A special cake for a special occasion

Friday, April 26, 2013

600 g of margarine for the pastry and 600 g of butter for the cream – not exactly a light spring cake.

Several steps to follow and many hours for making the cake – not exactly a quick and easy task.

Heavenly taste and a special occasion – exactly the right cake to make.

I have seen the Napoleon Cake in many versions and with different recipes in several of cookbooks.  I use a special recipe I got from my cousin’s wife years ago. I was eighteen, stayed with her for the whole time when she was making the cake, and wrote down word-by-word what she said.

Looking at the yellow stained pages of the almost falling apart old journal, I make a mental note to rewrite the recipes from there. It goes on the one-day-I-will-list. I should probably make a cookbook for my girls with all the recipes that our family likes.

Four years has passed since I made the cake last time. Dad’s seventy fifth birthday was the special occasion then. I think I remember. I think I am ready. I hope that the cake will turn out as well as four years ago.

Put 5 really big cups of flour into a bowl

Add 600 g of cold margarine cut into small

Use your fingers to make a crumble

Put half a cup of sour cream in to a smaller bowl.

In the same cup you had the flour in, whip together 2 eggs, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of citric acid. Now add water so the cup is full. Pour it on the sour cream and mix.

Now add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and quickly add to the first bowl. Make the pastry dough and put it into the fridge.

When I was eighteen, there were not many cookbooks. I couldn’t dream about using a computer and doing a Google or Pinterest search, or visiting blogs or magazines. I knew that computers existed but hadn’t seen one, my family didn’t have a phone and we had a tiny black and white TV. I had my mom’s old cookbook with very few pictures that I worked through during my last year of high school. Even though nowadays I can buy pastries or dough at the store, I prefer making my own. Over the time I have collected many cookbooks, magazines, and recipes from the vastenss of internet. I know that I have passed the baking gene on to my daughters.

Back to baking.

Divide the dough into six sections and roll each out and bake until golden.

Ideally I should roll the dough into circles or rectangles. Getting thin blobs on the baking sheet doesn’t worry me. Shaping the cake later, leaves the cut off strips as a reward for the hard work.

I prefer baking the sheets of dough one by one. It takes more time and patience, but they bake more evenly.

Let the layers of pastry cool completely.

Make the cream.

Take 600 g of butter that has softened at the room temperature. It should be soft, soft, soft. Whisk it with 1 ½ cup of sugar until pale and fluffy.

Take on liter of milk and heat it until it starts boiling. Stir and watch that it wouldn’t stick to the bottom of the pot or boil over.

In a cup mix 4 large spoonfuls of sugar and 4 large spoonfuls of flour, add water, and stir until smooth and creamy.

Carefully pour it into the boiling milk, stir until the cream thickens.

Let it cool. Then mix it with the butter fluff.  Put it in the fridge.

Now I remember why I make this Napoleon Cake so seldom. One time I burnt my first liter of milk. It took a long time to get rid of the stink. One time I didn’t let the milk cool and mixed it with butter too soon and the butter melted. Last time I wasn’t careful enough and the warm mixture became lumpy, I had to sieve it, and the mess was revolting. My sister and I often laugh that even the most carefully written instructions, especially the ones that claim to be fool proof, don’t necessarily work. We sometimes joke writing a cookbook “How the Cakes and Pies Really Look Like.” It’s great to have a sister who also bakes and cooks. She will bring the materials for sushi and wraps for the party.

This time the cream turned out beautiful.

Make a layered cake with 5 pastry sheets.

Spread jam (black current or plum) and cream on the first layer.

Then alternate the layers and cream,

Break the last pastry sheet into flakes and spread it on the top of the cake. Put the cake in the fridge for hours. It tastes best when it stays in the fridge overnight.

We plan to eat the cake the same evening. Rich and tasty it is perfect for my daughters 18^th birthday.

I think I need more than one piece of a cake to accept the truth that my first child is an adult.