Millefeuille is kneaded in Napoleon for Russian Christmas

When you want to try milfoil in the US, you ask for a napoleon from a pastry shop. At first glance, this name change is explained by the fact that Americans have difficulty pronouncing the French word millefeuille correctly. But the Napoleon cake has its own history. A cousin of the millefeuille, it was made by the Russians and is eaten especially during the Orthodox Christmas and New Year, which is celebrated on January 7. How this cake, originally French, made its way to the tsars and introduced itself. as the main New Year’s Eve dessert in many Russian homes today? In 1912, this cake was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the country’s victory over Napoleon and his troops, who had to retreat from Moscow after the tragic battle in 1812. First, this little dessert was filled with vanilla pastry cream. Pastry chefs gave these individual pieces a shape that resembled the tricornered hat worn as a headdress by defeated French soldiers. A large number of desserts were prepared because everyone wanted to taste this glorious event in Russian history through this cake. Over time, this dough was replaced by cream and made in layers (sometimes up to twenty).

Napoleon and the symmetry of layers. Bigstock Photo

It is part of Russian culinary heritage

Later, during the Russian Revolution, the recipe for this famous cake underwent changes, in particular, the elimination of eggs and the replacement of butter with margarine. And so this dessert eventually took the form of a giant, multi-layered cake covered in crumb dough, symbolizing the snow that some say helped the Russians defeat Napoleon. “Be careful, because baking is a bit of a battle in itself: between preparing all the layers of dough, whipping the cream, chilling and assembling, the process usually takes several hours, but the result is worth it,” warns the website Atlas Obscura. for those who want to prepare. As America’s online magazine Saveur explains, different pastry chefs have come up with their own variations. Anton Prokofiev, who works at the Gusyatnikoff restaurant in Moscow, added brandy and vinegar to the pastry to give it a rise, and garnished the slices with chopped pastry, fresh berries and mint. Chef Evgeniya Zherebtsova in St. Petersburg prefers to use a layer of margarine and powdered sugar. However, most Russians still make napoleons at home using old family recipes. For many, this dessert has the “taste of a party”. Ultimately, Napoleon remains a crucial part of Russia’s culinary heritage. It should be noted that after the Russian Revolution of 1917, elegant desserts were called “bourgeois” and food shortages forced chefs to adjust their recipes. Margarine, which replaced butter, hardened the layers of previously butter-refined dough, and the eggless custard lost its former richness.

The millefeuille actually has 729 pairs of leaflets in six stages of trifolding. Bigstock Photo

729 double sheets for classic millefeuille

It would have to wait until the end of World War II for the dough to start rising again! “The cake was declared a mass phenomenon. Once a symbol of Soviet luxury, it should be accessible to everyone,” says Pavel Syutkin, a food historian and co-author of the 2015 CCCP Cook Book. On the other side of the border for the story, big and small, the Russian, Napoleon has always had admirers. Some French bakers renamed this Neapolitan pastry to honor the emperor’s origins, a hot topic at the time. When English bakers wanted to make this dessert for their customers, they had a problem with the pronunciation of the word Neapolitan and changed it to Napoleon. As for the iconic French millefeuille, its name also refers to the many layers that make it up. As for the traditional puff pastry method, it is due to the skillful and precise folding of the pasta. An article from the Wikipedia platform makes the following calculations: “The millefeuille actually has 729 pairs of leaflets in six trifold stages. A more recent adoption of halving by some cooks led to a millefeuille with a different number of sheets, 2,048 pairs, as in the case of the early 20th century French chef André Guillot’s recipe. It, as well as pastry chefs of other nations, was created by Marquis chef François-Pierre de La Varenne, who described the specialty in 1651 in his book Cuisinier François. internationally known toque blanche, Antonin Carême, known as “king of chefs and chef of kings”. Over reigns and time, millefeuille acquired new layers and flavors. Millefeuille with sweet and salty, tomatoes, ham and other goat cheeses or feta, which is a recent trend, is declining.