MACAROON
A small round cookie with a crisp crust and a soft interior. The original version was made in Italy from almonds and was evolved by French pastry chefs into an almond-flavored meringue sandwich cookie that today is made in many flavors and colors. A coconut macaroon was developed and is popular in the U.S. See the history of macaroons.


MARJOLAINE
A long and rectangular form of the dacquoise: almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream. Dacquoise is a dessert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois, meaning “of Dax”; Dax is a town in southwestern France. It is usually served chilled and accompanied by fruit.

MEAT PIE
A meat pie is a savory pie that can be filled with beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and even fish, plus vegetables and herbs. There are many kinds of meat pies, varying in size and pastry types. They can be made in a pie plate, a square, or a rectangular baking pan, or in individual ramekins or muffin pans. A pot pie is an example of a meat pie, as is a steak and kidney pie, and a shepherd’s pie, which is minced or ground beef or lamb with a top “crust” of mashed potatoes. Individual meat pies, which are sealed on all sides, include, among others, empanadas, pasties, Scotch pies, and turnovers. In the U.S., pot pies—meat or poultry with diced vegetables in a sauce—are popular (there are also vegetarian versions).
 

MERINGUE
Meringue is a versatile substance made from beaten egg whites, to which sugar has been added to form stiff but airy peaks. The meringue can then (1) be folded in to lighten cake, mousse, and pastry cream, (2) used as a topping for pies (e.g., lemon meringue pie) and other desserts (e.g. Baked Alaska), (3) baked in a very low oven into cookies or cake layers, (4) baked into shells (vacherin) which are filled with custard, fruit, mousse or ice cream (see dacquoise).

MERVEILLEUX
Pronounced mair-vay-YUH, the word means “marvelous” in French. This delicate, airy pastry appeared in northern France and Flanders after the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th century.

Light meringue is topped with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. The modern French pâtissier Frédéric Vaucamps is credited with bringing back largely forgotten pastry in 1985. He reworked the recipe to make it lighter and created a variety of flavors. He named his business Aux Merveilleux de Fred.

Fred’s version of these melt-in-the-mouth pastries is composed of alternate layers of meringue and whipped cream, and available in a large selection of flavors.

 

MILLE-FEUILLE or MILLE FOGLIE
Pronounced meal-FWEE in French and MEE-lay FOAL-yay in Italian, meaning “a thousand leaves,” this pastry is made as three rectangular sheets of puff pastry spread with two layers of Bavarian cream*, pastry cream, whipped cream, custard, jam, or fruit purée, often dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry cream can be stabilized or flavored (chocolate, coffee, raspberry, etc.).

Made in a large pan, it’s cut into individual rectangular portions and can be iced with fondant (see photo below). The difference between mille-feuille and a Napoleon is that the latter is filled with almond cream. Savory versions are filled with cheese and served as appetizers. See also phyllo.

The mille-feuille and the mille foglie developed at about the same time. The difference is largely in the finishing touches.  

We don’t know which version came first. Laminated dough (puff pastry) seems to have developed in France, Italy, and Spain in overlapping ways from roughly the 17th century onward.

Both France and Italy have 18th- and 19th-century references to pastries that are recognizably mille‑feuille and mille foglie–like. 

MINCE PIE or MINCEMEAT PIE
Mince pie dates back to Medieval times in Britain, when the recipe included venison, along with dried fruits, sugar, and spices. It was then known as mincemeat pie.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the meat began disappearing from the recipe, which evolved into the sweet and spicy mince pie we know today, served during the Christmas season, filled with candied and fresh fruits, nuts, sugar, spices, brandy or wine, and suet. Some updated recipes use a puff pastry shell instead of the traditional shortcrust,

Suet is raw beef fat [or mutton fat], particularly the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys. Vegetarian suet is made from palm oil and rice flour.

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE or MUD PIE
An open pie consisting of a cooked chocolate filling in a crust made of chocolate or vanilla cookies or graham crackers. It is often topped with whipped cream and an optional garnish of chopped pecans. Some versions are made with coffee mousse or other coffee filling and a chocolate fudge sauce for the “mud.”

Mississippi Mud Pie is a specific, intensely rich, gooey Southern dessert featuring layers of chocolate custard, cake, or brownies over a cookie crust, often topped with whipped cream. Some recipes contain Bourbon.

As if it isn’t rich enough, it’s often served with ice cream, or optionally whipped cream, boiled custard, or vanilla yogurt.

Mississippi Mud Pie evolved from Mississippi Mud Cake (photo at right), popular during World War II—a chocolate sheet cake topped with marshmallows and frosting. It aimed to look like the muddy banks of the Mississippi River.

The pie version gained popularity in the 1970s. Its earliest known reference in print is in 1975.

Mississippi Mud Pie vs. Mud Pie

While the terms are often used interchangeably, a generic “mud pie” can refer to a variety of chocolate-based frozen pies, often using coffee ice cream with chocolate sauce.

NAPOLEON
The Napoleon pastry was not named after France’s famous general and emperor. The name is believed to be a corruption of the word “napolitain,” referring to a pastry made in the tradition of Naples, Italy (napolitano). This pastry originated as a millefoglie, or mille-feuille, using a leaf-thin pastry, most likely a descendant of phyllo.

The French mille-feuille and the Napoléon refer to the same pastry. Napoleon is simply the English (and sometimes Russian) name for a mille‑feuille.

It’s believed that the Napoleon and mille-feuille pastries were developed by the great chef Marie-Antoine Carême. Three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) are filled with almond cream and iced with fondant. In contrast, the mille-feuille (above) is filled with vanilla pastry cream or custard.

• An “American Napoleon” has a heavily marbled chocolate and vanilla fondant top, looking more like Jackson Pollock than the neat French style shown at the top of the page.
• An “Italian Napoleon” adds layers of rum-soaked sponge cake. Some variations layer fruit, such as raspberries, in the pastry cream.

How to eat a Mille-Feuille or Napoleon without crushing it:

As a pie, Nesselrode was popularized by Hortense Spier, who had a brownstone restaurant in New York City on 94th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West in the 1930s and 1940s. The restaurant closed before World War II; thereafter, Mrs. Spier baked pies for other restaurants (Nesselrode pie as well as banana cream pie, coconut custard pie, and lemon meringue pie). These pies became standards at New York restaurants.

A product called “Nesselro,” made by G.B. Raffetto, was used by home bakers through the 1970s but was discontinued when the pie went out of style. Containing candied chestnuts and fruits, it’s not difficult to recreate.
 

This is plain pastry where 1/2 cup of finely ground nuts is substituted for 1/2 cup of flour. Ideal with cream pies.  Here’s a recipe courtesy of the American Egg Board. Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup (2 ounces) ground pecans or other nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (cold), 1 egg yolk, 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water (divided), 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice.  Preparation: (1) Mix flour, nuts, and salt in a large bowl. (2) Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until pieces are the size of small peas. (3) Mix in egg yolk, 3 tablespoons of ice water, and the lemon juice in a small bowl.