The Bakery Behind The Iconic Desserts In Marie Antoinette

It's very unlikely that the real Marie Antoinette callously decreed, "Let them eat cake." There's no historical record of her saying it, and the actual quote in French translates to "let them each brioche," which is a far cry from a gateau. In Sofia Coppola's film "Marie Antoinette," the teen queen (she married soon-to-be King Louis XVI when she was 15) is portrayed as a rebellious outsider prone to partying and overindulging in decadent French pastries.

Featured amongst the sweet treats are macarons, the famous French sandwich cookie that is decidedly different from a macaroon. The jewel-toned cookies were specifically made for the film by the Parisian bakery Ladurée and reportedly influenced the color scheme of the movie set. Ladurée's other pastries are justifiably famous, but its showcased macarons had such a huge impact in reinvigorating people's appetite for them that Coppola and her star Kirsten Dunst regretted not investing in the bakery.

French miller Louis Ernest Ladurée established the bakery 1862, long after the French Revolution. The business didn't invent its version of the macaron until 1930, so historically, the patisserie's world-renowned cookie never passed between Marie Antoinette's dainty lips. After a fire in 1871, the patisserie was rebuilt as an elegant salon, adorned with its signature cherubs and angel, but Ladurée really became a fashionable hot spot during the 1889 Paris Exposition when the owner's wife created a unique tea room that catered to wealthy and single young women.

Macarons date back to the late 15th century when they were baked by Italian monks. At the time, a macaron was a chewy almond cookie. However, when Catherine de Medici married King Henry II of France in 1533, she allegedly introduced it to the French court. Called "priest's bellybuttons," the cookie was a simple pastry made from almonds, egg white, and sugar and exclusively enjoyed by the aristocracy. King Louis IV served them to honored guests at Versailles in 1682, and the tradition carried on, so this single-cookie macaron is probably what Marie Antoinette nibbled on while being begowned in her boudoir. Two nuns fled Paris during the Revolution and found refuge in a convent in Nancy and began baking their own recipe — still a closely guarded secret — which, when the convent was shut down, they sold as a means of support.

To appease the public's hunger for macarons, the second cousin of bakery founder Louis Ernest invented the ganache- or jam-filled sandwich version that is famous today. In the 1990s, the patisserie aligned itself with the fashion industry by creating new flavors when fashion designers were launching a new line. When "Marie Antoinette" was released in 2006, the film's depiction of macarons and haute couture matched Ladurée's image of a luxurious lifestyle that the patisserie still promotes globally. (You might try your hand at making French macarons by following these pro tips for baking the absolute best Ladurée-worthy macarons.)