Napoleon cake recipe made from 2 types of dough. Napoleon cake - a delicious old recipe! Preparing cake layers for Napoleon cakes

Napoleon cake is one of the best homemade cakes, and every housewife probably has her own Napoleon recipe. The cake, in addition to taste, has a number of other advantages: if “Napoleon” is made in accordance with the recipe with custard, it turns out low-fat, and also does not require a lot of time during production. And, what is also important, the layers for the Napoleon cake can be baked several days before the celebration, and at the right time you just need to prepare the cream and coat the cake.

To prepare Napoleon, cakes made from puff pastry should be coated with cream 5-6 hours before serving. If the dough is not puff pastry, but there are 8-10 cake layers, then the cakes should be spread at least 8-10 hours before the guests arrive. This time should be enough for the cakes to become saturated with cream.

There are several recipes for Napoleon. Cake cakes made according to any of the recipes below can be coated with custard or butter cream, each individually or alternately, spreading one cake with custard and the next cake with butter cream. If you grate lemon zest into any cream on a fine grater, the Napoleon cake will acquire a very pleasant taste and aroma.

PREPARATION OF CAKES FOR NAPOLEON CAKES

Napoleon's first recipe

Products for the test: 200 g butter or margarine, a tablespoon of vodka, 1/2 cup water, 2 cups flour, a pinch of salt.

To prepare the dough for Napoleon cake according to this recipe, pour vodka into a glass half filled with boiled water, add salt and stir everything. Pour the required amount of flour onto a cutting board, cut the butter or margarine from the refrigerator into small pieces and chop it with the flour until crumbs form. Then collect the crumbs in a heap, make a funnel and gradually pour in liquid from the glass, continuing to chop until a dough forms.

Place the finished dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours, then divide into 4 parts and roll out a layer of 3-5 mm thick from each. The number of cakes depends on the size of the mold or baking sheet. If the mold is small, then you can make 5-6 cakes.

Second recipe for Napoleon

Products for the test:

For this recipe for Napoleon cake dough, make two doughs: one will use 200 g of soft margarine and 1 cup of flour, and the other will use 1 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of flour.

Sprinkle flour thickly on a cutting board, place sour cream dough and make cuts on it. Roll out the dough in four directions using an envelope. In the middle of the envelope, place margarine dough, rolled out on a board to the desired size. Cover the butter dough with the sides of the sour cream dough envelope and begin rolling out this layer, pinching the edges. There should be a lot of flour on the board so that the dough does not stick to the board anywhere.

Roll out this filled layer from the middle so that no voids form in the sour cream dough along the edges. Having rolled out the dough into a rectangle 10 mm thick, fold it in four, cover it with a napkin and let it stand for 5 minutes, then roll the dough into a rectangle again (you need to roll from the middle to the edges and from the edge to the middle) and fold it in four again. Do this 4 times to get many layers.

When the dough is rolled out for the last time, fold it to form a bar and cut it into pieces according to the number of cakes. From this amount of dough you will get 6 cakes in a regular form and 4 cakes the size of a baking sheet. After you have marked and cut the block, cover it with a napkin and put it in the cold for 2 hours. After this time, you can begin making the cakes.

Sprinkle a cutting board generously with flour and place one piece of dough the way it was in the refrigerator on a plate, without turning it over, otherwise the puff pastry will break. Roll out the dough to the desired size. Grease a mold or baking sheet with margarine and place the layer on a hot baking sheet or mold so that the dough “runs” less. You need to prick the entire surface of the dough with a fork lengthwise and crosswise.

When placing the dough in the mold, lift it a little on the side - the dough will certainly “shrink” in the oven, and after baking the size of the cake will be equal to the size of the bottom of the mold. The cakes are baked in a hot oven until golden brown. Handle the cakes carefully as they are very fragile.

The third recipe for Napoleon cake

Products for the test: 100 g creamy margarine or butter, 150 g sour cream, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 2.5 cups flour.

To prepare the dough for “Napoleon” according to this recipe, grind eggs with granulated sugar, add soft butter or margarine, continuing to grind until smooth, then add sour cream, stir it into the mixture and add 2 cups of flour (pre-sifted). Mix the flour with the mixture, add the rest of the flour one tablespoon at a time, kneading the dough. Make a block from the finished dough and divide it into 7-8 parts for large cakes (on a baking sheet) or 9-10 for a regular shape.

Roll out the crust dough thinly. Grease a mold or baking sheet, slightly heated in the oven, with margarine, place the rolled out dough and prick it with a fork along and across the cake. The rolled out dough, as we have already mentioned, is convenient to transfer to a baking sheet by wrapping it around a rolling pin. Stroke the rolling pin and the surface of the dough with your hand “dipped” in flour. When placing the rolled out cake on a baking sheet, roll it off the rolling pin.

The cakes are baked in a hot oven for only 5-8 minutes, so be careful not to burn them.

Cake cakes prepared this way are best coated with custard. Do not put a lot of cream on the cake - it will soak the cakes, the cake will become “wet”, and this will deteriorate its quality.

The fourth recipe for "Napoleon"

Products for the test: 200 g creamy margarine, 1 cup sour cream, 2 cups flour.

Place a mound of flour on a cutting board, cut the margarine from the refrigerator into the flour and chop with the flour until crumbs form. Add sour cream little by little to the crumbs, continuing to chop. Make the dough. If the dough sticks to your hands, add a little flour to the board and knead it. Form the dough into a bar and make cuts on its surface with a knife, indicating the number of cakes. Place the dough on a plate, cover with a napkin and put it in the cold for 1.5-2 hours, after which you can roll out the cakes.

With this method of preparing dough for Napoleon, the cut part can be turned over and rolled out on either side. This amount of dough makes 4-5 large cakes and 5-6 regular ones.

Fifth recipe for Napoleon cake

Products for the test: 350 g of creamy margarine, 2 cups of flour, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of cold boiled water.

Place flour on a cutting board, finely chop the margarine from the refrigerator and chop until crumbs form. Pour a raw egg into a glass, beat it, add a teaspoon of vinegar, add salt, stir, adding cold boiled water to the edge and stirring so that the liquid in the glass is homogeneous. Pour the liquid from the glass into the crumbs little by little, continuing to chop until a dough forms.

Divide the finished dough in the form of a bar into 5-6 parts for large cakes or 7-9 for small ones. Place the dough in the cold for 2-3 hours, after which it can be rolled out.

@header CREAM RECIPES FOR “NAPOLEON” CAKE

To layer the cakes, use custard or butter cream, but you can coat the cake with both at the same time.

Making custard for Napoleon

Products for custard: 1/2 liter of milk, 3 eggs, 1 glass of granulated sugar, 100 g of butter, 2 tablespoons (with top) of flour, vanillin.

Ingredients for butter custard: 2 glasses of milk or cream, 1 glass of granulated sugar, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons (slightly topped) of flour, vanillin (on the tip of a knife), 50-70 g of butter.

To prepare custard for Napoleon cake, pour milk into an enamel pan with a thick bottom and place it on low heat. While the milk is heating, grind the eggs with granulated sugar until the mass becomes homogeneous, then add flour to this mass and stir it so that there are no lumps. Pour hot milk in small portions into the prepared mass, stirring constantly.

Place the pan with the cream on low heat and stir all the time so that the cream does not burn and the flour is brewed without lumps. You need to stir the cream not with a spoon, but with a wooden spatula - it fits more tightly to the bottom of the pan. When the cream thickens to the desired consistency, remove it from the heat, add the butter and stir the cream until the butter melts. Let the cream cool and only then add vanilla.

Custard without vanillin is not as fragrant, although its nutritional value remains unchanged. You can add lemon or orange zest to the custard or grate chocolate.

Preparing buttercream for Napoleon

Products for buttercream: 300 g butter, 1 can of condensed milk with sugar, vanillin.

To make the buttercream, take the butter out of the refrigerator a few hours in advance to soften it. Beat soft butter with a mixer until fluffy. Then, without stopping whisking, you need to add condensed milk with sugar, 1-2 tablespoons each (condensed milk should also be at room temperature).

The cream is whipped until the entire portion of condensed milk is used and the mass becomes homogeneous and plastic.

If the cream becomes pockmarked while whipping, heat it slightly and beat again.

@header PREPARATION OF NAPOLEON CAKE

After the cakes are baked, the cream is prepared, both are cooled, you can spread the cakes and decorate the cake. Before greasing the cakes with cream, cut off any excess dough from the main cake size with a sharp knife. This mainly applies to large cakes that were baked on a baking sheet. Cakes baked in a mold will have less waste. Grind these trimmings or waste - this will be powder for the cake. After you have coated all the cakes with cream, the ends of the cake on all sides should also be greased with cream, and the top and sides of the cake should be sprinkled with powder. You can decorate the cake with nuts or grated chocolate.

If the cakes are not very even, coat them with a thin layer of cream and let stand for 2-3 hours, then use a sharp knife to cut a narrow strip around the entire perimeter of the cake - the Napoleon cake will become even, and then spread the cream on the ends of the cake.

Place the finished Napoleon cake in the refrigerator for several hours so that it is well soaked in the cream.

Bon appetit!

To celebrate the centenary victory over Napoleon, a delicious cake was invented in Russia. It was made in a triangular shape, which symbolized the cocked hat of the great leader. Eating it meant victory over the emperor. I liked this delicacy so much that over time they began to prepare not only cakes, but also cake.

Over the many years of preparing this sweet dish, many recipes have been invented. But the most common is the classic Napoleon cake recipe. Many people, having prepared the dessert, will say that the taste is like that of their grandmother when they were children. This delicacy is easy to prepare. The main flavor comes from the cakes, and it is to them that you need to pay all the attention. According to this recipe, the cake will be airy, weighing about a kilogram.

Cooking steps step by step

Ingredients:

• egg – 2 pcs.;
• margarine – 300 g;
• flour – 150 g;
• water from the refrigerator;
• lemon juice – 0.5 teaspoon;
• flour – 450 g.

For cream:

• vanilla sugar;
• egg – 2 pcs.;
• unsalted butter – 300 g;
• milk – 180 ml;
• sugar – 1.5 tbsp.

Preparation:

1. Place the margarine in the freezer for two to three hours.
2. Cool the flour in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and sift it onto the table.
3. Chop the margarine into thin strips.
4. Mix with flour (150 g) and chop again with a knife. Squeeze thoroughly with your hands.
5. Press the mixture until it forms a tight ball.
6. Refrigerate.
7. Prepare another dough. Pour flour (450 g) into the container, but it is better to leave a little so as not to overdo it. The dough will be soft and not sticky to your hands.
8. Pour in lemon juice.
9. Pour very cold water into a glass to the top, add eggs.
10. Stir with a fork until dissolved.
11. Sift the flour onto the table.
12. Pour egg water into the flour.
13. Stir with a spoon, knead with your hands. If there is not enough flour, add. To prevent the finished, baked puff pastry from becoming tough, excess flour should not be added to it.
14. Roll out the dough, which was prepared second in line, into a rectangle. If you roll it too thin, it will tear.
15. Place the dough you prepared first in the middle. Now wrap the first dough with the second one, like an envelope. First, fold one edge, then from two opposite sides and cover with the remaining end.
16. Sprinkle the dish with flour, place the dough envelope seam side down and place in the refrigerator for half an hour. To avoid condensation, do not cover it on top.
17. Place the cooled product on the table in the same position as on the plate. Roll out into a small square.
18. Roll it back into an envelope and refrigerate for half an hour.
19. Roll it out again and send it to rest in the cold for the same amount of time. After these manipulations, you can begin making the cream.
20. Leave the butter without refrigeration for several hours until it becomes completely soft.
21. Break the eggs into a small bowl. Beat with sugar until the mixture turns white.
22. Add vanillin.
23. Pour milk into a saucepan and pour in the egg mixture. To ensure that the cream is uniform and without lumps, you must constantly stir with a whisk. Wait until it boils and remove immediately.
24. Set aside and cool.
25. For now, let's get back to the test. Cut the envelope into six equal parts. Roll out circles of equal shape. You can make one large layer and use a baking sheet.
26. To make it easier to roll out and prevent the dough from sticking, dust the table with flour.
27. Place a rolling pin on the edge of the dough and lightly roll the mixture onto it. Transfer to form. Roll out the dough to its size.
28. Make holes with a fork.
29. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Pay attention to the appearance; if it turns brown, it means it’s ready.
30. Bake the cakes.
31. Let's return to the chilled creamy mass. Mash the butter with a spoon.
32. Add the cooked mass in butter in small parts, mixing well. Add it and mix until you have added all the cream.
33. The finished cream is appetizing and monochromatic. The oil should not separate from the total mass and flake off.
34. Grease the cakes with cream.
35. To ensure that the cake is uniform, press each subsequent layer with your hands over the entire area of ​​the cake.
36. Cut the resulting delicacy along the edges with a knife, forming an even round dish.
37. Crumble the resulting trimmed parts with your hands and sprinkle on the top layer.

In order for the dough for the puff pastry to work out, all products must be cold.

With vanilla custard

The cake melts in your mouth and has a delicate taste. Of course, compared to other types of desserts, Napoleon with custard takes quite a long time to prepare. But the efforts will not be in vain, because the recipe for making Napoleon at home cannot be compared with industrial products.

This is the most common delicacy at holidays not only among children, but also among adults. There are many options for the cream used, each housewife will have her own favorite. Consider the option with custard.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• milk – 250 ml;
• margarine – 300 g;
• flour - 4.5 cups;
• soda – 1 teaspoon.

Cream:

• milk – 1.5 liters;
• eggs – 4 pcs.;
• sugar – 500 g;
• butter – 250 g;
• flour – 6 tbsp. spoon;
• vanilla sugar – 1 sachet.

Decoration:

• nuts;
• powder.

Preparation:

Cakes:

1. Finely chop the margarine when cold.
2. Mix with flour, soda and rub with your hands.
3. Add cold milk to the flour mixture. Knead.
4. Roll several balls, depending on how many layers you want.
5. Roll out cold balls on a powdered table.
6. Place in the form.
7. Prick with a fork.
8. Bake in a hot oven until golden brown.

Cream:

1. Beat eggs with sugar.
2. Add flour.
3. Boil the milk separately.
4. Pour the mixture into the hot liquid.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring until it becomes thick.
6. Add butter and vanilla. Cool.

Cake:

1. Lubricate each layer with cream, sprinkling with nuts.
2. Once assembled, trim the edges.
3. Coat the sides with the rest of the cream.
4. Chop the trimmings and sprinkle on the top crust.
5. Dust with powdered sugar.

Homemade Napoleon cake with quick puff pastry

Since Soviet times, this delicacy has been a desired dish on the table. An ordinary day turns into a holiday with the appearance of a sweet dessert. Previously, the housewife had to stand in the kitchen for hours to prepare it. Now, in the modern world, you can go to any store and buy ready-made dough that is not inferior in taste and quality to a homemade product. The result is the same, and time is saved.

The finished dough must be stored in the freezer; it must not be defrosted several times. To make the cake delicious, do not use oil to bake the cakes, cover with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

• walnut – 300 g;
• egg - 6 pcs.;
• puff pastry - 1.5 kg;
• milk – 1500 ml;
• flour – 6 tbsp. spoon;
• fine sugar - 3 cups.

Preparation:

1. The best way to defrost is time. Of course, modern ovens and microwave ovens have a special defrosting function, but they often fry the product.
2. Most often, you can buy rectangular dough in the store. Makes about six sheets in the required amount of weight. Cut them in half.
3. Roll out each part to a thickness of three millimeters.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
5. Place the cake on it.
6. Prick with a fork. This is necessary so that the dough does not swell or deform.
7. It doesn’t take much time to prepare; five minutes is enough for each cake.

Cream:

1. Beat sugar and eggs until thick foam forms.
2. Boil the milk.
3. Pour the sweet mixture into milk.
4. To avoid curdling of the eggs, you must constantly stir the mixture.
5. After boiling, immediately remove from the burner and add vanillin.

Assembly:

1. Choose the worst shortbread and chop it.
2. Chop the nuts.
3. Grease the cakes with cream.
4. Sprinkle a layer of nuts in the middle of the dessert.
5. Assemble to the end of the cake, sprinkle the top with the remaining nuts.

Honey Napoleon

This recipe makes a not-so-traditional cake. The honey included in the composition gives an amazing taste to this delicacy.

Ingredients:

• lemon – 1 pc.;
• egg – 4 pcs.;
• baking powder – 1 packet;
• honey - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• unsalted butter – 150 g;
• sugar – 250 g;
• flour – 600 g;
• sour cream – 250 g;
• powdered sugar – 300 g.

Preparation:

1. Build a water bath: place a small saucepan in a large one, so that the top one is immersed in water.
2. Place butter, sugar and honey in the top bowl. Melt.
3. Beat the eggs separately.
4. Mix the melted mass, eggs, baking powder with flour.
5. Divide into ten parts and roll into balls. Send into the cold.
6. Grate the lemon and zest to add to the cream.
7. Beat sour cream and powder.
8. Mix with lemon.
9. Whisk everything together and cool.
10. Roll out the balls into any shape. It depends on what kind of cake it will be.
11. Bake individually until golden brown. There should be no burnt areas, so as not to spoil the taste of the cake.
12. Cool.
13. Coat each layer with cream.
14. Crumble the last cake and sprinkle over the top of the cake.

Napoleon "Family Tradition"

Ingredients:

Dough:

• baking powder – 1.5 tsp;
• flour – 450 g;
• cold water – 200 g;
• margarine – 250 g.

Cream:

• starch - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• cream 10% - 600 ml;
• flour – 150 g;
• butter – 250 g.

Preparation:

1. Sift flour into a deep pan.
2. Place margarine in the center.
3. Leave for half an hour.
4. After a while, chop into fine crumbs using a spatula.
5. Add baking powder and water.
6. Knead.
7. The dough loves the cold very much. To get the desired end result, refrigerate for half an hour.
8. Cut into seven pieces.
9. Form a ball.
10. Roll out separately.
11. Prick the dough in the pan with a fork.
12. Bake until golden brown.

Cream:

1. Pour 400 ml cream into a saucepan, adding sugar.
2. Boil.
3. Separately mix flour and starch.
4. Pour in 200 ml of cream (cold).
5. Mix well. There should be no lumps.
6. Pour the cold mixture into the hot sweet milk in a very thin stream. Keep stirring with your other hand.
7. When the cream has cooled, add the oil, which has been left in the room for some time and has become soft.
8. Beat with a mixer.

Coat each layer with cream. Leave in the kitchen for five hours to soak. To achieve the perfect taste, refrigerate for another four hours.

Slovak version of Napoleon, which is known there as Kremes

This cooking option differs from other recipes in that there is no butter as an ingredient in the cream. Instead, starch (corn) is used.

Prepare the dough according to any favorite recipe or do it easier and buy a ready-made semi-finished product.

Ingredients:

• corn starch – 200 g;
• powdered sugar – 400 g;
• yeast-free puff pastry – 500 g;
• cow's milk – 2 liters;
• eggs – 8 pcs.

Preparation:

1. Defrost the dough naturally.
2. Divide into four parts.
3. Roll out thinly.
4. Place the dough on a baking sheet and bake for five minutes.
5. Prepare all the cakes this way.

Cream:

1. Mix 500 ml of milk with starch and yolks, beat well.
2. Boil 1000 ml of milk.
3. Add half the powder.
4. Pour cold milk with starch. Stir.
5. Stirring quickly, keep on fire for a minute.
6. Beat the egg whites and powder with a mixer until they form a thick, fluffy foam.
7. Pour hot milk into the egg mixture. Stir.
8. Wait until completely cooled down.

Fold the cakes in layers, brushing with cream. It is necessary to soak the cake for several hours. The cream used in the recipe turns out to be thick, so compared to Napoleon cake prepared according to the classic recipe, it is placed between the layers in much larger quantities.

Napoleon cake is simple and very tasty at home

Even if you have no experience at all in making homemade cakes, this recipe will turn out the cake the first time. For baking, the minimum amount of ingredients is used and very little time is spent.

Ingredients:

• butter (ice) – 250 g;
• flour – 450 g;
• water (cold) – 100 ml.

For cream:

• milk – 1 liter;
• egg – 2 pcs.;
• sugar – 300 g;
• vanillin;
• flour – 4 tbsp. spoons.

Preparation:

1. For the dough, be sure to sift the flour.
2. Take a large grater and grate the butter.
3. Rub with your hands.
4. Fill with water.
5. Make a ball.
6. Let rest in the cold for half an hour.
7. Roll into a sausage.
8. Cut into eight pieces.
9. Now the main thing is to roll it out into a thin layer to get the same thickness. The thinner you roll, the tastier the cakes will be.
10. Place in the oven.
11. Prepares instantly. Five minutes and the cake is ready.
12. While one is preparing, prepare the other.

Cream:

1. Heat 500 ml of milk.
2. Using a mixer, beat 500 ml of milk, eggs, sugar, flour, vanillin. You can use a whisk. Just make sure that there are no lumps left from the flour.
3. As soon as the milk boils, pour the whipped mixture in a thin stream.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Mix well, including the sides and bottom of the pan, otherwise the cream will burn.
5. It should look like thick semolina porridge. It will become thicker when it cools.
6. To assemble the cake, the cream needs to be at room temperature.

The cakes are brittle and fragile. Carefully assemble the cake, coating the layers with cream. Trim the edges and sprinkle the trimmings over the top of the cake. Be sure to soak in the night. Experienced housewives advise placing a cutting board on top and placing a container of water on top. Under the weight of the cakes, they will be better saturated with cream.

With custard sour cream

Ingredients

Dough:

• salt – 1 teaspoon;
• vinegar – 2 teaspoons;
• butter – 200 g;
• flour – 450 g;
• milk 150 ml;
• soda - a pinch.

Cream:

• vanillin;
• sugar – 250 g;
• sour cream – 500 g;
• walnuts;
• milk – 600 ml;
• starch - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• egg – 3 pcs.

Preparation

Dough:

1. Grind cold butter with flour to form crumbs.
2. Mix with remaining ingredients.
3. Knead.
4. Divide into 16 parts, roll into balls.
5. Dust the surface of the table with flour.
6. Roll out the dough.
7. Prick with a fork.
8. Bake for five minutes.

Cream:

1. Add starch to a glass of milk.
2. These include eggs. Beat.
3. Boil the remaining amount of milk.
4. Pour into cold milk. Beat.
5. Put on fire. Boil.
6. Add sour cream. Mix.

Forming the cake:

1. Place the cake on the bottom of the plate and coat with a layer of cream.
2. Apply cream to each subsequent cake layer, alternating layers.
3. Trim the edges.
4. Grease the top and sides with cream.
5. Chop the trimmings and sprinkle over the top and edges of the cake.

Napoleon cake in a frying pan

This version does not require much time to soak the cakes. After half an hour, the cake is ready to eat.

Ingredients:

• baking powder;
• flour – 450 g;
• salt;
• sugar – 250 g;
• butter – 50 g;
• egg - 3 pcs.

Cream:

• milk – 1 liter;
• egg – 3 pcs.;
• flour – 2 tbsp. spoons;
• sugar – 250 g;
• vanillin;
• walnuts.

Preparation:

1. Beat eggs and sugar.
2. Add salt, baking powder, butter, 400 g of flour (the rest will be needed when rolling out the dough).
3. Knead the dough.
4. Let stand for half an hour.
5. Roll out 14 cakes thinly along the diameter of the frying pan.
6. Fry on a dry surface.
7. If you need perfectly straight edges, cut it hot to the shape of a plate.
8. Lay in layers, soaking with cooled cream.
9. Sprinkle with scraps and nuts.

For cream:

1. Mix eggs, milk, sugar. Add flour.
2. Stir without lumps.
3. margarine – 250 g;
4. salt;
5. butter into cream – 300 g;
6. chocolate;
7. condensed milk – 400 g.

Preparation:

1. Cool all products, freeze margarine.
2. Pour cold flour into the grated margarine.
3. Mix water and egg.
4. Knead the dough by mixing the ingredients.
5. Roll into sausage.
6. Divide into six parts.
7. Cool for half an hour.
8. Roll.
9. Bake, first piercing each piece with a fork.
10. Beat the butter. Pour condensed milk in a thin stream. Beat together for 10 minutes using a mixer.
11. Grease the cakes with the resulting cream.
12. Decorate the top with cake crumbs.

Various serving and design options

Any housewife wants the cake to be not only tasty, but also beautiful, so it’s worth decorating it in a special way.

The most common and familiar design option is crumbs from leftover cakes.

You can use sugar sprinkles. It comes in different colors and shapes. You can sprinkle a thick layer of decoration on the cream, make a drawing or post a congratulation.







Using a stencil they create beautiful risks. The grated chocolate is sprinkled onto the stencil; when it is removed, a festive design remains on the surface.

Any nuts are suitable for decoration. Sprinkling it in a thick layer will give you a beautiful appearance and exquisite taste.

Protein cream can be painted in any color and create a culinary masterpiece by decorating it with different colors.

A less common way to decorate a cake at home is to use mastic. With its help you can create amazingly beautiful culinary works. Cover the cake and decorate with themed figures, but this method requires certain knowledge and skill.

Prepare dough No. 1:

To do this, grate cold butter and mix very quickly with flour. There is no need to knead for a long time, shape it into a brick, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.

Prepare dough No. 2:

Mix egg, salt and water. Add sifted flour and knead into a soft dough. Knead it, wrap it in film and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Prepare the custard:

Boil the milk. Grind the egg yolks with sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, pour in hot milk and mix well. Place on the fire and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove the thickened cream from the heat, cool slightly and add butter. Stir the prepared custard until smooth.
Roll out dough No. 2 into a rectangle, place dough No. 1 in the center.

Pinch the edges of dough No. 1 (dough No. 2 will be inside) and roll in one direction into a rectangular layer 1-1.5 cm thick. Fold the dough into an envelope and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place the cakes on top of each other, spreading with cream.

Coat the Napoleon cake generously with custard on top and sides, sprinkle with prepared crumbs.

Allow the cake to soak and serve.

Delicious Napoleon is ready.

Bon appetit!

The cake turns out amazingly delicious, with thin soaked cake layers and delicate cream! It always works out! Be sure to try cooking Napoleon cake, we offer you an old recipe, You will not regret! Your loved ones will be delighted!

We prepare two tests:

• Melt 1 pack of margarine and mix with 1 tbsp. flour.

• 1 tbsp. beat sour cream with 2 eggs;
• 1.2 tbsp. flour + 0.5 tbsp. for bedding.

Knead the dough...and cut it into 6 parts.

Cake "NAPOLEON" - THE MOST DELICIOUS OLD RECIPE: step-by-step recipe

1. Roll out each part thinly and spread with 1 dough.
2. Place all the spread cakes (one on top of the other, you can spread them like that) and roll them into a roll.
3. Place in a bag and refrigerate overnight (12 hours).
4. Cut the roll crosswise into 18-20 pieces up to 1.5 cm thick. Hide half in the refrigerator, and roll out the rest very thinly. To make the cakes evener, you can trim the edges using a plate.
5. Bake the cakes one at a time on a baking sheet (dry, ungreased) in a very hot oven. The cakes bake quickly. 1.5-2 min. on one side, turn over and again for 1.5-2 minutes.
6. Remove from the baking sheet and place in a pile on a plate. Bake the scraps too. Then do the same with the second half of the dough.
7. Prepare the cream: 2-3 tbsp. l. mix flour with 1.5 tbsp. sugar and pour into boiling milk (0.5 l). Stir until thickened and let cool. Then beat this mass with 300 g of butter.
8. We coat the cakes with cream, sprinkle the top and sides with broken scraps and crumbs from the cakes and put the cake in the refrigerator for 12 hours so that it is well soaked. There are 18 cake layers in this Napoleon!

I recently wrote about a recipe (not the classic version!). And I thought, why isn’t there actually a traditional Napoleon recipe on my culinary blog?

That same legendary recipe from Soviet times, which was passed from hand to hand, carefully recorded in culinary notebooks, and in some regions was even a kind of “trade secret” - after all, some housewives baked it to order. And they were in no hurry to share the recipe...

The only way I can explain this omission on my part is that my blog is very young. I'm just starting to fill it with recipes. And first places, of course, should be given to the classics. And it is impossible to imagine anything more classic in the culinary theme than a detailed recipe for Napoleon cake. So, it’s decided, today’s article is entirely devoted to the traditional, classic “Napoleon”!

The main “secret” of Napoleon cake, prepared at home

I’ll immediately tell you the “secret secret” of this delicious cake: “Citizens, don’t skimp on food!” Well, everything is right according to the old Jewish joke - “My children, do not skimp on the tea leaves!”

After all, what does a thrifty housewife usually save on? It says “butter” in the recipe, yeah, so let’s use margarine! It says “add 2 tablespoons of cognac” - replace it with vodka…. Well, you don’t have to add vodka at all, and it will do without it...

But for a real classic Napoleon, these ingredients are very important. It is indeed cheaper to replace butter with margarine, but the taste will be different. Vodka must be added to the dough - for better “layering”, and cognac in the cream - for the subtlety of taste and aroma. Then Napoleon will turn out deliciously delicious, just like in old Soviet times!

Another feature of this recipe is if you use not one type of cream, but two- the cake will turn out especially tender! But I’ll write about this in detail below in a step-by-step recipe.

To summarize:

Products and recipe composition

For the test:

• 5 cups flour
• 300 grams butter
• 1 egg
• half a glass of sour cream
• half a glass of water
• 2 tablespoons vodka
• a third of a teaspoon of salt

For custard cream:

• 3 eggs
• liter of milk
• 3-4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 200 gr. butter
• 2 tablespoons cognac
• 1 packet of vanillin

For sour cream:

• full-fat sour cream (30%) - 1.5 -2 cups
• sugar 1 cup (better crushed into powder)

Preparing the dough for the cakes.

I must admit that I still hid one of the secrets of the classical Napoleon from you! We are talking about the method of preparing the dough.

For example, I remember very well how my mother prepared puff pastry, including for Napoleon cake. This didn’t happen often; my mother was always away at work. And when we asked her to make “this delicious layer cake” again, she said that there was a lot of fuss with it, and a lot of time was spent on the dough. Therefore, they did it only on major holidays.

So, the dough was made by numerous rolling out, when a piece of butter was added to the base, cooled in the refrigerator, everything was wrapped in an envelope and rolled out again, and again put in the cold, repeating this procedure several times….

This is an option I will not consider here. The dough for Napoleon, which I suggest you make, is much easier to make, requires less time, but nevertheless, the result will be just as wonderful and tasty! It was this recipe that was recorded by many housewives of that time as a quick and fail-safe version of the classic Napoleon cake.

I will show you how to make “butter crumbs” from a mixture of flour and butter in a blender (chopper), but you can do this procedure the old fashioned way - by chopping the pieces of butter with flour with an ordinary knife, as finely as possible. And then you can also rub the lumps with your hands. Just do this quickly so that the butter does not become too soft and melt on your hands.

First, lightly chop large pieces of cold butter by hand directly on the plate.

Then add the oil to the chopper bowl.

On top - all the flour, it is advisable to first sift it through a sieve. Run at high speed until fine, fine crumbs form.

This is the kind of crumb we should end up with.

In another container, mix the crumbs with the remaining ingredients - sour cream, water, egg, vodka and salt.

We form a bun from the dough. You need to knead the dough quite quickly, all for the same reason - the butter should remain cold in its composition, not melted. When the dough does not stick to your hands or the table, the consistency we need has been achieved. Cover our bun with a napkin and leave to settle for half an hour.

After half an hour, put it in the refrigerator for another 1 hour, but first wrap it in film. By the way, now is the time to start preparing the cream so as not to waste this hour.

After an hour we take it out, you can knead it a little more. And we divide by the number of koloboks that we need to get the same number of cakes. There are 9 pieces in the photo, but they can be divided into 12 or 15 parts.

Cover them again with film and put them in the cold. We will take one small kolobok from there and roll it into cakes.

You can cut the rolled out cake into shape (for example, by attaching a plate or a circle stencil) right away. You can just mark the cutting without removing the excess - we can easily remove it after baking.

I usually roll out such thin cakes directly on parchment to make it easier to transfer to a sheet. But if you need to transfer the thinly rolled dough onto a baking sheet from the table, roll it onto a rolling pin, transfer it to a sheet and roll it back. Very simple.

Place in a hot oven for 3-5 minutes. The shortbreads should reach a light, golden hue; there is no need to overcook them. They have set a little, have browned a little - you can take them out. The oven is heated to about 180-200 degrees. We bake on parchment - this makes it easier to remove the cakes from the sheet.

If you “pierce” our cake well with a fork in many places, no large bubbles or swellings will form, the cakes will look very smooth and neat. But I love it more when the dough puffs up during baking, because then additional “layered” places form in these places, and the more layered, the tastier our future Napoleon will be! Well, like in this photo -

The trimmings are also baked and stored separately until better times. In better times we will make crumbs out of them for topping.

Prepare the custard.

It is convenient to make the cream while the dough rests in the cold. We have a whole hour of time - we can do everything!

We put part of the milk (2/3 liters) to warm in a saucepan on the fire. Mix the rest of the milk with a mixer or whisk with eggs, sugar and vanilla into a thick foam. Add flour and cognac and beat.

Add our cream base in a thin stream to the pan with already hot milk, continuing intensive stirring continuously. We need to cook our cream until it thickens, but we should not allow bubbles that indicate boiling. And, of course, make sure that the cream does not burn to the bottom of the pan - the taste will immediately deteriorate. If you don’t have much experience in this matter, it’s better to put everything in a water bath and steam the cream - this way it’s easier for us to control the temperature and there’s less chance of spoiling something.

Cool the cream. On the contrary, take out the butter to soften at room temperature.

Now you need to connect them together. Someone begins to beat the butter into a fluffy mass and gradually adds the custard base one spoon at a time. Some people simply whisk everything at once in one container. I don’t see a fundamental difference here - given the presence of modern “beating” equipment in the form of mixers, blenders, etc. - everything is whipped up with a bang!

However, maybe you have a different opinion and there is some special way of whipping cream that gives amazing results - share it in the comments to this article!

We are preparing the second type of cream for delicious Napoleon - Sour cream

There are no special secrets here, except for one thing - sour cream must be natural and high in fat content, at least 25, and preferably 30%. If you don’t have such sour cream, there are two options: the first is simple and quick. And the second one is slow, but correct :)

1. We take a “Thickener for sour cream” (for cream, just a thickener - whatever you can find in your stores) - and do everything according to the instructions on the package.
2. We take regular sour cream - double the volume, and place it in thick gauze for several hours, preferably overnight, hanging it over a water container (or place the sour cream in a shallow colander). The point is that, under its own weight, the sour cream squeezes out all the excess water from its depths (and how does it get there, I wonder?!) and we end up with thick, real sour cream, from which you can whip up a high-quality thick cream.

It is better to use powdered sugar as sugar, but this is not important. Pour sugar into sour cream and beat until thick. There will be a short period when the sour cream will thin out a little, but keep whisking and it will thicken to the desired consistency.

Assembling and decorating the Napoleon cake

The most enjoyable moment of making cakes is assembling, frosting, decorating!

Why did we make 2 types of cream? For better taste, of course!

• So, put a dry cake layer and coat it with custard butter cream on top.
• Place the second cake layer and coat it again in the same way.
• First coat the third cake with sour cream and then top it with custard.
• We repeat this, greasing every third cake with additional sour cream, whipped with sugar, until the ingredients run out.
• We don’t smear the last layer with anything yet - we leave our cake to sit for half an hour or an hour. During this time, the cakes will be soaked and become very tasty and moderately soft.
• Now wrap the cake with film on the sides and place a clean board (something flat) on top and lightly press the layers down. Place a small (about 1 kg) weight on the board and put it in the refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight.

And in the morning we will decorate our soaked and brewed cake for the final time:

Lubricate the top layer with the remaining cream (any cream, you can use two at once) and coat the sides.
Cover the sides and top of the cake with crumbs. I hope you didn’t throw away our scraps, but air-dried them and ground them into fine crumbs?

Well, our magnificent Napoleon is ready to eat!

I saw many options online for decorating this cake with different fruits, berries, etc. , but for some reason I really like the traditional, classic look of this cake - you can immediately see that it’s a real, “Soviet” Napoleon - you can’t confuse it with anything!

Napoleon cake made from ready-made puff pastry with condensed milk cream

Now let's look at the “high-speed” method of making Napoleon cake. Fast as possible. It’s faster to just buy a ready-made cake in the store, but that’s not our goal!

It happens that guests are expected in the evening. Or the children suddenly wanted a cake “right now” and certainly - made by their mother... There are different situations, but there is only one way out - to have a supply of the necessary products at home and 20-30 minutes of free time. And a good mood, of course! Without it, there’s basically nothing to do in the kitchen :)

So, we will need 2 packages of ready-made frozen puff pastry, either yeast or not, it makes no difference.

We put them out of the package onto 2 pieces of parchment at once and leave them in this form to defrost. We get 2 rectangles of finished puff pastry per sheet.

While the dough comes to room temperature, we have time to make the cream.

Making cream from condensed milk (condensed milk)

The fastest cream that everyone knows and loves is butter whipped with condensed milk.

Sometimes they write about 150 grams of butter and 350 grams of condensed milk... Why such complexity? Who will measure these grams when it comes to delicious cream?!

I just take a pack of good (82.5% fat) butter and one standard can of condensed milk. I think this is the most convenient and delicious proportion for cream!

To improve the taste, you can add a packet of vanillin and a couple of spoons of cognac - the aroma will be very memorable. But even banal condensed milk with butter, simply whipped into a nice smooth cream, will perfectly set off our Napoleon from ready-made puff pastry.

Cut the butter into cubes and keep at room temperature until softened. We begin to beat, gradually adding condensed milk and vanillin with cognac (if you decide on this option), spoon by spoon.

Our task is to obtain a uniform, thick, smooth mass, which will be our delicious and fastest cream for soaking and decorating the cake.

The cream is ready. The dough has defrosted, softened and even slightly “swollen” - it’s time to bake it.

Preheat the oven to standard 180 degrees and place a sheet of dough in it. We will need 10-15 minutes for one portion of cakes. But make sure that they are not overcooked, but have a beautiful golden hue.

Now we need to “get” crumbs to decorate Napoleon. We lightly trim the edges of our puff plates - we will get crumbs and even out the edges of the cake. You also need to cut - remove the top baked crust from each cake. This will give us both material for sprinkling and soften the finished layers.

This is the semi-finished product we got.

Now coat each layer with cream.

If necessary, dry the cut crusts in air or in the oven and grind them into crumbs.

Sprinkle the sides and top of the cake with crumbs. Here he is ready!

Of course, he still needs to be given time to soak in the cream - at least 3 hours, but this is already the problem of those waiting for something delicious, and we are free and can do whatever our heart desires. We have already fulfilled our duty to the hungry family :)

It will take us 20-30 minutes to do everything about everything! And this is together with preparing the cream. A good, quick option for preparing Napoleon for those who don’t want to spend half a day in the kitchen.

Quick Napoleon cake in a frying pan - step-by-step recipe with photos

Let's look at another “non-classic” version of Napoleon cake, cooked in a frying pan. It sounds rather dubious, but, oddly enough, the taste is quite decent!

If you are in a place where you don’t have an oven (maybe you were drawn to nature and decided to celebrate the New Year at the dacha) - you will certainly impress your guests with a freshly prepared Napoleon! In a frying pan! Fantastic…

I won’t analyze the cream - take any of the above. I came across another option for cream for Napoleon - condensed milk is added to the custard with butter... I don’t know, I’ve never made this before.. Do you think this is a suitable option? Please write who made this cream and share your impressions!

But let’s look at the dough for cooking in a frying pan step by step, or rather, from photographs. It's easier.

For this test option we will prepare:

• 1 pack of butter 190-200 gr. (or creamy margarine)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 50 ml very cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, slaked with vinegar (or baking powder - 0.5 sachet)

Some housewives are generally against soda in this recipe, they believe that it spoils the taste. If you put not 2 eggs, but 2-3 yolks, then they will serve as a good softener for the dough and may well replace soda.

Grate the butter on a coarse grater and sprinkle with flour. Mix everything quickly with your hands, grinding the butter with flour until it becomes buttery crumbs.

We extinguish the soda with 6% vinegar (or add baking powder for the dough), mix ice water with the egg and add it all to the crumbs. Quickly knead our dough into a large bun. As soon as the dough stops sticking to your hands, divide it into small koloboks (the size depends on the size of your frying pan in which we will bake the cakes, but you can see the approximate size in the photo). We pack the buns in film or bags (to prevent airing) and place them in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

We take out one bun at a time and immediately quickly roll it into a thin layer.

This is such a thickness that your hand can be seen through. This is approximately 1 mm thick dough.

The lid from our frying pan will give us the desired diameter for the cake. Press the dough with a lid.

We remove the excess scraps and then make another cake out of them.

We prick our dough layer with a fork so that it does not bubble too much.

Place in a dry, hot frying pan (no oil!).

The cakes are prepared in a frying pan very quickly - literally 1 minute on one side. And quickly turn it over.

We make all the shortcakes one by one. While one is baking, roll out the other. Let cool. We roll the scraps into a common lump and also roll them out into cakes.

We coat our “Frying Pan Napoleon” with cream. Everything is as usual, layer by layer. Leave 3 shortcakes for topping - dry and chop into crumbs.

The main thing that needs to be observed is the soaking time for the cake - at least 3-4 hours, and preferably overnight. The longer it sits in the refrigerator, the better it will soak in and the tastier, more tender and softer it will be.

PS. By the way, I compared dough in a frying pan made from margarine and made from butter. Where I got the butter, the cakes were softer and more tender, well, that’s how it seemed to me. I didn’t have time to ask my family members - they scooped everything up in an instant! In my opinion, some people don’t even care how much time and effort you put into this cake - as long as it’s sweet :)