Illinois has a storied history of innovation and the brownie is a sweet inclusion to that list of achievements. The brownie has become an American classic with 1.5 billion brownies consumed each year according to the National Brownie Committee of America. Brownies were not always part of the American diet, however, and in 1893 the world would get its first taste of the chocolate desert. 

The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago and its board included the first women to work on a world’s fair in an official capacity.  One of the chairwomen was Bertha Honore, wife of Potter Palmer, who built the famous Palmer House in the Chicago Loop in 1871.  Bertha requested a “chocolate cake-like treat” that could be easily transported for the fair. The Palmer House’s pastry chef, Joseph Sehl, was tasked with and created the first brownie batch, complete with walnuts and apricot glaze.

The brownies were a hit and were featured five years later in a Sears Roebuck catalog and the rest is history. “Bertha’s Brownie” is still served at the Palmer House’s Lockwood Restaurant using the original recipe.