Cake for a day – mille-feuille

Anyone who has ever eaten a classic French mille-feuille that crumbles, when cut with a fork and melts gently when placed in the mouth with cream, knows that it is one of the most delicate pleasures ever.

It seems so simple - layers of puff pastry, cream, and maybe some berries. That’s it. But in fact, it is so complicated because carelessly prepared dough will not work. It takes thousands of layers, real butter, proper folding, and knowledge for the layers to be baked so that they are straight, fragile, and complete. In the middle of it all, the cream must not be too soft or it will flow out, but not too thick and firm because then it will be in disharmony with the fragile layers of dough. That is, the fewer the ingredients, the greater the chance of getting something wrong, requiring proper technique. 

Today, the pride of every French pastry shop is a perfectly executed classic mille-feuille. And this is not just in France, but also around the world. The names may be different, but those who stick to the ancient methods and the original name – they call it mille-feuille. Period. 

Although there have been many unclear stories about when the true mille-feuille originated, it is quite clear that the idea has remained almost the same, only the delivery has become much more filigree. Some say it is a 100% French invention, others say it has a connection to Naples (hence Napoleon), while others say it came from Hungary. History is still unclear in its answer, but at least the direction is clear.

Although mille-feuille has a “dual” history, the story behind is the same, suggesting that the first version of the cake recipe was published in 1651 in François Pierre La Varenne's book Le Cuisinier François. Another version dates back only to 1733, when the cake was first mentioned in an English cookbook written by chef Vincent La Chapelle. And, in between it all, there are stories that the cake is even older, and its origins can be traced back to the beginning of the 16th century.  

Back then, it was prepared in various ways, most often with marmalade and jam. Only in the 19th century did mille-feuille become famous, when prepared by the famous French chef Antoine Carême, "king of chefs" and founder of grand cuisine. However, his wares were available to a small number of people, and this is how Paris really got to know mille-feuille, thanks to the cake explosion of the 18th-century Seugnot on rue du Bac. Urbain Dubois (chef and cookbook author who became the founder of French cuisine) worked in the patisserie, calling himself the king of mille-feuille, filling the cake with a delicate, silky Bavarian cream*. It should be noted that at that time, it was easy to call oneself king because there was not much competition.

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, the current form of mille-feuille (but not the cake itself) originated in Szegedinertorte in Hungary where it was mostly round and only much later became square. 

In translation, mille-feuille means 'a thousand pages', and it comes from the many layers of dough. How so many? Quite simply, by folding the dough 6 times, each into 3 layers, for a total of 729 layers; multiply that by 3 layers and there is a total of 2187 layers. Yes, that's why it's a thousand-layer cake. 

Today, called just mille-feuille, it was called a bit differently back then. According to the Varenne version written in 1651, the full name of the cake was gâteau de mille-feuilles. But the name "Napoleon", now not used, was once popular too. Some say because of the association with the Italian city of Naples, as in French, it describes the residents of Naples. Others say there is some connection with Napoleon because it was during his rule that these cakes were sold in many patisseries. Note, that the famous Larousse Gastronomique does not associate the cake with Napoleon, and gâteau napolitain is associated with small Italian cookies. 

Napoleon Russian version

Wikipedia and various historical stories claim that the name "Napoleon" originated in 1812 in Russia when they celebrated the victory over Napoleon. The many layers symbolized the French army but the white icing sugar - snow in Russia, thanks to which the Russians defeated Napoleon. In Russia and post-Soviet countries, this cake is still called a Napoleon, but unlike the classic mille-feuille, the Soviet version has many layers of pastry instead of just three (the height is the same). 

Classic version

Interestingly enough, from the first time the cake was mentioned, it seems that it hasn't changed much, except for one thing - it was at least twice as sweet at the time (because all sweets used to be twice as sweet) and not as refined as it is today in the best pastry shops in the world. 

Classic mille-feuille has always consisted of three layers of pâte feuilletée (puff pastry) and crème pâtissière, which is stabilized with a little gelatin to hold it together. Today, the cake is often beautifully decorated with berries and other things, but classic mille-feuille is sprinkled with icing sugar or, in the most chic way, covered with a sugar glaze and chocolate in stripes (in a cobweb pattern). 

But there is one but. Today, many pastry chefs know another secret for a good mille-feuille pastry called pâte feuilletée inversée - dough in which flour is incorporated into butter, not butter into flour, as classically done. But, of course, knowing this will not make everything immediately perfect, as there are still many tricks to know and master:

• Ideal dough – pâte feuilletée inversée.

• Everything is based solely on GOOD QUALITY BUTTER

• Many layers require 2 double folds and 3-4 regular folds

• There is a break of 40-60 minutes between each folding

• No, no sugar is added to the dough, only salt

• It is important to bake all the dough layers through to the middle, not just the outside and inside

• To bake the dough sheets evenly, place baking paper on top and place a second pan on top

• For perfection, after baking, the dough must be caramelized at high temperature

• Mille-feuille is a ONE-DAY cake. It should be crispy, crunchy, and brittle, not soft, so it does not absorb all the cream.
  
  
  Globally
  
  In Britain, it is traditionally called custard slice or vanilla slice, but today, French pastry has become so popular that in cities it is called mille-feuille. And the difference is that there are only two layers of dough with cream in the middle.
  
  In Italy, it is called millefoglie - very similar to the French cake with three layers of pastry and two layers of curd. But there is one version in which it even has a shortbread layer, which is less common.
  
  In Australia it is prepared just like in France - three layers of dough plus two layers of cream, but usually covered with passion fruit glaze and called vanilla slice or custard slice. 
  
  In Canada, it is known as gâteaux Napoléon or Napoleon Slice, with cream and whipped cream between layers of pastry. 
  
  In Sweden, it is prepared with cream and whipped cream and also with jam and is called Napoleonbakelse. The height is more like the classic French cake. 
  
  In Germany and Austria, those over 30 recognize the name cremeschnitte. There are only two layers of pastry, curd, white icing, and the cake is flatter than the traditional. 
  
  * Bavarian cream - pastry cream supplemented with gelatin and whipped cream. 
  
  Assembling
  
  Layers of pastry must be made from pâte feuilletée or pâte feuilletée inversé, brittle and even just slightly bitter, which occurs when caramelizing the dough in the oven. 
  
  Layer with crème pâtissière - gentle, silky cream with vanilla seeds. Sometimes it is replaced with lightly whipped cream, only the best. The cream should be a little sweeter to create the perfect balance between the cream and the soft, sweet, and mildly bitter pastry. 
  
  Top layer - classic with glazed sugar or icing sugar. In the finest version, popular today, it’s topped with beautifully squeezed whipped cream, which can be supplemented with berries, depending on the season. 
  
  True mille-feuille should never be soft. It must crumble and crunchy, alternating with soft cream. The cream should not soak into the dough, making it soft. 
  
  Dessert/cake to be eaten in one day. 
  
  Classic mille-feuille incudes vanilla-flavored cream, but today there are many other variations with chocolate, hazelnuts, pistachios and much more.