The Mille Feuille: A Little History...

Say it with me, friends — “meel foy!”

Sit down, put that napkin over your lap, and get out your dessert forks as our resident French expert Erin takes us on a delicious journey through the history of this Gourmandise beloved dessert.

Mille-Feuille translation: one thousand leaves, sheets, or layers

What Makes Up the Mille-Feuille?

3 layers of puff pastry, 2 (sometimes 3) layers of pastry cream, and the top covered with powdered sugar or white fondant icing. And today, it's fairly common to add chocolate or fruit as well.

The History of Mille-Feuille

In 1651, chef François Pierre de la Varenne published the mille-feuille recipe in Le Cuisinier François. This was one of the earliest French cookbooks, and also included early recipes for the use of roux and béchamel sauce. It was later perfected by Antonin Carême. Carême is considered one of the first "celebrity" chefs & at the forefront of developing la grande cuisine ("high art" of French cuisine).

In 1867, famous 19th-century pastry chef Adolphe Seugnot proposed the mille-feuille as his personal specialty. Seugnot is sometimes credited with the creation of mille-feuille, despite primary source documentation from the 17th century.

Mille-Feuille vs. the Napoléon

There has been a tradition of pastries with alternating layers of pastry and pastry cream since the Roman Empire, specifically in Naples. Because of this tradition in Naples, this style of pastry was sometimes called "napolitain" (adjectival form meaning "from Naples").

The name "napoléon" is derived from "napolitain" (read: has been misunderstood and conflated).

In general, if any distinction is to be made between the two, a napoléon specifically has layers of almond pastry cream (the terms are essentially interchangeable in the US, I chalk it up to centuries of conflating the actual meaning of "napolitain").

Thanks, Erin, for teaching us something we didn’t know!