Brioches

Brioche, often associated with French baking, is really Viennese in origin. It found its way to France some time between 1775 and 1825. Marie Antoinette’s famous remark, “Let them eat cake,” is variously stated in French as “Let them eat the bread stuck to the inside of the oven,” or “Let them eat brioche.” The pastry may or may not have appeared in France by then, but the ill-fated monarch was an Austrian Hapsburg, and so may have been familiar with the specialty of her homeland. During the last half of the nineteenth century, the brioche became the rage in France. It made the reputations and fortunes of the great pastry shops of Paris, including the now-defunct Maison Felix.