The croissant is the quintessential French pastry, yet its ancestor, the 'Kipferl,' originated in Austria. According to legend, the Kipferl was created in 1683 during the Ottoman Siege of Vienna. Bakers working through the night heard the Ottomans tunneling under the city walls and alerted the military, saving the city. To celebrate, they baked a pastry in the shape of the crescent moon found on the Ottoman flag, symbolically 'eating' their enemies. The pastry traveled to France in the late 18th century, likely brought by Marie Antoinette, an Austrian archduchess. French bakers eventually refined the recipe by using 'pâte feuilletée' (laminated dough), where layers of butter are folded into the dough multiple times. This process, called 'lamination,' creates the hundreds of flaky, airy layers characteristic of a modern croissant.