Description
This classic Napoleon Cake recipe features delicate layers of flaky rough puff pastry filled with a luscious pastry cream and whipped mousseline cream. The cake is adorned with finely crushed pastry crumbs and chilled for perfect cream-soaked layers, creating a rich and creamy dessert that's perfect for special occasions or an indulgent treat.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- 540 g Bread flour (high protein content flour)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 400 g Unsalted butter (cold, cut into small chunks)
- 1 teaspoon White vinegar
- 270 g Water (very cold)
Pastry Cream Filling and Mousseline Cream
- 1250 g Whole milk
- 250 g Granulated sugar
- 200 g Egg yolk (10-13 egg yolks)
- 62 g Corn starch
- 62 g All-purpose flour
- 125 g Unsalted butter (room temperature, to mix into pastry cream)
- 190 g Unsalted butter (room temperature, to whip into pastry cream for mousseline cream)
Instructions
- Making the pastry cream filling and frosting: In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg yolks until slightly fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in corn starch, all-purpose flour, and vanilla extract until you achieve a smooth paste.
- Incorporate warm milk: Heat milk to a simmer on medium heat, then remove from stove. Slowly pour warm milk into egg yolk mixture while whisking vigorously to temper the eggs.
- Cook the mixture: Return the mixture to the saucepan, cook on medium heat, whisking constantly for a few minutes until it thickens and first boil occurs. Continue whisking until smooth and glossy, about 1 minute after boiling. It may become lumpy initially, but keep whisking.
- Add butter: Gradually add room temperature butter in three stages into the pastry cream, mixing well after each addition with a rubber spatula until fully incorporated.
- Cool the cream: Transfer the cream into a shallow bowl and cover the surface completely with plastic wrap to prevent skin formation. Let it come to room temperature.
- Divide pastry cream: Remove half of the pastry cream to use later as filling between puff pastry layers.
- Prepare mousseline cream: Whip the remaining half of the pastry cream base with room temperature butter in 4 stages, first whipping the butter alone for 1-2 minutes until creamy. Add pastry cream gradually until stable and fluffy but avoid over-whipping. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour to set.
- Prepare rough puff pastry dough: Mix water and vinegar, chill mixture for 10 minutes. Also chill butter chunks for 10 minutes. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Toss butter into flour with fingers to coat flour evenly while keeping butter pieces separate.
- Add water mixture: Slowly incorporate chilled water-vinegar mixture to flour and butter until dough is moist but not wet. Gently knead for 10-20 seconds until dough just comes together, leaving chunks of butter visible.
- Chill dough: Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Lamination process: Using a silicone mat and minimal extra flour, roll dough into a 25x45 cm (10x18 inch) rectangle. Perform a 3-fold (envelope) fold by folding top third to center, then bottom third over top, creating a layered envelope shape.
- Repeat folds: Rotate dough 90 degrees so open edge is right, then repeat folding 6 times total, resting dough 30-60 minutes between folds or every 2 folds. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour after final fold.
- Baking the pastry layers: Preheat oven to 190C (374F) without fan. Divide dough into 9 equal pieces. Roll each into thin circle and cut 16 cm (6 inch) circles using template. Use trimmings for decoration.
- Bake pastry layers: Place 2-3 pastry circles between two baking trays with parchment paper. Prick with fork. Bake at 190C for 30 minutes until golden and puffed. Repeat with remaining layers. Let cool to room temperature.
- Bake and crush trimmings: Bake trimmings at 190C for 15-20 minutes until golden. Once cooled, crush into fine sand using a food processor or rolling pin in a ziplock bag. Set aside for decoration.
- Assemble the Napoleon Cake: Stack the 9 puff pastry layers, spreading equal amounts of pastry cream between each layer using a scale for precision.
- Chill and frost: Refrigerate the layered cake for 30 minutes, then frost the exterior with mousseline cream, reserving some for decoration. Chill again for 30 minutes.
- Decorate and finish: Cover the frosted cake with crushed puff pastry crumbs all around. Pipe decorative patterns on top with reserved mousseline cream.
- Final chilling: Refrigerate the cake for at least 24 hours to allow the layers to soften and cream to infuse the pastry, creating a moist, creamy texture.
- Storage: Keep the cake refrigerated and consume within 2-3 days for best freshness and flavor.
Notes
- Use cold ingredients and work quickly to keep the butter chunks intact in the dough for best puff pastry texture.
- Do not overwork or over-knead the dough to prevent tough pastry.
- Whisk pastry cream constantly while cooking to avoid lumps.
- When assembling, use a scale to evenly portion pastry cream layers to ensure uniform thickness.
- Allow sufficient chilling time for mousseline cream to stabilize before frosting.
- Chilling the assembled cake for 24 hours improves flavor and texture significantly.
- Store the cake covered in refrigerator and consume within 2-3 days for optimal taste.
