The fluffy, airy and buttery pastry that we all know and love has a deep origin story. Whether you like your plain, butter or chocolate-filled, a croissant never fails to please. And it is just delightful, you can enjoy for a quick breakfast or dessert or even a grab ’n’ go snack. Making a flaky croissant from scratch is a big feat and even the most skilled bakers will tell you it is the toughest pastry to make at home. But the French have since the start been credited for accomplishing this task the right way.
According to historians and food specialists, croissants trace their origins in Austria. This was around the thirteenth century and the pastry was called kipferl. While the knowledge about the kipferl is limited, it is presumed that the gluten pastry was plain or with nuts. Eastern Europe also had a pastry that resembled the kipferl. In the seventeenth century, in many parts, it was called the Rugelach.
The Rugelach is an integral part of Yiddish cuisine. Like the modern croissant, kipferl recipe calls for sugar, flour, milk, butter and salt but unlike the croissant, it doesn’t have a crescent shape and was much denser. And for years, the kipferl was like this.
It was around the time that Ottoman Empire attacked Vienna that the kipferl turned into the modern croissant. Marie Antoinette, the Austrian princess that married Louis XVI, brought it with the recipe with her to court. The Austrian princess also famously had a hand in popularising profiteroles in France. Though some historians know this to be true and credit Austrian bakers August Zang and Ernest Schwartzer for bringing croissants to France when they opened a Paris in the ninetieth century. But since then the French have elevated the status of croissants and have made their own.
