Lithuanians claim that a chef created a "Napoleon Torte" ("Napoleonas") to honor the French general upon his arrival. Napoleonas consists of about twelve sheets of paper-thin puff pastry, held together with a rich, vanilla buttercream and a few layers of apricot jam. We cover the torte with buttercream and sprinkle the top and sides with crumbled puff pastry—that is, with the puff pastry layer that fell apart.
Legend maintains that when the French returned home, they asked Parisian pastry chefs to reproduce the Lithuanian delicacy. No one succeeded at making the torte in its original, complicated form. As a result, the French settled on a streamlined version. Today, French Napoleon pastries still consist of about four layers of puff pastry filled with a simple pastry crème.
We like Napoleonas in any form, Lithuanian or French.
Here is my Lithuanian Napoleonas:
Door County, Wisconsin, August 2000. No, this isn't 2011-fresh Napoleonas. This is an old photo for the old photo blog.
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In the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, the citizens also renamed a mound the "Napoleon Hill" because Napoleon stood on it as he watched the French Army cross the Nemunas River.
Napoleon's Hill, Kaunas, Lithuania, 1934. My Mom and my maternal Grandmother, Jadzė, sit in the park on Napoleon's Hill.
UPDATE: Look at my Mom's and Jadzė's hands and feet. Does this this mom-mimickery look familiar?
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