Napoleon Cake
Yield: 12 servings
This Napoleon Cake recipe features layers of thin, flaky pastry and creamy, luscious vanilla-flecked pastry cream. It's a beautiful classic Russian cake that's worthy of special occasions!
Ingredients
For the pastry circles
- 5½ cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 3½ sticks unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup ice water
- 1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
For the egg yolk cream
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk divided
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
Instructions
- For the pastry circles: Place the flour, salt, and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until crumbs form.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, ice water, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla paste.
- Gradually add the egg mixture to the flour-butter crumbs in the food processor and continue pulsing until the crumbs start sticking together and forming a dough. Be careful not to overmix; you want the dough to be just combined.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten it into a disk. Wrap each dough disc tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours (or up to several days if making ahead of time).
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out each portion of dough into a thin circle on parchment paper. Use a round mold to mark the size of the circle, ensuring uniformity for each pastry circle. If you don't have a mold, use a plate or pan that's about 8" in diameter and cut the dough with a knife, following around the perimeter. Repeat this step eight times to create eight pastry circles.
- Prick the pastry circles all over with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing up too much during baking.
- Place individual pieces of parchment with pastry circles onto baking sheets. Bake each pastry circle for about 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Keep a close eye on them, as they can burn quickly. You can bake multiple pastry circles at the same time, depending on your oven - but if they are not baking evenily, you may want to bake them individually. Remove the baked pastry circles from the oven and let cool completely.
- If the baked pastry circles and the baked pastry rings going around the circles somewhat bake together, run a thin knife between the circles and the rings. Detach the rings, add them to a ziplock bag, and seal the bag tightly. Then crush the baked pastry rings into crumbs and set aside. This will be used to cover the outside of the cake.
- For the egg yolk cream: In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar, adding a little bit of the milk (from the 4 cups of milk), as needed, to help with mixing.
- Add ⅔ cup flour to the egg mixture and whisk until you have a uniform, lump-free batter. You can add a little of the milk (from the 4 cups of milk) if the batter is too thick.
- Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat until just boiling, stirring often so the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Very slowly pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly while you pour. This will temper the eggs.
- Add the egg and milk mixture back to the saucepan (no need to wash it first) and stir constantly over medium heat, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. This should take about 5 minutes or so.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Then stir in the unsalted butter and vanilla paste until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Transfer the egg yolk cream to a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming, and let it cool completely.
- To assemble the cake: Once the crusts and cream are completely cooled, begin layering. Place one baked pastry circle on a serving platter.
- Spread 2-3 tablespoons of the egg yolk cream on top of the pastry circle.
- Repeat the process, alternating between pastry circles and cream layers, until all the pastry circles are used.
- Finish by spreading a layer of cream on top and around the sides of the cake for a smooth finish.
- Lightly press the crushed pastry crumbs onto the egg yolk cream, all around the cake.
- Refrigerate the Napoleon cake for at least 3 hours - overnight is recommended. This allows the layers to meld together, for the egg yolk cream to soak into the pastry layers and soften them.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 776kcal Carbohydrates: 70g Protein: 14g Fat: 49g Saturated Fat: 29g Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g Cholesterol: 259mg Sodium: 102mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 21g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.