are also savory mille-feuilles, with cheese and spinach or other fillings.
Variant names and forms
In Italy, where the pastry is thought to have originated in Naples, it is called mille foglie (again, thousand leaves), and contains similar fillings. A savory Italian version consists of puff pastry filled with spinach, cheese, or pesto among other things.
In the UK and the Commonwealth, mille-feuille is known as vanilla slice or cream slice, and usually has only a top and bottom pastry layer. The filling is often flavored with chocolate. In Australia, popular icings include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, and passion fruit. In New Zealand, it is typically topped with fruit and often called a kiwi slice.
A variation popular in England is the Bavarian Slice which has a layer of raspberry or strawberry jam and rippled icing, although there is no evidence that this is a traditional Bavarian dish.
In Australia, there are varying forms of this pastry. Balfours, claiming to be Australia's largest bakery, produce their own form of Napoleon Cake which is multi layered and contains icing, pastry, cream, jam and sponge cake. This differs from the more widely known vanilla slice which is composed of icing, pastry and custard. It is sometimes called a 'Snot Block' due to the consistency of the custard.
In Sweden the Napoleonbakelse (Napoleon pastry) is a mille-feuille filled with whipped cream, custard, and jam. The top of the pastry is glazed with iceing and currant jelly.
History
The origin of the mille-feuille is unknown. The Hungarian city of Szeged may have something to do with its origins. Carême (writing at the end of the 18th century) considered it of 'ancient origin'. It was earlier called "gâteau de mille-feuilles" 'cake of a thousand leaves'.
Origin of the name 'Napoleon'
The name appears to come from napolitain, the French adjective for the Italian city of Naples, but altered by association with the name of Emperor Napoleon I of France. There is no evidence to connect the pastry to the emperor himself.
In France, a Napoléon is a kind of mille-feuille filled with almond paste.
Competitions
An annual competition for the best vanilla slice baker is the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph held in Ouyen in western Victoria (Australia). Judging criteria include "when tasted, should reveal a custard with a creamy smooth texture and a balance of vanilla taste with a crisp, crunchy pastry topped with a smooth and shiny glaze/fondant".
Popular culture
The time-travel card game Early American Chrononauts includes a tongue-in-cheek card called Napoleon's Napoleon which players can symbolically acquire from the year 1815.
On the cd label for the 1998 Sonic Youth album A Thousand Leaves the phrase "mille feuille" is crossed out and "a thousand leaves" is written under it.
Milfeulle Sakuraba is a character in the anime Galaxy Angel. She is highly skilled in cooking, but especially enjoys making pasteries and other desserts.
Alternative names
Names for the Napoleon pastry in other languages:
- in the U.S. "Napoleon"
- in the U.K. "Vanilla slice" or "Cream slice"
- In German "Cremeschnitte" 'cream slice'; the dough is "Blätterteig" 'sheet dough'
- In French "Mille-feuilles" ('Thousand sheets')
- In Hebrew "קרם שניט" (kremʃnitte)
- In Japanese "ミルフィーユ" (mirɯfījɯ)
- In Norwegian "Napoléon's kake" 'Napoleon's cake'
- In Polish "Napoleonka"
- In Russian "Наполеон" 'Napoleon'.
- In Arabic "ميل فى" (mīlfī)
- In Spanish "Milhojas"
- In Swedish "Napoleonbakelse" 'Napoleon pastry'
- In Turkish "Milföy"
- In Estonian "Napoleoni kook" or "napoleonikook" 'Napoleon's cake'
- In Hungarian "Francia krémes"
- In Dutch "Nederlands Tom-Poes"
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