A brief history of the croissant

While many think the croissant is French, the croissant's origins can actually be traced back to Vienna, Austria, in the 17th century during the Ottoman Empire's siege of the city in 1683. According to legend, Viennese bakers created a crescent-shaped pastry to signal the approaching Ottoman forces to the city's defenders.

The croissant made its way to France through August Zang, an Austrian artillery officer who opened a Viennese bakery in Paris in 1839. French bakers adopted and refined the croissant recipe, incorporating their techniques and using high-quality French butter.

By the late 19th century, the croissant had become a part of French cuisine. The French perfected the layers of buttery dough through precise folding and rolling, resulting in the characteristic light and flaky texture.

Today, the croissant is a globally enjoyed pastry with various regional adaptations. Whether plain or filled with sweet or savory ingredients, the croissant remains a symbol of French baking craftsmanship that has transcended its Austrian origins.

Croissants at KCLSU

KCLSU’s own cafes, The Shack and The Shed, have a great variety of croissants and pastries on offer at an affordable price. From the traditional plain croissant to a chocolate filled pastry, we have the classics. A new favourite, the almond croissant, features a crushed almond filling and is a perfect way to start a day of classes and lectures!

Croissants across London

• KURO Bakery, 95 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JZ

Aside from the almond croissant, the bakery's signature pastry, the Sakuro should also be on your hit list. A kind of 'croissant roll', the Sakuro encases an unctuous chocolate or vanilla cream filling in a flakey, sugar-dusted croissant exterior to make for a god-tier pastry.

• Donutelier, 48-50 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0BB

A few minutes away from Strand Campus you can get the strawberry cream croissant. An extravagant butter croissant with a flaky pastry, sliced in half and filled with strawberry jam, clouds of chantilly cream and strawberries and dusted with icing sugar.

• Richoux, 172 Piccadilly, W1J 9EJ

If you're unaware of a cruffin, it's time to get up to speed. This croissant-muffin hybrid is a permanent fixture to the offering at Richoux – a cylinder of flakey croissant dough baked into a cupcake case and filled with drool-worthy flavour combinations: caramelised white chocolate and sea salt; praline chocolate latte; apple crumble and banana, chai and hazelnut praline.

• Hart and Lova, 213a Belsize Road, NW6 4AA

Here you can get a pain au chocolat the size of your head, huge cinnamon rolls swirled into thick, sugar-dusted spirals and hunky Danishes loaded with heaps of syrupy fruit compote.