An almond croissant is a traditional breakfast pastry topped with toasted almonds and filled with a sweet almond filling or frangipane swirled throughout the dough.
Paris is known for its pastry and the croissant is unquestionably the heart and soul of French pastry. Today, the croissant has become almost a cliché and an inspiration for everything from the croissan’wich to the cronut.
Almond Croissant History
The croissant’s origins may be traced back to 1683 in Vienna, Austria. During the Ottoman Turk siege of the city, a baker is said to have heard the Turks excavating beneath the city walls as he ignited his ovens to prepare the morning bread.
He swiftly raised the alert and the military could collapse the tunnel & save the city. To commemorate the occasion, the baker created a crescent-shaped loaf of bread in the shape of the Turkish flag’s crescent moon.
This is only one of many such stories. A comparable one takes place in Budapest, Hungary and follows a similar plot. Food historians dispute both theories but if the first story appears to be the most plausible, it’s because of still another mythology about how the croissant came to be French.
Marie Antoinette is the same source as for the color puce. The Revolutionary War’s French queen was not French-born; she moved to France at the age of 15 from Austria. According to legend, she was so desperate for an Austrian specialty known as the kipferl – German for crescent – that she asked royal bakers to make one for her.
The narrative of August Zang, an Austrian army commander who started a Viennese Bakery in Paris in 1839, following the French Revolution, is a lot less romantic version of this event – which also happens to be the most plausible version. Most culinary historians believe he was the one who brought the kipferl to France, a pastry that subsequently prompted French bakers to make their own crescent.
The earliest reference to the croissant in French comes in Anselme Payen’s 1853 Des Substances Alimentaires, which was written over a century after Antoinette Marie’s reign, casting additional doubt on the concept that she was the first to introduce the pastry to Parisian palates.
The earliest printed recipe appears 52 years after the initial mention, in Joseph Favre’s Dictionnaire Universel de Cuisine, a recipe incorporating powdered almonds and sugar that resembles a Middle Eastern pastry rather than the laminated dough masterpiece we know and love today. This shows how the almond croissant was born.
One year after the Dictionnaire Universel de Cuisine was published, Auguste Colombie’s Nouvelle Encyclopédie Culinaire published a “genuine” croissant recipe, using laminated dough rather than the brioche-like dough previously employed. It was then that the croissant as we know it was born.
A Classic of French Culture
Regardless of where the croissant originated, it is now firmly entrenched in French bakery history. The croissant au beurre, or butter croissant, is the most popular, not to be mistaken with the croissant ordinaire, prepared with margarine.
In reality, the attractive, crescent-shaped croissants you see in the bakery window are frequently the ordinaires; a butter croissant is more straight than curved and is well worth the additional centimes. A frangipane filling is used in an almond croissant, frequently topped with slivered almonds and powdered sugar.
Almond Croissant Calories
Have you ever indulged in a delicious croissant pastry? Chances are you weren’t thinking about almond croissant calories or nutrition. Croissants should be considered a “special treat” in your diet due to their high contents of oil, saturated fat, salt and carbohydrates.
The calories in a croissant vary depending on its size and the components used. You can still maintain a healthy weight when eating them with the proper diet. Croissants with different flavors are very popular. However, if you add another savory or sweet ingredient to the baked product, the overall calories and nutrients may vary. Depending on the condiment, adding a topping to a croissant may also raise the fat and calories.
Make portion size a priority if you enjoy almond croissants and want to incorporate them in your weight reduction diet plan or healthy eating regimen. Choose a little croissant instead of the bigger ones.
Best Almond Croissant in NYC
Bambina Blue features delicious almond croissants tucked behind gleaming glass displays. The almond croissants are a combination of both appearance and taste. They are buttery, flaky, and have more layers visible on the outside and inside than other croissants. Besides that, it has a deliciously crunchy outside and a soft inside.
When you’re craving something sweet, mouthwatering croissants paired with the gelato will create an ultimate pastry fusion experience making it the perfect treat.
Handmade and crafted with a menu changing daily, Bambina Blue is not just your regular snack place. We not only have the best pastries in NYC, but offer everything from pan au chocolate to croissants to prosciutto parm to satisfy your sweet and savory cravings.
The delightful taste sensation will make you rethink what you put in your mouth. Almond croissants from Bambina Blue are too delicious to resist.
