Grandmother’s with pastry cream
Description
According to my grandmother’s recipe, the “Napoleon” turns out tender and satisfyingly moist. It is truly the dessert that unquestionably earns the imperial name it bears. I wouldn’t call it effortless to make. Nothing in it is conceptually complicated, yet it depends on practice: rolling the layers thinly and evenly, and baking them so they are cooked through yet not scorched. If your custard still comes out with lumps, don’t worry—pass it through a sieve. I’m confident your efforts will pay off and everything will turn out beautifully. Good luck. Serve chilled or lightly warm.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients for making Grandma’s Napoleon cake.
- 2
Step 2
Prepare the sponge cake layers. Put the flour into a bowl and add a pinch of salt.
- 3
Step 3
Place the cold butter in the flour.
- 4
Step 4
Rub the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. You can do this with a mixer, a spoon, or your hands.
- 5
Step 5
Add the sour cream and a teaspoon of vinegar.
- 6
Step 6
Quickly stir the sour cream into the butter crumble. The resulting dough should stick slightly to your hands. Divide it into 7–8 balls and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- 7
Step 7
While the dough is chilling, prepare the custard cream for the cake. Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place it on the stove.
- 8
Step 8
Place the egg yolks in a small bowl. The egg whites are not needed here.
- 9
Step 9
Add sugar and vanilla sugar.
- 10
Step 10
Mix the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined.
- 11
Step 11
Add corn starch or flour.
- 12
Step 12
Pour in 3–4 tablespoons of cold milk and stir thoroughly again until there are no lumps.
- 13
Step 13
When the milk in the saucepan starts to boil, pour in the mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and starch that you prepared. Stirring constantly, cook until the custard thickens. This will take 4–5 minutes.
- 14
Step 14
Cover the cream with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface and refrigerate until completely cool.
- 15
Step 15
Take the chilled dough balls out of the refrigerator one at a time and roll out very thin pastry. Place each layer in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. My pan is 20 centimetres in diameter.
- 16
Step 16
Bake each layer in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until lightly golden. Baking time depends on your oven. I ended up with 9 layers. I used one layer for coating the cake.
- 17
Step 17
When the pastry cream has cooled, add it to a bowl in small portions with softened butter and beat with an electric mixer.
- 18
Step 18
The custard cream for the Napoleon cake is ready. You can chill it again for 20–30 minutes.
- 19
Step 19
Assemble the cake. Place the first sponge layer on a plate and spread with cream.
- 20
Step 20
Do the same with all the layers. Crumble the last layer and sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with the crumbs. Cover the Napoleon with plastic wrap. Then place a wooden board on top and put a small weight on it. This will help the cake soak through faster. Chill for 6–7 hours.
- 21
Step 21
Cut the finished “Napoleon” cake into slices and serve.