A croissant is a buttery, flaky French pastry, made from puff pastry. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded a few times, then rolled into it's shape. Known for its crescent shape it was named crescent in French, croissant. The birth of this pastry started from an adaptation of a kipferl, a Viennese morning sweet, slightly denser and packed with fruit and nut filling. The pastry made its debut in Paris when a Viennese baker opened his patisserie in 1838.