The Brownie
Undoubtedly of American origin, the brownie is said to have been created by the pastry chef of the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, at the request of its owner, Bertha Palmer, during the World's Columbian Exposition held in 1893 in that city.
In the original recipe, pieces of walnut kernels were sprinkled and lightly embedded by hand on top of the batter before baking, then covered with an apricot jam glaze after baking. It is still served today in the establishment, which has since become the Palmer House Hilton.
The reasons why this new cake received the name "brownie" sometime after its creation, however, remain a matter of controversy. Was it because of its dark color—"brownie" can literally be translated as "little brown"—or because of the mischievous and kind fairy creatures, the brownies, inspired by traditional Scottish folklore and popularized in the United States as early as 1887 in children's books written and illustrated by Canadian author Palmer Cox (1840–1924)? The question remains open.
In any case, brownie mania was reaching new heights: one of the first "handheld" cameras, developed by Eastman Kodak in February 1900, was named the Kodak Brownie Camera.
