Millefoglie- Dessert with a Thousand Layers of Perfection

Millefoglie, directly translated as one thousand leaves or layers, consists of numerous layers (maybe 1k) of crispy puff pastry separated by pastry cream. Like many dishes in Northern Italian cuisine, this tower of yumminess hails from France, where it is known as mille-feuille.

What exactly is millefoglie? An Italian might say it's a pastry version of a lasagna, with the puff pastry subbing in for the pasta and pastry cream creating a velvety counterpoint to the crunch. The puff pastry in this dessert should be crispy almost like layers of filo dough rather than the dough of a croissant. There are many variations (adding fruit, chocolate, etc.), but as long as it has plenty of layers, anything goes in Italy!

PASTICCERIA GRAZIATI IN PADOVA HAS BEEN DISHING OUT LAYERED PERFECTION FOR OVER A CENTURY!

Padova's Graziati serves copiuous amounts of millefoglie in its pastry shop in Piazza della Frutta each day. For a special occasions, it's available for take-home al chilo. Their version is only mildly sweet with a hint of orange zest spiking the cream layers. It's simply the best!

What are your favorite Italian desserts? Do they also have roots in France?

This week's blog post short and sweet, pun intended. Svein and I have been taking a cool-cation in Scandinavia visiting friends and relatives, so more on that coming soon...

Ciao for now,

Andrea

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