22 Sep 2017

Classic pastry: the millefeuille

How many times have we served, at the tables of Gambrinus, some tasty slices of Millefeuille cake, to customers who were celebrating something important!
But what are the origins of this sweet, now international?

We try to go back in time to understand it.

“Napoleon” becomes “Millefoglie”

In France, the birthplace of this multi-layered delicacy, the Millefoglie is also known as Napoleon.

According to official sources, the real origin of the millefeuille, in reality, is unknown, even if the first traces are found in the book Cuisinier franà§ois by Franà§ois Pierre de La Varenne, dated 1651. The hypothesis is that according to which this dessert would be It was created, for the first time, to be brought to the table to the French royals, but there is no documentation on this.

The version we know today, however, ie the classic three-layer puff pastry with two layers of custard, is due to a change that was introduced in the traditional recipe by Marie-Antoine Caràªme, French cook and writer of the late eighteenth century.

variants

As often happens, over time, the recipes evolve and change with those who enjoy them and “revisits” them.

Here they are born so the Millefeuille with jam or chocolate or, even, salted, stuffed with cheese and vegetables.

In addition, the top can also be enriched in different ways: from the classic icing to the dusting of icing sugar and / or cocoa, to garnish with grains, dried fruit, cream and / or fresh fruit.

Indeed, a competition was born in Australia, in Ouyen, in Western Victoria, the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph, which is a real race, which takes place annually, to declare what is the best cake millefeuille.

How to use it

Basically, ideal for the millefoglie, is to serve it in tile-like portions, in which the layers are kept intact and melt in the mouth once touched the palate.

Over time, however, even the way to serve this dessert has “modernized”, passing from small and very nice single portions, ideal even in small confectionery, and ending in “glass” versions, where the structure is lost and mixed on itself … giving life to what, perhaps, is the most “hated” version by the purists!