Almond Croissants for Two

Summary

Carolyn Hastings celebrates her birthday with her grandson, Wesley, by enjoying almond croissants, a French-inspired treat, and reflects on the experience in a poem, discussing the pastry's Austrian origins and its place in everyday English.

Abstract

In a heartwarming narrative, Carolyn Hastings recounts a special birthday lunch with her grandson, Wesley, where they indulge in almond croissants. The story unfolds on a pleasant spring afternoon, with Hastings detailing the joy of introducing Wesley to the delicacy. She describes the sensory delight of the pastry, from its buttery flakiness to the sweet almond filling. The article includes personal photographs and connects the experience to Lucy The Eggcademic's poetry prompt, which encourages the use of words from other languages that have become part of everyday English. Hastings also educates readers on the history of croissants, revealing their Austrian roots and transformation into a French culinary staple.

Opinions

The author clearly enjoys the sensory experience of eating almond croissants, emphasizing the buttery richness and the delightful texture of the toasted almond bits.
Hastings values the cultural significance of the croissant, taking the opportunity to educate readers on its origins and evolution from an Austrian kipfel to the French pastry known today.
The author expresses a personal connection to the poetry prompt, using it as a springboard for her own creative expression and reflecting on the cross-cultural influences in language and cuisine.
There is a sense of pride and satisfaction in witnessing Wesley's enjoyment of the almond croissant, suggesting that sharing cultural experiences and family traditions is important to the author.
The use of humor is evident when Hastings jokingly implies that Wesley might eat her croissant if given the chance, and when she anticipates a friend's reaction to her description of the pastry.

Use a word from another language that is in everyday English lingo.

There on the deck we sit, we two on a pleasant spring afternoon. It’s our lunch-for-just-us time of the day and one lucky Geema’s birthday.

We’ve already been to the patisserie and bought ourselves a celebratory treat. A quick zap in the micro-ovenery and now our pop-up party’s complete.

It’s Wesley’s first taste of this delicacy from the list of my top-ten food favourites. I love the buttery rich flaky pastry and the scatter of toasted almondy bits.

Most scrumptious of all is the filling, a mixture of eggs and sweet almond meal, best eaten on the day of their baking but really it’s not that big of a deal.

I watch as young Wesley takes his first bite and know by the look on his dial that the delicious croissant aux amandes delight is the prime reason for making him smile.

He scoffs the lot in next to no time, scavenging and savouring every last crumb I’m sure he would if he could, devour mine but how would we explain that to his mum?! 😜

© Carolyn Hastings 2021

Wesley, sampling an almond from the top of his almond croissant. (image courtesy of the author)

I read Lucy’s prompt and immediately connected the dots — French — croissant — almond croissant — special treat — Wesley’s introduction to aforementioned treat. And like a lump of croissant dough being kneaded and rolled, folded and laminated, my poem started to take shape in my head. Quatrain shape, of course — quatrain being French for four-line stanza.

I also knew I had a happy snap tucked away in my camera roll somewhere. Joy-oh-joy when I actually found it! The photo doesn’t capture the look on my grandson’s face because he was yet to discover the bliss of biting into the warm gooey goodness (sorry, Patrick, I know what you’re going to say!) but at least it’s proof that Wesley and almond croissants have existed in the same frame. And it was my birthday, although you’ll just have to take my word on that one too!

Now for the educational bit.

Did you know that croissants are not French? Well, the word, croissant, is French, but the original concept for the pastry is from Austria. Croissants are a derivation of the Viennese kipfel, a crescent-shaped leavened bread roll. The French turned them into their own culinary wonder when they used flaky pastry. And aren’t we glad they did?! 😋 To learn more about the history of croissants, go here.

For those of you interested in Lucy The Eggcademic (she/her)’s prompt, it’s: Use a word that originated from another language but is in everyday English lingo. You’ll find the prompt guidelines, here -

Merci beaucoup for reading. 🙏 💕

Poetry Prompt | Birthday Treat

Almond Croissants for Two

Use a word from another language that is in everyday English lingo.

Now for the educational bit.

Is the Croissant Really French?

One bite of a croissant just pulled from the oven at Michel Lyczak's bakery in the southern Parisian suburb of Malakoff…

Umami Heaven

Poetry Prompt: use a word that originated from another language but is in everyday English lingo.