin on flour-dusted marble, a chef in white piping cream rosettes, a basket of morning pastries still warm enough to fog the wicker. French pastry has always been equal parts discipline and pleasure, and the pictures give both their due.