Cake "Napoleon" puff pastry with custard: recipes, cooking features and reviews

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

This cake is familiar to many since childhood. Cake "Napoleon" is a world-famous delicacy that was very loved back in Soviet times. He is able to decorate any holiday table. Many positive reviews and various recipes prove the fact that "Napoleon" is the real king of cakes. Thin soft cakes smeared with delicious cream - what could be tastier? Traditionally, Napoleon cake is prepared from yeast-free puff pastry. The article contains the best and proven recipes that will be useful to every housewife - both beginners and experienced.

The story of the origin of the cake "Napoleon"

This cake is popular not only in Russia, but also all over the world. In France and Italy, this delicacy is called "milfeuille", which translates as "a thousand layers", only the cakes are smeared with cream and strawberry jam.

Many are wondering:how did this famous cake come about and where did it get its name from? It is believed that this dessert was first invented in Moscow in 1912, when people celebrated the expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte from the city. It was a puff pastry in the form of a triangle, which resembled the hat of the French emperor. There is also a version that the name of the dessert is associated with the city of Naples.

How to make a real "Napoleon"?

The main components of the royal delicacy are cream and thin cakes. Prepare the traditional cake "Napoleon" from puff pastry with custard. The taste and success of the dish depends on their proper preparation. Later, if desired, the dessert can be decorated with nuts, grated chocolate and coconut flakes - at the discretion of the chef.

Dessert Cooking Tips

There are a number of features of making Napoleon cake from puff pastry with custard, which must be taken into account in order for the dessert to turn out to be successful:

1. It is worth choosing flour only of the highest grade. Be sure to sift through a sieve, maybe even twice.
2. Butter for dessert should be taken as fat as possible, then the cakes will turn out lush and beautiful. Butter must be cold.
3. The most delicious cake "Napoleon" - from homemade puff pastry. If the chef has free time, then you should not be too lazy and cook it at home. There is nothing difficult to prepare. The main thing is to stick to the recipe.
4. Roll out puff pastryYou need to go in the same direction from yourself, not in different directions. The dough is folded into squares and removed for a while in the refrigerator.
5. Cakes are usually made as thin as possible - no more than 1 mm. Then they will be better saturated with cream, and the cake will eventually turn out juicy and soft.

Old Classic: Napoleon Puff Pastry with Custard Recipe

Most novice cooks find it very difficult to cook Napoleon at home. Actually this is not true. Even beginners can make a juicy and soft cake by following the recipe.

What do you need for the legendary dessert?

Ingredients for Classic Napoleon Cake:

• butter - 400 g;
• sifted wheat flour - about 1 kg;
• chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
• sour cream - 200 g;
• sugar - 200 g;
• milk - 1 l;
• vanilla sugar - half a teaspoon.

Cooking steps:

1. The pack of butter should be melted. Add 200 g of flour to it. Mix the mixture thoroughly. Set aside for the time being.
2. Then we take sour cream, put it in a bowl, break the eggs and beat with a mixer.
3. Pour 500 g of flour into the mixture and knead the dough well.
4. Shape into a medium-thick sausage and divide into about six portions.
5. Roll each piece thin.
6. Grease the cake with a mixture of butter and flour. Top it with another layer. Thus, coat all the cakes, folding themon top of each other.
7. Then roll the dough into a roll and cut it slightly (do not cut it), into about 20 pieces.
8. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 10 hours.
9. Take out the dough and roll it out.
10. Bake cakes on a baking sheet without oil at 200 degrees for about 7-8 minutes.
11. Irregularities in the cake cut off and save for decorating the cake.
12. While the cakes are cooling, you should do the cream. Pour 600 ml of milk into a deep saucepan and put it on medium heat.
13. Pour half a teaspoon of vanilla sugar into the milk. It will give the pastries a pleasant aroma.
14. In another bowl, pour 200 g of sugar, 6 tablespoons of flour, mix. Then pour in 300 ml of milk. Mix the mass until smooth.
15. Add the resulting mixture to the milk. The mass should be stirred endlessly with a spoon or whisk until it thickens. Remove the finished cream from heat and cool slightly. Then add a pack of butter, divided into pieces, and mix thoroughly again until completely dissolved.
16. Spread the bottom of the dish lightly with cream.
17. Put the cake on a festive plate and carefully flavor it with custard. So we coat the whole cake, not forgetting about the sides.
18. Decorate the finished dessert with crumbs from the remaining dough.
19. "Napoleon" is better to let it brew for 10 hours, then its taste will become more saturated, and the cakes - even softer and juicier. But if there is no desire to endure for so long, the cake can be eaten in a couple of hours.

Grandma's famous cake recipe

This cake was prepared using this technologySoviet grandmothers who want to treat their children and grandchildren to a sweet dessert. It was a real holiday when the whole family gathered at the table to drink fragrant tea with a delicious cake. Many remember this delicacy with a warm sense of nostalgia.

Below is a tried and tested Soviet recipe for a Napoleon cake with custard.

For the test:

• 500g sifted premium flour;
• 200g butter or margarine;
• 2 chicken eggs;
• 100ml cool water;
• 1 tbsp spoonful of vinegar;
• a pinch of s alt to taste.

For cream:

• 1 liter of milk;
• 300g granulated sugar;
• 7 yolks;
• 100 g sifted flour;
• a pinch of vanilla sugar.

Cooking:

1. You need to start by making puff pastry. Chilled butter (or margarine) quickly grate so that it does not have time to melt.
2. Wheat flour carefully sift, preferably several times. Mix it with s alt, then add oil and rub the mixture with your hands into crumbs.
3. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to cool water, mix and add to the grated butter and flour. Stir again.
4. In a separate bowl, break the eggs, add a pinch of s alt and beat until fluffy foam. Then add them to the prepared butter-flour mixture.
5. Knead the dough until smooth, cover with cling film and refrigerate. While the dough is in the cold, you need to cookcustard.
6. Separate the proteins from the yolks, add the latter to a separate bowl. Pour granulated sugar, sifted flour there and mix everything.
7. Pour a glass of milk into the resulting mixture and beat with a mixer until a homogeneous mass without lumps appears.
8. The remaining milk should be poured into a saucepan and put on fire. Bring to a boil, pour the egg-flour mixture into the milk and mix thoroughly, reducing the heat. The mass should turn out thick and without lumps.
9. If there are still lumps, you can beat the mass with a blender.
10. The resulting cream put to cool.
11. Deliver chilled and risen dough from the refrigerator. Roll it into a sausage and cut into eight equal parts.
12. Roll the piece into a circle as evenly as possible. Do not throw away the trimmings, they will still be useful when shaping the cake. Set them aside in a separate bowl.
13. Put the finished circle on a baking sheet and pierce in several places. The cake is baked quite quickly at a temperature of 190 degrees.
14. So bake all the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool before brushing them with cream.
15. It's time to start making pre-prepared scraps. You need to connect them, roll them into a circle and bake. Then grind in a blender.
16. By this time, the cream will have completely cooled down, and it will be possible to proceed to the final stage - assembling the cake and decorating it.
17. For the cake you need to prepare a large dish. We also grease its bottom with cream.
18. Put the cake on top, apply a layer of cream and so on, to the very top. At the end of the side, also flavor with the rest of the cream and wellsprinkle with cooked crumbs.
19. If desired, the cake can be decorated with melted or grated chocolate and nuts. Put the cake in the refrigerator for impregnation, preferably at night. By morning, the whole family will be waiting for a delicious and delicious delicacy. Such a dessert will look great on any holiday table.

Cake "Napoleon": recipe (step by step) with custard

This version of "Napoleon" is more modern, since in this case you will need ready-made dough and you will not have to spend too much time in the kitchen. For the cake "Napoleon" from ready-made puff pastry with custard, the following components are needed:

• 900g yeast-free puff pastry;
• custard prepared using the same technology as in the previous recipe.

Cooking dessert:

1. The dough should be taken out of the freezer and thawed well.
2. While it is defrosting, you can make a cream out of eggs, flour and milk. It is prepared in the same way as in the Soviet recipe.
3. Roll out the thawed layers of dough (it is important to follow the rule - in one direction from you) as thin as possible. Form a circle, set aside the trimmings. Of these, later prepare sprinkles for the cake.
4. Bake the cakes one by one, remembering to pierce them with a fork.
5. Spread the cooled cakes generously with custard in turn, then sprinkle with finished crumbs. The cake is ready. Garnish with berries and nuts, if desired.

Small sweet joy:cake "Napoleon"

You should definitely make this sweet at home, because the kids just adore this dessert. And the adults won't mind either. Swept off the table for one-two-three!

Required ingredients:

• sifted flour of the highest grade - 500 g;
• chilled butter (or margarine) - 400g;
• powdered sugar - 200 g (you can take more if the family has a sweet tooth);
• yeast (preferably fresh) - 10 g;
• milk - 1 l;
• egg - 1 pc.;
• granulated sugar - 100 g;
• baking powder - half a teaspoon;
• vanilla sugar - one pinch;
• nuts, chocolate, berries - for decoration.

Napoleon cake with custard is prepared as follows:

1. It's best to start with the dough, as it takes the most time to cook. Dissolve live yeast in two to three tablespoons of milk.
2. Sift flour thoroughly, mix with powdered sugar and add baking powder for dough.
3. Put 200 g of cold soft butter into the flour and quickly grind into crumbs.
4. Then add milk with yeast to the butter-flour mass. Knead soft dough. Refrigerate it for at least an hour. During this time, prepare the custard for future cakes.
5. To prepare it, add 100 g of sugar and a little water to the pan. Bring it to a liquid state over medium heat. Then add half of the milk from the total indicated amount to the sugar andwait for a boil. The mixture should take on a caramel color.
6. In a separate bowl at this time, mix the rest of the milk and 5 tablespoons of flour so that there are no lumps. You can beat with a mixer.
7. Then, carefully, slowly, pour the flour mass into the caramel mixture, stirring constantly. The mixture is boiled until completely thickened over low heat. Then remove the finished cream from the stove and leave it to cool.
8. Dough for this period of time has already cooled down enough and approached. Take it out of the refrigerator, roll it into a sausage and divide it into six pieces.
9. Roll out each part thinly, no more than 1-2 mm.
10. Cakes are baked on a baking sheet for about 8 minutes at 190-200 degrees. Be sure to pierce the shortcakes in several places to avoid bubbles.
11. Irregularities cut off and collect in a separate bowl for sprinkling cakes.
12. Each cake thoroughly grease with cream on all sides. Then generously sprinkle with crumbs. You can decorate with anything: grated chocolate, chocolate icing, nuts and berries. This is at the personal discretion of the hostess and her household.

Napoleon cake with walnuts

Those who love nuts in cakes should definitely cook this version of "Napoleon". It turns out insanely delicious. It is done quickly, since the finished dough is taken as the basis. If you wish, you can make your own.

So, for its preparation you will need the following products:

• ready-made puff yeast-free dough - 900r;
• 3 yolks;
• granulated sugar - 200 g;
• flour - 3 tbsp. spoons;
• starch - 2 teaspoons;
• condensed milk - 350g;
• milk - 0.5 l;
• walnuts - 200g

And here's how to cook it:

1. Separate the yolks from the whites, pour into a bowl and mix with sugar. Then add half of the total amount of milk, stir.
2. Sift flour, combine with starch and add to the yolks. Pour the remaining milk into the mixture and mix everything thoroughly.
3. Pour the mass into a saucepan and send over medium heat until it thickens. Allow the finished custard to cool.
4. Mix condensed milk with butter and add cooled cream to it. Beat the mass with a mixer, and then remove to the cold.
5. Walnuts are lightly roasted on a baking sheet in the oven and then crushed in a blender or on the table with a rolling pin.
6. From puff pastry to prepare cakes. Let them cool completely and spread with custard, remembering to sprinkle with ground nuts.
7. The final step is to sprinkle the cake with crumbs, which can be prepared from scraps of the remaining dough. Spread generously on all sides of the cake and sprinkle with ground nuts.

The cake with walnuts is very satisfying, beautiful, with a rich nutty taste.

Reviews and recommendations

All reviews of hostesses agree on one thing: "Napoleon" is a true king of desserts that can decorate any table. However, they warn that the technology of its preparation has a number of nuances and tricks that need to beobserve to make the cake successful.

Traditional Napoleon cake made of puff pastry with custard is being prepared.

First of all, all products must be fresh and chilled - puff pastry does not like heat and heat. Butter must be cold, not frozen, otherwise the dough will tear when rolled out.

You shouldn't put a lot of flour, reviews warn, otherwise the cakes will turn out dry and hard.

Before baking, the housewives advise to pierce the cakes with a fork - then they will not puff up.

To make the cake soft and juicy, you need to generously grease it with custard and put it in the refrigerator for at least 10 hours, and best of all - overnight. During this time, he will have time to soak properly.

For lovers of crispy cakes, instead of traditional custard, you can use boiled condensed milk mixed with butter.