Everything you need to know about the Napoleon cake, recipe from the pastry chef of the Pushkin cafe

Everything you need to know about the Napoleon cake + recipe from the pastry chef of the Pushkin cafe

How do you realize that this is a faithful “Napoleon”, what should the cream be like, should the dough be crunchy and why is this cake so popular? We asked these questions to Alexey Serebryakov, the pastry chef of the Pushkin cafe, and at the same time found out the usual recipe for a dessert beloved since youth.

Pastry chef at the Pushkin cafe

What exactly is “Napoleon” and when did it arise?

It is believed that the dessert was first prepared by the court confectioners of Nicholas II for a reception in honor of the centenary of the victory in the Russian War of 1812. The cake, shaped like a bicorne, consisted of only two main components: custard and yeast-free puff pastry cakes. At the reception, naturally, they saw that the cake looked like Bonaparte’s headdress, so the dessert was immediately called “Napoleon.” The title stuck.

Most likely, the cake prepared at the reception was spotted in Napoleon’s homeland. At that time, French cuisine already had a similar cake, mille-feuille, which means “million petals.” The main difference is that French confectioners prepared the custard using egg yolks, and the cake itself was served immediately after production, due to which it came out crispy; Russian chefs, in turn, prepared the cream with flour and left the dessert overnight (that is, in the dark) so that the shortcakes had time to soak thoroughly. As a result, “Napoleon” came out softer and more airy than its French counterpart. Although in Russia mille-feuille is sometimes called “Napoleon,” guests are more accustomed to it.

As already mentioned, the main thing in “Napoleon” is dough and cream. The dough must certainly be flaky; without it, the cake will not work either in the traditional or in the so-called author’s interpretation. The cream is used only custard - on flour or yolks, it’s up to your taste.

Is it possible to experiment with a traditional recipe?

You can add vanilla, rum or cinnamon to the cream. Previously, at Pushkin, we added salted caramel to the vanilla custard on the yolks - there was a contrast of crispy dough, sweet vanilla and slightly salted caramel. In principle, the cream can even be made from sugar or condensed milk and butter; in Russian times, almost everyone did just that. Naturally, this will not be a traditional “Napoleon” at all. But it’s better not to add berries to the cream, they are very juicy and will ruin the texture. They can be used as decoration.

You can’t really experiment with the dough - it has to be flaky, that’s all. You can work with the texture, for example, caramelize it by adding sugar - then you will get a layer of puff pastry with a thin golden crust, which will enhance the taste and crunch. In our confectionery they make a version of “Napoleon” from filo - the thinnest dough from which baklava and other oriental sweets are made. The texture of phyllo is reminiscent of puff pastry, so it can be used for Napoleon, although it is unlikely that you will be able to prepare phyllo in your kitchen.

Why is “Napoleon” one of the most popular cakes in Russia?

The secret of success is a win-win combination of taste and texture. The crispy dough coupled with the rich, enveloping custard is hard to spoil. Besides, “Napoleon” is an ordinary cake, there are only two main ingredients, and you can almost always find everything to make it at home.

Napoleon cake of Russian times: the most delicious traditional recipe

Have a nice day, friends!

Now we are preparing a traditional Napoleon cake from custard and multi-layer cakes. There are a huge number of recipes for making a cake. But the most real, most delicious recipe, tested over the years, is from Russian times.

Then this cake was baked according to only one recipe; high-quality bakers baked large, table-sized, fluffy, layered, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth Napoleons, and sold them by cutting them into large pieces. Finding out the recipe for making the cake was unrealistic, I found it out many years later, and now I want to share it with you.

Napoleon cake - a traditional recipe from Russian times

Ingredients:

To make the dough we will need:

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

To make custard:

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

Step-by-step production:

The main condition for making the right dough is that all ingredients must be chilled.

Sift the cool 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 airier.

Grate the frozen butter on a large grater, directly into the flour. I want to see that it must be fresh and of good quality. You can use less of the indicated amount of butter in the recipe, just keep in mind that the more of it, the fluffier and airier the dough comes out.

Each time we dip the butter in flour and quickly rub it in so that it does not melt from the warmth of our 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 came out with was not very stiff; it did not stick to our hands.

Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours, and in the meantime let’s start making the cream.

Making custard

The custard prepared according to this recipe turns out to be a very tender mixture and perfectly soaks the shortcakes.

Pour milk into a small saucepan, add sugar, vanilla bean and place 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 the cream until smooth. We came out with a beautiful, thick, tender custard. Pour it into a bowl and cool to room temperature.

Sour cream

You can quickly make sour cream from any sour cream and sugar. There won't even be any need for heat treatment.

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

Place baking paper on the table and roll out a very thin dough on it, 3-4 mm wide and the size of a baking tray. Using a fork, make pricks all over the surface of the crust.

Then, using a sharp and narrow knife, cut the rolled out cake into 6 equal parts. Carefully transfer them onto paper onto a baking sheet and place them in an oven preheated to 200 degrees.

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

Let's start assembling our delicious Napoleon cake. Coat any shortbread 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. We leave it to soak at room temperature for 5 hours, then put it in the refrigerator overnight (that is, in the dark) .

In the afternoon we cut off a piece of cake for tea. A perfectly soaked and melt-in-your-mouth dessert prepared according to a traditional recipe. Bon appetit!

Here is a long and detailed recipe for making a wonderful, delicious homemade Napoleon cake from Russian times. I would like to find out 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

Now we will prepare a Napoleon cake. The recipe for making Napoleon is a relative concept, because you can find a huge number of recipes and each one is correct and traditional in its own way. But the most delicious, real recipe for Napoleon is the one that is passed on by grandmothers and mothers through generations. This is the recipe that was copied from a friend’s cookbook. This is a manufacturing recipe that has been tested over the years. This particular method of making a Napoleon cake is in my family, and now I want to share it with you.

Ingredients

To make the dough we will need:

• 200 g butter;
• 3 cups flour;
• 0.5 tbsp milk;
• 1 testicle;
• a pinch of salt;
• 0.5 tsp soda and 1 tsp. vinegar for extinguishing;

To make cream:

• 350-400 g sugar;
• 1 liter of milk;
• 1 testicle;
• 3 tablespoons starch;

To prepare this delicious cake we need to: bake the shortcakes, create the custard and spread it all over, but now let’s look at the whole process in more detail.

Step-by-step recipe for making dough for Napoleon

First you need to start making the dough. The flour needs to be chopped together with the butter. To do this, cut the slightly melted butter into the flour into small pieces as shown in the photo:

It’s more convenient for me to create all this not in a bowl, but right on the table. At first I painstakingly chop everything with a knife, and later I switch to kneading the dough with my hands. This way I can feel the lumps of butter better and crush them with my hands.

So our flour is ready, it should turn out greasy and crumbly. Now we make a tiny depression in the flour in order to drive the egg into it:

Lightly sprinkle the egg with flour (without stirring) in order to add baking soda quenched in vinegar on top:

Now add milk to the Napoleon dough. It must be added a little at a time evenly, stirring all the time. The result should be an elastic dough.

After painstaking kneading, our dough is ready. It must not stick to your hands.

Now we need to take a bowl and divide our dough into several parts. This may be 10,15,20 balls - these are our future layers, in other words, shortcakes. The main thing is to divide them so that they are all similar in size. As you can see in the photo, I got 20 balls. This means that our Napoleon cake will contain 20 layers. You can safely put the dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, but for now let’s get to making the custard.

Traditional recipe for making custard

We take the milk and pour it into a comfortable small saucepan, leaving 3 parts of the glass here and there, we will need it later.

Put the milk on the stove and pour in the sugar. While our milk and sugar are heating in a separate container, for example in a glass, we mix the starch with the remaining milk. Add the egg here and mix. We wait until our main milk boils and the sugar dissolves in it one hundred percent.

After the sugar has dissolved one hundred percent, you can add starch milk. You need to add it carefully and slowly, stirring constantly. We are waiting for our custard to boil. It should look like jelly. If your cream comes out watery (not thickened enough), you can also add a spoonful of starch, having previously diluted it in water or milk. The cream can be set aside, let it cool, and for now we will return to our dough.

Making shortcakes for custard cake

Our dough, or rather the balls made from it, has already stood in the cold for quite some time, so we boldly take it out of the refrigerator and continue preparing the Napoleon cake. Sprinkle the table with flour and begin to roll out the balls, turning them into future shortcakes. It is better to roll out the dough as thick as a sheet of paper; it should turn out transparent - narrow, narrow.

Now, using a rolling pin, transfer our shortbread to a baking sheet.

Place our shortbread in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake until golden brown - about 5 minutes. We are immediately carried away by the next layer and do this with all the shortcakes. The baked shortbread should look something like my photo:

Once you take the crust out of the oven and while it is still hot, you can trim it using a lid and a knife. And the remaining crumbs will be used for powder.

Place the docked shortbread on a dish and immediately pour the custard over it.

We also generously grease the outermost layer of the cake with custard.

Now sprinkle the top of our finished Napoleon cake with crumbs from the cake scraps.

Now our Napoleon needs to be put under pressure. I usually take a wide lid and put a bowl of water on top, that's enough. In this position, as you see in the photo below, the cake must be left overnight (that is, in the dark) . It will take the appropriate shape and be perfectly saturated.

You see, the Napoleon cake is ready! I hope my step-by-step recipe will be useful and you will get a delicious cake. Napoleon can be of different shapes - round, like mine, square, rectangular. It all depends on your imagination.

Napoleon cake - step-by-step recipe for making

Now we will prepare a Napoleon cake. The recipe for making Napoleon is a relative concept, because you can find a huge number of recipes and each one is correct and traditional in its own way. But the most delicious, real recipe for Napoleon is the one that is passed on by grandmothers and mothers through generations. This is the recipe that was copied from a friend’s cookbook. This is a manufacturing recipe that has been tested over the years. This particular method of making a Napoleon cake is in my family, and now I want to share it with you.

Ingredients

To make the dough we will need:

• 200 g butter;
• 3 cups flour;
• 0.5 tbsp milk;
• 1 testicle;
• a pinch of salt;
• 0.5 tsp soda and 1 tsp. vinegar for extinguishing;

To make cream:

• 350-400 g sugar;
• 1 liter of milk;
• 1 testicle;
• 3 tablespoons starch;

To prepare this delicious cake we need to: bake the shortcakes, create the custard and spread it all over, but now let’s look at the whole process in more detail.

Step-by-step recipe for making dough for Napoleon

First you need to start making the dough. The flour needs to be chopped together with the butter. To do this, cut the slightly melted butter into the flour into small pieces as shown in the photo:

It’s more convenient for me to create all this not in a bowl, but right on the table. At first I painstakingly chop everything with a knife, and later I switch to kneading the dough with my hands. This way I can feel the lumps of butter better and crush them with my hands.

So our flour is ready, it should turn out greasy and crumbly. Now we make a tiny depression in the flour in order to drive the egg into it:

Lightly sprinkle the egg with flour (without stirring) in order to add baking soda quenched in vinegar on top:

Now add milk to the Napoleon dough. It must be added a little at a time evenly, stirring all the time. The result should be an elastic dough.

After painstaking kneading, our dough is ready. It must not stick to your hands.

Now we need to take a bowl and divide our dough into several parts. This may be 10,15,20 balls - these are our future layers, in other words, shortcakes. The main thing is to divide them so that they are all similar in size. As you can see in the photo, I got 20 balls. This means that our Napoleon cake will contain 20 layers. You can safely put the dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, but for now let’s get to making the custard.

Traditional recipe for making custard

We take the milk and pour it into a comfortable small saucepan, leaving 3 parts of the glass here and there, we will need it later.

Put the milk on the stove and pour in the sugar. While our milk and sugar are heating in a separate container, for example in a glass, we mix the starch with the remaining milk. Add the egg here and mix. We wait until our main milk boils and the sugar dissolves in it one hundred percent.

After the sugar has dissolved one hundred percent, you can add starch milk. You need to add it carefully and slowly, stirring constantly. We are waiting for our custard to boil. It should look like jelly. If your cream comes out watery (not thickened enough), you can also add a spoonful of starch, having previously diluted it in water or milk. The cream can be set aside, let it cool, and for now we will return to our dough.

Making shortcakes for custard cake

Our dough, or rather the balls made from it, has already stood in the cold for quite some time, so we boldly take it out of the refrigerator and continue preparing the Napoleon cake. Sprinkle the table with flour and begin to roll out the balls, turning them into future shortcakes. It is better to roll out the dough as thick as a sheet of paper; it should turn out transparent - narrow, narrow.

Now, using a rolling pin, transfer our shortbread to a baking sheet.

Place our shortbread in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake until golden brown - about 5 minutes. We are immediately carried away by the next layer and do this with all the shortcakes. The baked shortbread should look something like my photo:

Once you take the crust out of the oven and while it is still hot, you can trim it using a lid and a knife. And the remaining crumbs will be used for powder.

Place the docked shortbread on a dish and immediately pour the custard over it.

We also generously grease the outermost layer of the cake with custard.

Now sprinkle the top of our finished Napoleon cake with crumbs from the cake scraps.

Now our Napoleon needs to be put under pressure. I usually take a wide lid and put a bowl of water on top, that's enough. In this position, as you see in the photo below, the cake must be left overnight (that is, in the dark) . It will take the appropriate shape and be perfectly saturated.

You see, the Napoleon cake is ready! I hope my step-by-step recipe will be useful and you will get a delicious cake. Napoleon can be of different shapes - round, like mine, square, rectangular. It all depends on your imagination.