{"id":12926,"date":"2026-10-02T13:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/?p=12926"},"modified":"2026-10-02T20:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T18:14:10","slug":"marie-antoinette-croissant-fontainebleau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/marie-antoinette-croissant-fontainebleau\/","title":{"rendered":"Marie-Antoinette and the croissant: a story with many layers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Until the end of November, four artisans from the Fontainebleau region are showcasing a Marie-Antoinette-style croissant. It\u2019s a chance to sample one and retrace the origins of one of the most charming legends in the world of pastries.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Four croissants for a queen<\/h2>\n<p>In Fontainebleau, 2026 is the Year of Marie-Antoinette, and Fontainebleau Tourisme has come up with a delicious way to celebrate it: asking four bakers and pastry chefs to create <strong>their Marie-Antoinette-style croissant<\/strong>. The idea and initiative came from Fontainebleau Tourisme, which raised its profile by working in partnership with the Ch\u00e2teau de Fontainebleau. A nod to the date: <strong>240 years after the Queen\u2019s last visit to Fontainebleau<\/strong>, in 1786. Four houses, four interpretations, all in shades of pink and red fruit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/places\/boulangerie-patisserie-dardonville\/\"><strong>Dardonville<\/strong><\/a>, Rue des Sablons: a golden, delicately pink puff pastry, filled with a <strong>a compote of fresh raspberries with a hint of lemon<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/places\/frederic-cassel-patisserie-chocolatier\/\"><strong>Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Cassel<\/strong><\/a>, Rue Grande: a design inspired by 18th-century dresses, a <strong>rose-scented red berry confit<\/strong>, and a golden figurine to top it all off.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/places\/suzy-et-arlette\/\"><strong>Suzy et Arlette<\/strong><\/a>, Rue Grande: a puff pastry at the <strong>Isigny PDO butter<\/strong>, a compote and a raspberry cream.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/places\/la-galerie-des-pains\/\"><strong>La Galerie des Pains<\/strong><\/a>, in Barbizon: a two-tone pinkish variegated leaf, a <strong>pink and raspberry insert<\/strong>, and some pink Reims biscuit powder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which one will be your favourite? The easiest way is to visit them all. For research purposes, of course. You\u2019ll find the addresses and special features of these four artisans on their Fontyblog page: just click on their name. The dates of the event are in <a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/events\/croissant-marie-antoinette-fontainebleau-barbizon-2026\/\">our calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The legend: an Archduchess and her love of Vienna<\/h2>\n<p>Why a croissant for Marie-Antoinette? Because the queen was born <strong>Archduchess of Austria<\/strong>, in Vienna, in 1755, and that the croissant is derived from a Viennese speciality, the <strong>kipferl<\/strong>, a small pastry shaped like a crescent moon. Tradition has it that when she arrived at the French court in 1770, the young Dauphine brought with her a taste for the sweet treats of her childhood, and helped to popularise the kipferl.<\/p>\n<p>Fontainebleau Tourisme puts it elegantly: it is <strong>\u00abaccording to legend\u00bb<\/strong>. Food historians have never found any contemporary document linking the queen to the croissant. But a legend doesn\u2019t need historical records to be delightful, and this one has the merit of bringing to life a true story: that of a pastry born in Vienna which has become the symbol of the French breakfast.<\/p>\n<h2>What we know about the journey of the croissant<\/h2>\n<p>The kipferl is an old tradition. Small bread rolls known as <em>chipfen<\/em> are mentioned in Vienna as early as <strong>1227<\/strong>, under the Dukes of Babenberg. Another famous legend \u2013 that of the Viennese bakers who are said to have invented the croissant to celebrate the lifting of the Ottoman siege of 1683 \u2013 did not appear in written records until the 19th century. Legends, it seems, are particularly fond of the croissant.<\/p>\n<p>The passage into France, for its part, has a name and an address. In the late 1830s, an Austrian officer, <strong>August Zang<\/strong>, is opening a shop in Paris, at 92 Rue de Richelieu, a <strong>\u00abViennese bakery\u00bb<\/strong>. His kipferl caused a sensation, and Parisian bakers drew inspiration from them. The American historian Jim Chevallier has written a book about him.<\/p>\n<p>That leaves the puff pastry, which is the French touch. The first printed recipe for a croissant made with puff pastry is generally attributed to <strong>Auguste Colombi\u00e9 in 1906<\/strong>, and the first recipe for yeast-raised, butter-layered pastry \u2013 the one used for our croissants today \u2013 at <strong>Sylvain Claudius Goy in 1915<\/strong>. In other words, the croissant as we know it today is younger than the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Did you know? \u00abLet them eat brioche\u00bb<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The phrase has been associated with the legend of Marie-Antoinette for two centuries. Yet it can be found in the <em>Confessions<\/em> by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who attributes this remark to \u00aba great princess\u00bb without ever naming her, in a passage written when Marie-Antoinette was still just a child in Vienna. The queen later came to be known by this name, as a result of the pamphlets. All the more reason to offer her a croissant, to make amends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>What the Queen really loved<\/h2>\n<p>Whilst the Queen may not have invented the croissant, she certainly had a soft spot for sweet treats. Her contemporaries describe her as having a keen taste for <strong>hot chocolate<\/strong>, which was very much in vogue at court at the time, and a rather simple table of her own. She also loved the <strong>milk and dairy products<\/strong> : the Queen\u2019s Dairy in Rambouillet, built for her at the request of Louis XVI, and the Hamlet of Versailles stand as testament to this. As for the famous \u00abMarie-Antoinette pistoles\u00bb \u2013 those chocolate discs said to have been created for her by the apothecary Sulpice Debauve \u2013 it is the house <strong>Debauve and Gallais<\/strong> who tells the story, and we\u2019re happy to savour it with her.<\/p>\n<h2>Fontainebleau, the Queen and her final autumn at court<\/h2>\n<p>Fontainebleau retains a very tangible trace of Marie-Antoinette: at the ch\u00e2teau, her apartments and boudoirs are among the most refined interiors of the late 18th century. The autumn of 1786 marked her <strong>last holiday<\/strong> at Fontainebleau with the court. To extend the tasting experience, from 11 October the ch\u00e2teau is staging a major exhibition dedicated to the royal couple, <a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/events\/marie-antoinette-and-louis-xvi-at-fontainebleau-splendour-and-the-good-life-at-the-chateau\/\">Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI at Fontainebleau: \u00abSplendour and the good life\u00bb<\/a>, and offers <a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/events\/dramatised-tour-marie-antoinette-queen-of-fashion-at-the-chateau-de-fontainebleau-17-october-to-2-november-2026\/\">dramatised tours: \u00abMarie-Antoinette, Queen of Fashion\u00bb<\/a>. In town, the\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/fontyblog.fr\/en\/events\/exhibition-the-art-of-living-in-the-18th-century-the-elegance-of-the-decorative-arts-at-the-charite-royale-10-october-to-15-november-2026\/\">exhibition on 18th-century lifestyle at the Charit\u00e9 Royale<\/a> completes the picture.<\/p>\n<h2>And what about the Marie-Antoinette menu?<\/h2>\n<p>A croissant in the morning, an exhibition in the afternoon\u2026 all that\u2019s missing is dinner. Whether or not the legend is true, one thing is certain: it provides a very good excuse to treat yourself. So, which Bellifontain restaurateur will be the first to dare to\u2026 <strong>Marie-Antoinette menu<\/strong> ? Hot chocolate? Cream? Dairy products? Red and pink fruits? The menu\u2019s almost written\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The call has been made.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"fyb-credit\">Featured image: Marie-Antoinette \u00abwith the rose\u00bb, \u00c9lisabeth Vig\u00e9e Le Brun, 1783 (detail), Palace of Versailles. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jusqu&rsquo;\u00e0 fin novembre, quatre artisans du Pays de Fontainebleau mettent en vitrine un croissant \u00e0 la mode Marie-Antoinette. L&rsquo;occasion de go\u00fbter, et de remonter le fil d&rsquo;une des plus jolies l\u00e9gendes de la viennoiserie. Quatre croissants pour une reine 2026 est \u00e0 Fontainebleau une ann\u00e9e Marie-Antoinette, et Fontainebleau Tourisme a eu une id\u00e9e gourmande pour [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Marie-Antoinette et le croissant \u00e0 Fontainebleau","_seopress_titles_desc":"Quatre artisans de Fontainebleau et Barbizon cr\u00e9ent un croissant \u00e0 la mode Marie-Antoinette. 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