Soviet-era Napoleon cake: the most delicious classic recipe. Napoleon cake". The most delicious recipes with custard at home

Good afternoon friends!

Today, we are preparing classic cake Napoleon made of custard and multi-layered cakes. There are a lot of cake recipes. However, the realest, most delicious recipe, tested over the years, is from Soviet times.

Then this cake was baked according to only one recipe; skilled bakers baked huge, table-sized, fluffy, layered, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth Napoleons, and sold them by cutting them off. big pieces. It was impossible to find out the recipe for making the cake; I learned it many years later, and today I want to share it with you.

If you don’t have any time to prepare a cake, but really want something sweet, prepare easy recipe. Cakes for Napoleon can be baked from ready-made puff pastry; use condensed milk or sour cream as cream. But, of course, such a cake will be different from the one prepared at home.

Ingredients:

To prepare the dough we will need:

flour - 750 grams
butter - 600 grams
egg - 2 pieces
ice water - 300 ml
salt - 1 teaspoon
vodka - 2 tbsp. spoons

To prepare the custard:

eggs - 4 pieces
sugar - 200-350 grams
milk - 1 liter
butter - 200 grams
vanilla - 1 pod
flour - 4 tbsp. spoons
cognac - 2 tbsp. spoons

Step-by-step preparation:

The main condition of preparation correct test- all ingredients must be chilled.

Sift the cold flour through a fine sieve onto the table, you can sift it 2-3 times, the more it will be saturated with oxygen and the product will be more airy.

Grate the frozen butter on a coarse grater, directly into the flour. I would like to note that it must be fresh and good quality. You can use less of the indicated amount of butter in the recipe, but you should remember that the more it is, the fluffier and airier the dough turns out.

Each time, dip the butter in flour and quickly rub it in so that it does not melt from the warmth of your hands.

Constantly mix the grated butter with flour.

In a separate bowl, break 2 eggs, add salt to taste, two tablespoons of vodka and water. Mix everything with a whisk. Adding a small amount of vodka makes the dough airy and dry. Then pour the resulting liquid into the butter-flour mixture in small portions and mix.

The dough should not be kneaded too much; it should be mixed and collected into a large lump.

The dough we got is not too stiff, it doesn’t stick to our hands.

Wrap the dough in cling film and send it to refrigerator for 2 hours, and in the meantime let’s prepare the cream.

Making custard

The custard prepared according to this recipe has a very delicate consistency and soaks the cakes well.

Pour milk into a small saucepan, add sugar, vanilla bean and put on low heat and stirring constantly, dissolve the sugar.

Break the eggs into a separate bowl, add flour, cognac and mix well until smooth.

Pour the prepared mixture into hot milk in portions, stir and bring to a boil, but do not boil. Then reduce the heat and, stirring with a whisk, evaporate the mixture until thickened.

Remove from heat, add softened butter and beat cream until homogeneous mass. We made a wonderful, thick, tender custard. Pour it into a bowl and cool until room temperature.

Sour cream

Can be prepared quickly sour cream from any sour cream and sugar. It doesn't even require heat treatment.

We have prepared the dough and cream, you can start baking the cakes.

Let's put it on the table baking paper and roll it out very thin dough, 3-4 mm thick and the size of a baking tray. Using a fork, make pricks all over the surface of the cake.

Then, using a sharp and thin knife, cut the rolled out cake into six equal parts. Carefully transfer them onto a baking sheet on paper and place them in an oven heated to 200 degrees.

It is better to bake the cakes on the middle rack. You should not overbake; as soon as the dough has risen and browned (3-5 minutes), take out the baking sheet and place the next one. Thus, we got 24 thin, crispy puff pastries.

Let's start collecting our a delicious cake Napoleon. We coat each cake with a layer of cream. Then coat with cream on top and on all sides. We sacrifice one cake and turn it into crumbs, which we sprinkle on all sides of our dessert. Leave to soak at room temperature for five hours, then put in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, cut a piece of cake for tea. Well-soaked and melt-in-your-mouth dessert prepared according to a classic recipe. Bon appetit!

This is such a long and detailed recipe for preparing an amazingly delicious homemade cake Napoleon of Soviet times. I would like to know your opinion about the recipe, write in the comments. If you liked it, click “Class” and share links to the article with your friends on social networks.

Napoleon cake

Step-by-step recipe for making Napoleon cake with photo and video description. Detailed instructions on how to make custard for Napoleon cake according to grandma's

5 hours

5/5 (1)

Kitchen appliances and utensils: oven, mixer, knife, rolling pin, fork, whisk, sieve, grater, deep bowl - 2 pcs., glass.

Probably, in every family, an old grandmother’s recipe for making Napoleon cake is passed down from generation to generation. custard. But sooner or later there comes a time when you want to experiment and bring something of your own, or even cook according to a new recipe.

There are many options , how to make custard for Napoleon cake. But with the addition of condensed milk the cream turns out very airy and piquant. I like making this cake because it turns out very rich and has a pleasant aftertaste. Calorie content Napoleon cake with custard and condensed milk is quite high - about 500 kcal per 100 grams of cake.

Required Products

Ingredients for the crust:

For cream:

Butter – 250 grams.
Milk – 200 ml.

Egg – 2 pcs.
Starch – 1 tbsp. with a slide.
Vanilla sugar – 1 sachet.

How to choose the right ingredients

At the time of buying condensed milk Read the ingredients carefully: only milk with sugar must be indicated there. No additives, namely: thickeners, vegetable fats and so on. should not be present in high-quality condensed milk.
When choosing butter give preference to oil with a high percentage of fat content and good quality.

Let's start preparing Napoleon cake with custard according to a step-by-step recipe with photos.

Step-by-step recipe for Napoleon cake

Preparing the dough

Flour – 500 grams.
Butter – 250 grams.
Egg – 1 pc.

Cold boiled water– 200 ml.
Baking powder for dough – 1.5 tsp.
Salt – a pinch.

Below the recipe will be described in detail step by step, how to make custard with condensed milk for Napoleon cake.

Preparing the cream

Butter – 250 grams.
Condensed milk – 1 can (not boiled).
Milk – 200 ml.

Egg – 2 pcs.
Starch – 1 tbsp. with a slide.
Vanilla sugar – 1 sachet.

1st stage of cream preparation

At this point I will tell you, how to make custard for Napoleon cake.

Pour starch into a glass or bowl, dilute it with a small amount of milk and stir until a homogeneous mass is obtained no lumps.
Pour milk into a saucepan, put on low heat and bring almost to a boil.
Take a deep bowl and add eggs there. Beat them with a whisk and pour in the diluted starch. Continue whisking.
Then So slow add hot milk, while constantly stirring with a whisk. There is no need to quickly pour in hot milk, as the eggs may curdle.
Pour our egg-milk mixture back into the pan and place it on the stove with the heat turned on low. Cook until thickened on high and continuous stirring. When the cream thickens, add vanilla sugar and mix.
Ready custard transfer to another bowl so that it cools to room temperature.

Stage 2 of preparing the cream

And now I'll tell you how to connect two prepared creams.

Place the butter, which has become soft at room temperature, into a mixer bowl and begin to beat it. Beat the butter before purchasing white.
Without stopping the beating process, gradually add condensed milk and continue whisking. When all the condensed milk has been added, beat the mixture for another minute.
Now we will gradually add our cooled custard into a butter base. Turn on the mixer again and, gradually adding custard, beat everything thoroughly.

Assembling the cake

Place the cream aside and layer by layer Let's start forming the cake. We take the serving plate on which we will serve the cake and place the first cake layer on it. We begin to grease it with cream, while putting more cream on the edge of the cake so that the cake is not dry. We coat all the cakes in this way, periodically lightly pressing them together.

We don’t frost the last cake— we will use it for decoration, having previously crushed it into small pieces.

If you want to get more smooth cake, then we proceed as follows:

We coat all the cakes except the last one (leave it without cream).
Place dry, clean paper on top of it cutting board.
Place a jar of water for 1 hour. The cake will take on a more even appearance.

After that grease the sides of the cake and the top layer with cream. Sprinkle the top and sides of our cake with crumbs. We leave for 1 hour at room temperature until the cake soaks and becomes softer. Then you can put it in the refrigerator.

Let's start decorating the cake. I like the cake to be decorated with sliced strawberries and mint leaves, and in winter I like to dust the cake with powdered sugar and layer it in halves walnuts around the circumference. You can also sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

Video of making Napoleon cake

The preparation of Napoleon cake with custard and condensed milk is shown in the video from step by step recipe.

The cake turns out to be quite sweet, so in my family we brew black tea with lemon and mint or black coffee for this cake. I recommend serving the cake right away. cut into portions.

To prepare “Napoleon” according to the classic Soviet-era recipe, you need to tinker. Make the dough, bake a lot of cakes, cook the cream, assemble the cake, let it soak. It's a whole story. But the result is a delicious, tender, melt-in-your-mouth cake, worthy of the most exquisite holiday table. You won't cook this every day. What if you want? Then there is quick recipes. Today there will be everything - both the traditional one and its two simple relatives.

Cake "Napoleon": recipe with custard, the most delicious

In my opinion this is very good recipe cake at home. The dough for the cakes will be chopped, custard cream. I tried to make it as detailed as possible step by step photos, so that it is clear to everyone who will bake for the first time.

Ingredients for the crust:

flour – 2.5 cups* (400g);
sugar – 2 tbsp. (50g);
salt - a pinch;
butter – 300g;
water – 6-7 tbsp. (110-120ml).
Ingredients for cream:
egg yolks – from 4 eggs;
powdered sugar – 8 tbsp. (200g);
milk – 400ml;
butter – 150g.

* glass with a capacity of 250 ml.

How to cook Napoleon at home:

First of all, take out the butter, cut off 150 grams for the cream and leave it on the table. We need it softened. While we prepare the cakes it will melt. And for the test you need frozen.

I'll show you how to cook properly chopped dough, but I’ll be honest right away – I rarely cook it this way myself. I usually use a blender or grater. However, let's take it in order.

Sift flour onto a cutting board and add salt.
Cut the frozen butter (300g) into small pieces at random. We put them on flour.
We arm ourselves with two knives, one in each hand, or something like this special tool, which you see in the photo, and begin to chop the butter, while simultaneously mixing it with flour.
As a result, a mixture similar to flour should form in front of you. coarse with small inclusions of pea-sized pieces of butter. This is the right consistency. If you chop it all in a blender bowl, it will turn out like this without any problems. If you grate the butter, try to do it as quickly as possible so that the butter does not melt in your hands. The presence of frozen butter in the dough determines its friability after baking. If the butter melts before the oven, you will get a dry sole instead of cakes.
For the same reason, we will add very cold water (6-7 tablespoons) to our mixture.
Kneading the dough with your hands for a long time and until smooth is not only not necessary, but absolutely not! Mix quickly, knead until it forms a little lump and that’s it.
Then we give it the shape of a log, put it in plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
For now you can do the cream. Separate 4 into a bowl egg yolks, pour powdered sugar.
Mix with a whisk.
Pour milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil. In a thin stream, without ceasing to stir, pour the hot milk into the egg-butter mixture.
Then pour everything into the pan in which the milk was heated and return to the fire. With low heat, stirring constantly, cook the mixture until you feel it begin to thicken and the whisk leaves marks on the surface.
Remove from heat and continue stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Then pour the mixture into a deep bowl.
Cover cling film so that it lies directly on the mixture. This way the surface will not dry out. Leave to cool.
Let's return to the test. Remove from the refrigerator and cut into 10 or 12 pieces. A real Napoleon should have no less number of cakes.
Bake the cakes perfectly on silicone mat. If not, use baking paper. We will roll them out right away. To do this, place one piece of dough in the center, cover plastic bag and roll it out thinly with a rolling pin, no more than 2mm.
So that the future cake is correct round shape Place a plate on top and circle around the edge. Do not throw away the dough scraps. Saving them and then rolling out another full-sized cake will not work, but baking them later for topping is just right.
To prevent the dough from puffing up in the oven, prick it often with a fork. I have this tool.
Bake one at a time in an oven preheated to 200°C for just a few minutes. Therefore, do not go far, as soon as they are browned, take them out. Place the finished ones on a towel.
If the cream mixture has already cooled and become warm, you can continue with it. Add softened butter.
Beat with a mixer until smooth and homogeneous.
When everything is baked, you can proceed to assembling the cake. Lubricate all layers with cream, do not forget to leave for the top and sides.
You can decorate the cake with crumbs, which we will get when we bake the dough scraps. Sprinkle them on the top and sides. Additionally, you can sprinkle with finely chopped hazelnuts and powdered sugar.
The cake must be kept in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours for soaking.

This makes him a classic “Napoleon” of the Soviet era!

Napoleon from ready-made cakes with condensed milk cream

As you understood from the previous recipe, the longest and most effort-consuming process is baking. The cream is prepared relatively simply and quickly. Therefore for quick option We buy ready-made cakes. I can say from my own experience that they are not bad at all. The cake is ready in 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

cakes – 1 package (380g, 6 pcs);
condensed milk – 1 can;
butter – 150g.

How to make a cake from ready-made cake layers:

I'm pleased with the result. Of course, the taste is far from the first, real one, but the speed of preparation is definitely a huge plus.

Puff pastry cake with sour cream

This one is also faster than the classic version, although it requires baking. But... if you rank recipes, puff pastry comes in last place. Also tasty, but still not the same. Option will do for when you need it quickly and don’t have store-bought ready-made cake layers.

Ingredients:

puff pastry yeast-free dough- 1 kg;
sour cream at least 20-25% – 200g;
boiled condensed milk - 1 can.

How to cook:

Here are three Napoleon cake recipes, from complex to simple, for all occasions and situations. Print out step-by-step photos for yourself, experiment and delight your family and friends.

Napoleon cake is the favorite treat in many families. It is always prepared with great pleasure. Because they know for sure that if it stands on festive table store-bought version and a cake prepared at home, you don’t even have to guess which one will be eaten first!

But not everyone knows that this recipe was not always as accessible as it is now.

When we lived in Uzbekistan in the 80s, cakes in the store were very rare. And so many recipes were passed around. different desserts own production. Every housewife certainly had a notebook with recipes for their preparation.

Since there was always a special attitude towards their preparation, there was usually a separate notebook, only for them - their loved ones. In Uzbekistan, any housewife could easily prepare pilaf, shurpa, lagman, manti, samsa... and everything else. But the one who knew how to cook a real one delicious Napoleon- was considered a real cook.

And there were special reasons for this. First of all, it was difficult to buy sufficient quantity good butter. For baking, we mainly used margarine, but for Napoleon cake, margarine is not suitable at all.

But there was a more compelling reason. The recipe was kept a huge secret. It's all about what to buy good cake it was almost impossible, and on holidays everyone wanted to surprise the guests and feed them deliciously. Napoleon was baked, one might say, on a commercial basis, or more simply, for sale.

Of course, they baked other cakes, but this one always came first. It was not easy to order. There was a waiting list for at least a month to bake it.

It is clear that the craftsmen who baked such cakes kept the recipe under lock and key. Of course, people had recipes, but according to these recipes, Napoleon did not turn out so tasty. But I couldn’t find the same recipe.

But when we left Uzbekistan, they simply gave it to me. I won’t waste your time and tell you how this happened.

I want to offer you this “secret” recipe today. I really hope that you will love it too!

We will need:

For the test

flour - 5 cups
butter - 300 gr. 82%
egg - 1 pc.
sour cream - 0.5 cups
water - 0.5 cups
vodka - 2 tablespoons
salt - 1/3 teaspoon

For the custard

egg - 3 pcs.
milk - 1 liter
flour - 3 - 4 tbsp. spoons
sugar - 1 cup and another 3/4 cup
butter - 170 gr. 82%
cognac - 2 tbsp. spoons.
vanillin - 1 teaspoon (without slide)

For sour cream

fatty, thick sour cream - 1.5 cups
sugar - 3/4 cup

Preparation of the dough:

1. Sift flour through a sieve into a large bowl. It is necessary to sift it, preferably even twice, so that the flour is saturated with oxygen. Then the cake will turn out truly tender and tasty.

Cut the cold butter into pieces into flour. Rub everything with your hands until crumbs form. Try to rub quickly so that the butter does not have time to melt.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with salt.

Add boiled cold water, sour cream and vodka. Stir everything until smooth, using a whisk. Vodka - required ingredient, without it the cakes will not be as tender and layered.

3. Add the resulting mixture to the flour and knead the dough. This must be done quickly so that the butter does not have time to melt. It is not necessary to form an even bun, the main thing is that everything is mixed and the dough does not stick to your hands.

4. When we have achieved the desired state, cover the dough with a napkin and leave for 30 minutes.

5. After 30 minutes, put the dough in cellophane, or wrap it in cling film. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

6. Then we take it out, knead it again and cut it into sausages, which in turn are divided into 12-15 equal parts, and rolled into balls.

We put the balls in a bag so that they do not stick together and put the bag in the refrigerator.

7. Place the oven to warm up. We need a temperature of 200 degrees.

8. Take one ball at a time from the refrigerator and roll it out very thin. It is better to use parchment for this, but now baking paper is also sold. Roll it out right on it. A thinly rolled sheet without paper will then be difficult to transfer to a baking sheet.

9. Place a template in the form of a large plate on top and cut out an even circle along it. I have a plate with a diameter of 24 cm.

10. We make punctures with a fork all over the sheet so that ready product It didn’t bulge, but remained smooth, and we set it to bake directly on the paper.

11. Each sheet will bake for 3-4 minutes. We need light baked cakes. Bake until Brown No need. The color of the cakes should be light.

12. While the cake is baking, roll out the next sheet, and so on until the end. So far the cakes have turned out lumpy and uneven. It's because of the vodka and butter. But that’s what we need, it’s good that they are like that. When soaked in cream, the layering we need will appear. Each layer will be soaked and this will give the delicacy an impeccable taste.

13. Knead the scraps from the cakes again until smooth, roll them out thinly, and bake them too. This cake can be of any shape. We will need it for decoration.

14. Or you can bake the cakes first, and then cut them to shape. But this way they will crumble. That's why I always use the first method.

Making custard

1. While the dough is gaining strength, first on the table and then in the refrigerator, you can cook the custard.

2. Beat eggs with sugar until foamy, add 1.5 cups of milk, mix.

3. Add flour and cognac. Stir well until the lumps disappear.

4. Boil the remaining milk in a separate saucepan. Once it boils, use a whisk to make a funnel in the milk and gradually pour the resulting mixture into the center of the funnel. We mix constantly. This is a very important stage of preparation.

5. You need to cook the resulting mixture until creamy, but do not allow the mixture to boil. If it boils, the cream will lose its delicate consistency, thicken greatly, and then the cakes will not be able to soak in it. And this is very important for the finished cake.

6. Without letting the cream boil, cook it until it thickens, then remove from the heat.

7. Cool the cream.

8. Beat butter at room temperature until creamy.

9. Mix the cream with butter, adding a little vanilla. The result should be not too thick, but not too liquid, so that it is convenient to coat the cakes with it.

Sour cream

1. It is better to take rustic sour cream, thick and fatty, so that there is no liquid in it. If you use store bought sour cream A little further I’ll tell you how to make cream from it.

2. Grind the sugar into powder.

3. Place the sour cream in a deep bowl and place the bowl in cold water. It is better to cool the water in the refrigerator in advance. It will help achieve a more airy cream.

4. We begin to beat the sour cream, slowly adding powdered sugar. Beat for 15-20 minutes (preferably with a mixer, whipping time is reduced by 2 times). But it is better to beat at low speed.

5. The cream should be neither liquid nor thick. The thicker the sour cream, the thicker the cream.

Now that the cakes have completely cooled and the two creams are ready, we begin to assemble the Napoleon cake.

How to assemble a cake correctly

We take a flat dish, or, if the cakes are very large, you can use a tray.
Place the first cake layer on it and generously grease it with custard.
then lay out the second cake layer and brush with custard again
on the third cake layer, spread sour cream as the first layer, and custard as the second

then again coat 2 layers with custard

and the sixth layer again with two creams
that is, every third cake layer is greased with two creams
when it comes to the last layer, we also grease it with cream. If there is sour cream left, you can coat it with it.
There was a lot of cream, if you now press on the cakes, it will literally crawl out from under them. But we are not pressing anywhere yet, but leaving this not quite beautiful and even mass in this form.

leave the cake, let it stand for 30 - 60 minutes in this form, during which time it will saturate all the cakes
then place baking paper according to size on the last cake layer
take a large flat plate, or better yet a cutting board, place it on finished product, and pressing slightly, press the cakes. They are already a little soaked and should not break. Do not press too hard to avoid breaking the cakes.
leave it under the board for a while, so it will settle a little more
remove the paper, remove the remaining cream from it, put it back on the top layer
add as much cream as needed to the last layer
make crumbs from the last cake, which was made from scraps
sprinkle on top

leave for 10 - 12 hours at room temperature, soak
then put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours
then we take it out, cut it into pieces and eat with pleasure

Our Napoleon has simply the most delicate taste. I must say that this cake is not too sweet. And this is good, you can feel not only the taste of sweetness, but also the whole variety of tastes!

Secrets and features of making Napoleon cake

After I discovered the Internet, I met many different recipes Napoleon cake. Some of them were similar to those we once cooked, and we complained that our Napoleon still didn’t taste the same.
Later, when analyzing what was going on here, I realized one thing. Apparently the whole main secret is in only two things - the dough contains vodka, and more than one cream is used, as in classic version, and two. Thanks to this, the finished product has a distinctive taste and incredible tenderness.
An important aspect is that the cakes are moderately thin, and there is enough cream on them. I always make cream with a reserve, according to the principle “it’s better to have some left over than not enough.” And always in such cases I remember the joke about the pies... What is needed for the pies to be tasty is that you don’t have to skimp on the filling! So you don’t have to skimp on the cream either. The cake should be well soaked and not dry.
I promised to tell you about store-bought sour cream. If you can't find a fat and thick sour cream, then take a colander, put gauze in it in two layers, and put sour cream in it. Place the colander in a bowl or pan. Place the whole thing in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, excess water will go through the cheesecloth to the bottom of the bowl. You can additionally add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream to this sour cream.

There is another delicious recipe that makes this delicacy very tasty. This

She seemed to tell everything, tried not to forget anything. Now the matter remains small. Take and prepare Napoleon cake according to an old recipe, which was kept a big secret for a very long time.

Bon appetit!

At the request of the workers, today I spent non-stop - preparing the Napoleon cake, beloved by many. I can't say what it is classic recipe cake, but this is what makes the most delicious Napoleon (for our family, of course). Fast puff pastry and ice cream custard - a fabulous combination that you will fall in love with once and for all!

Traditionally, Napoleon cake is prepared with custard and in this regard I did not deviate from the original. But additionally butter is added to it (many housewives do this, right?) and whipped heavy cream- the highlight of the custard Ice cream. It really tastes like melted ice cream from our childhood.

The finished homemade Napoleon cake turns out to be impressive both in size and weight. 20 centimeters in diameter, 10 centimeters in height - a whole 1 kilogram 850 grams amazing dessert. This cake is definitely enough for a large and friendly company, so don’t be lazy - prepare Napoleon for the Old New Year.

Ingredients:

Quick puff pastry:

Custard Ice cream:

Cooking the dish step by step with photos:

I suggest dividing the ingredients needed to make a homemade Napoleon cake into 2 parts: for the dough and for the cream. First, let's prepare a quick puff pastry, for which we will need following ingredients: wheat flour premium(the total weight is indicated taking into account the flour for rolling), butter (fat content of at least 72%), ice drinking water, egg(I have a large one, net weight about 55 grams), 9% table vinegar and a little fine salt to balance the taste. I never use margarine or spread instead of butter when making cakes, as well as these products in general in my kitchen!

Then add to egg mixture 150 milliliters of ice-cold (very cold) water. You can guide yourself by the volume of the glass - add so much water so that there are literally 5 millimeters left to the edge. Mix everything thoroughly again with a fork and put the glass in the refrigerator.

You can knead this puff pastry either in a bowl (I prefer it in a bowl) or on a work surface. Sift 570 grams of premium wheat flour into a container of suitable volume to loosen it and remove any debris.

Then cut 400 grams of butter directly into the flour, which should not just be from the refrigerator, but straight from the freezer. Some housewives prefer to chop the butter on a coarse grater, but I prefer to chop it with a knife. I’ll say right away that I don’t make quick puff pastry in a food processor, so I’m not responsible for the results.

First, we chop the butter quite coarsely, after which we try to chop it as finely as possible. The size of the pieces of butter should preferably be no larger than hazelnuts.

In about 10 minutes (if you try, it can be done faster) the butter and wheat flour will turn into this buttery crumb. Outwardly, it will not look like crumbs, but like small pounded pieces of butter in flour.

Then transfer the contents of the bowl to the work surface. You see, the test still seems a long way off, but this is not the case at all.

We work quickly and accurately, preventing the oil from overheating from the heat of our hands. Using your palms, quickly collect the large crumbs into a ball. Do not knead for a long time, do not try to achieve smoothness and uniformity - here they are not only unnecessary, but contraindicated! If you overmix such puff pastry, the products made from it will not turn out flaky. If you feel that the dough doesn’t want to stick together, add a little more ice water. I always use Lida flour, so I know how much it is needed for each specific recipe, and you focus on yours. Once the crumbs have gathered into a lump, shape it into a rectangle or sausage to make it easy to cut into pieces.

Using a knife or scraper, cut the dough into 8-12 pieces (I have 11) so that they are approximately the same size. I deliberately did not weigh them, so I won’t tell you the exact weight. The number of pieces of dough depends on the desired diameter of the future Napoleon cake.

Quickly knead the pieces of dough, giving them a more or less rounded shape. Cover with cling film and place the pieces in the refrigerator for 1.5-2 hours. During this time, the butter will harden and it will be more convenient to work with the chilled dough.

While the quick puff pastry is cooling, let's prepare the custard for the Napoleon cake. Products needed for this: milk of any fat content (I used 2.5%), cream (fat content 30-33%), butter (fat content at least 72%), granulated sugar and vanilla sugar (I used homemade), medium-sized chicken egg size and corn starch. I will write all possible substitutions as the recipe progresses.

In a separate container we combine 200 grams granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar(I have a home with natural vanilla), 40 grams of cornstarch and 1 chicken egg. You can flavor the custard with vanilla, natural vanilla or vanilla extract- use what you have in the kitchen. Corn starch, of course, it’s better not to replace it, but if you have nowhere to get it, use potato or wheat flour.

When the milk almost boils, we begin to gradually pour it into the egg mass. It is important to take your time and pour it in a thin stream, while constantly actively stirring the contents of the bowl. If you pour in hot milk quickly and immediately, the eggs may curdle.

Gradually the mixture will become thicker and eventually begin to gurgle - the cream has boiled. Be sure to boil it over very low heat for about another minute after boiling if we use wheat flour (this cooking helps remove the characteristic mealy taste).

The result will be a very tasty, tender, aromatic, smooth and thick custard. butter cream. Of course, if you wish, you can add less butter or not add it at all, but believe me, the taste of the cream will differ, and greatly. In addition, this amount of puff pastry is designed specifically for this arrangement of products for the cream, so excluding butter or cream will lead to an increase in the remaining products for preparing the custard.

To cool the custard for the Napoleon cake, transfer it to a separate bowl. You see, the relief remains, which means the cream turned out thick.

We cover the cream with a piece of cling film or a new bag right next to it - this is necessary so that during the cooling process a crust does not form on the surface. Let it cool first to room temperature, after which you can put the cream in the refrigerator or take it out to the balcony.

If you are very tired, rest a little, after which we will continue to work with the dough. I'm baking puff pastries on a Teflon mat (I have 2 of them), but a silicone mat or parchment paper. At this stage we will need the remaining Wheat flour(in fact, the less the better): 70 grams was enough for me to roll out the dough, and you rely on your experience. I rolled out the blanks directly on the mat, but you can roll them out on a piece of parchment. Sprinkle it with flour, flatten a piece of dough with your palm, and roll it in flour.

The diameter of the workpiece depends solely on your desire, but keep in mind that during the baking process the puff pastry shrinks by a couple of centimeters. Next you need to trim the layer to make an even circle. Personally, I find it most convenient to do this using culinary ring- I made the diameter exactly 20 centimeters (ready puff pastries were 17.5-18 cm). Alternatively, you can trim the dough using a pot or frying pan lid, as well as a regular plate and knife.

In any case, you should get an even circle and a small amount of scraps, which we collect from each piece of dough into a separate lump. Be sure to prick the dough with a fork so that during baking it does not swell too much and turn into a ball.

Bake the puff pastry until it has a beautiful soft golden color. Exact time I won’t tell you about baking in this particular recipe, nor will I tell you the temperature in the oven. I will only note that the oven must be well heated! It is very important to understand that the baking time can differ very much from that indicated in the recipe: it depends not only on the oven (I have a gas oven, but you may have an electric one), but also on its nature. My baking conditions: temperature 250 degrees, bottom heat. There is no simultaneous top-down mode in my Hephaestus stove, and there is no talk of convection. I baked each cake for 5 minutes on each side: since the top of the oven does not turn on at the same time as the bottom, the surface of the cake turns out pale. It is important that the workpiece is fully baked, flaky, crispy and crumbly.

In this way we prepare all the cakes - in the end I got 12 pieces (11 prepared pieces plus one more full-sized one from scraps). It is very convenient to do this at the same time: while one cake is baking, roll out the second and so on. By the end, I had gotten the hang of it and was rolling out the dough faster than it was baking. By the way, you can bake these cake layers in advance, cool them completely, then wrap them tightly with cling film and store them in a dry place for 2-3 days.

We collect those scraps that remain even after rolling out 12 cakes into a ball, roll it out and bake it in the same way, only we make the cake a little browner, trying to dry it properly. We'll need it later to top the homemade Napoleon cake.

While the puff cakes are cooling completely, let's finish preparing the Ice cream cream. The custard with butter had already cooled and thickened even more - I deliberately scooped it with a spoon to show the consistency.

To better and quickly incorporate whipped cream into it, beat the custard briefly (literally for half a minute) with a mixer.