Napoleon cake

Napoleon cake and mille-feuille are two names for the same pastry that originated in France. However, there are some differences in the way the cake is prepared and presented in different parts of the world.

In Eastern Europe, this cake is known mostly as Napoleon cake and is made with thinner layers of pastry compared to the traditional French mille-feuille. Additionally, it can be assembled with whipped sour cream (the same one I used to make my Honey cake), Diplomat cream, or Mousseline cream. On the other hand, the classic French mille-feuille typically consists of three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream. While the mille-feuille is often topped with a dusting of powdered sugar or a layer of fondant icing and garnished with fresh fruit or chocolate, the Napoleon cake is usually coated with cream and dusted with crumbs made from leftover cake layers. Also, the number of layers in a Napoleon cake can vary depending on the person who makes it.

Overall, both versions of this pastry are popular and delicious, but they can have some variations in their preparation and presentation depending on the region and the person making them.

Flour - There's no need to use anything special to make this. All-purpose flour will do!

Salt - To add flavor to the pastry, use 1 teaspoon of salt. Also, you can add one tablespoon of sugar to add just a pinch of sweetness, but it's not necessary since it comes from the cream.

Butter - I cube unsalted butter and put it in a large bowl, then freeze it for 10 minutes before pulsing it with the dry ingredients in a food processor.

Water - Use ice-cold water. Usually, I measure the water in advance and put it in the fridge so it doesn't get warm.

Eggs - Eggs should be cold, right from the fridge.

Vinegar - You should use 9% distilled vinegar. Adding it to the dough will prevent gluten from forming, which results in more flaky cake layers.

Eggs - To make rich and luxurious pastry cream, you can use egg yolks (like in my Karpatka cake). However, in this Russian Napoleon cake (this version of Napoleon cake is very popular in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia) the cream is made with whole eggs. 

Corn starch - You can replace it with potato starch or all-purpose flour. However, I highly recommend using corn starch. It gives the best result in terms of texture, color, and flavor.

Sugar - We need granulated sugar to make the custard, aka pastry cream, and a little bit of powdered sugar to whip with heavy cream.

Vanilla extract and salt - Vanilla together with milk, eggs, and heavy cream create a vanilla ice cream flavor. We need the salt for flavor balance.

Butter - Add 50g of unsalted butter to a freshly made custard cream to create an extra smooth mouthfeel.

Measure all ingredients using a digital kitchen scale and bring them to a proper temperature. The most time-consuming part is to cube the butter. It will take only 10 minutes in total to weigh all the ingredients and place them in the fridge or freezer. When you're ready to bake, you will have everything in front of you which will make the whole process easier and more enjoyable.

Prepare the dough and custard ahead of time. The most difficult part of this puff pastry cake is to roll out each layer and then bake it. It will take 2 hours if you choose to make 18 layers, as described in the recipe card at the end of this post. So to optimize your cooking time, make the dough and split it into 15 even pieces which takes 20 minutes with all the preparation. Wrapped in the plastic wrap dough, they will wait in the fridge overnight without any problems. Since the dough needs to be chilled anyway, preparing it in advance saves you a lot of time in the end.

Prepare the custard ahead of time. The same applies to the pastry cream. Cooking will take you only 10 minutes, but chilling the mixture takes 40 minutes in the freezer. To save these 40 minutes, make the custard the same day you make the dough. You can then store it right in the saucepan covered with plastic wrap (in contact with the custard) in the fridge overnight. The next day, you will only need to combine it with whipped heavy cream and assemble the cake.

Ingredients for the dough should be and stay very cold during the combining process. If the butter melts too much, you won't have flaky cake layers. That's why I recommend pulsing the dry ingredients with the butter in a food processor. You'll avoid touching the mixture with your warm hands and the butter will stay solid. Of course, you'll need to bring dry ingredients together with the wet ones into a dough ball. For that, I use a fork. I mix with it while I can and then I continue to fold and press everything together with my hands (do not knead the dough!) just until it's no longer falling apart. However, if you don't have a food processor, you can use your hands to rub the butter into the flour – just try to make it as quickly as you can. Another way is to use a pastry cutter.

Make fewer layers. You can make a cake that is shorter but larger in diameter. This way, you will have fewer layers to roll out and bake, saving you a lot of time. As long as you use the same amount of dough as stated in the recipe, there will be enough cream to cover the cake regardless of the diameter!

1. Place the flour and salt into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Work in batches if needed. Then, place the mixture into a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, add the cold eggs, ice-cold water, and vinegar. Whisk with a fork to break the eggs. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients.
3. Combine everything using a fork. Finish bringing the dough together with your hands but don’t knead it. Form a log, split it into 15 even pieces around 100g each, and roll them into balls. Place them on a large plate, cover them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 210C or 410F and prepare 5 pieces of parchment paper and a baking sheet.
5. When the dough has chilled, take one ball at a time out of the fridge. Dust the rolling surface, the pin, and the dough ball itself with flour. Thinly roll it out (dust more with flour and flip the dough if it’s sticking to the surface or rolling pin) so you can cut out an 8" or 20cm disk and have some leftovers around the edge. The disk will shrink to 7" or 18cm during baking. Or, you can roll out the dough, prick it, bake it, and then cut out the disk.
6. Put the rolled-out dough on the piece of parchment paper placed on the baking sheet and cut the disk out. Prick it with a fork so it doesn’t puff up unevenly and spread the leftovers a bit so they don't touch it. 
7. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until golden. While one cake layer is in the oven, roll out and cut out the next disk. Remove from the oven and place the disc on a cooling rack. Place the leftovers on a separate plate. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Each piece of parchment paper can be reused two times.

1. In a bowl, combine the eggs, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until smooth.
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan just until it starts simmering. Remove from the heat and slowly pour into the bowl with the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Then, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the heat.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking nonstop (can take 5-8 minutes). When it thickens, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking continuously. Remove from the heat. The mixture should resemble pudding and have no corn starch flavor left. Add the butter to the hot mixture and mix until incorporated.
4. Pour the mixture into a large dish (I use a baking dish), cover with plastic wrap so it touches the mixture, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until cold. Alternatively, you can keep the mixture in the saucepan that you were using for cooking, cover it with plastic wrap the same way, and place it in the fridge overnight.
5. When the cake layers are baked and at room temperature and the pastry cream is cold, whip the heavy cream with powdered sugar (in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment) to stiff peaks. You can also use a bowl and a hand mixer instead.
6. When done, gradually, 2-3 tablespoons at a time, add the cold pastry cream, and whip on medium-low speed until no pastry cream is left. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl and whip for 15 seconds on high.

1. Place a small amount of cream on a plate that you're going to use for assembling the cake. Place the first puff pastry cake layer on top and press gently.
2. Add the pastry cream (approximately 95g) on top of the cake layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula or a large spoon. Place the next cake layer on top and press gently. Continue until no cake layers are left.
3. Make a crumb coat with the rest of the cream and fill the gaps, if they’ve appeared. Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
4. When the cake has chilled and the cream hardened, place the cake leftovers into a food processor and pulse until sandy.
5. Unwrap the cake and dust it with the cake crumbs. Decorate with fresh berries and serve.

As I mentioned previously, the best way to simplify this Russian Napoleon cake recipe is to split the cooking over two days. On the first day, you prepare the dough and the base for the cream. On the second day, you bake and assemble the cake in the morning. Therefore, by the evening it will be ready to decorate and dig in.

However, there's another way to make baking this cake a little bit easier. You can use store-bought puff pastry sheets (usually found in a frozen aisle). The only thing you should be aware of when using this method is that you will have a rectangular cake, not a round one. However, it can also be decorated in a very beautiful way.

I recommend using something like Trader Joe's Puff Pastry because of the ingredient list, size of the sheets, and weight (you can, of course, use whatever brand you like). You'll need two packages of it, so you'll have 4 sheets of puff pastry. Take one sheet and unroll it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave the rest of the sheets in the fridge. Cut the sheet in half and spread so the halves have at least an inch in between them (do not prick them with a fork since we want them to puff up a lot). Bake according to the instructions provided on the package. When done, remove from the oven and place on the cooling rack to cool. Meanwhile, bake the next sheet.

When all sheets are baked and at room temperature, split each of them into 2 to 3 cake layers. Make sure that you take one of those, preferably the crispiest layer, and pulse it in a food processor to make crumbs that you'll use to dust the cake as decoration. 

After that, you can make the cream and assemble this delicious yet very easy Napoleon cake.

You can upgrade this cake to your taste. Add some finely cubed strawberries and sprinkle them between every other layer of the cake, or add a thin layer of berry sauce to every fifth layer. For that, you can use my Raspberry coulis recipe (thickened with corn starch). 

Another great addition to this cake will be a lemon curd! A thin layer inserted in 2-3 places in the cake will add a great sweet and sour note to the flavor. 

For storing the finished Napoleon cake, place it in a plastic cake container and refrigerate it. It will stay fresh for 4 days. If you don’t have a container, you can place the cake on a plate and cover it with plastic wrap instead.

If you need to store the dough for Napoleon cake, it can be frozen for up to 2 months. To do this, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and then in a layer of foil. When you’re ready to use it, thaw the dough overnight in the fridge before rolling it out. Keep in mind that cream thickened with cornstarch doesn’t freeze well, so it’s best to prepare the cream fresh when assembling the cake.