Kremówka

Ingredients

Pastry

• 500 gpuff pastry, in two sheets

Custard

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 8egg yolks
• 200 gsugar
• 80 gcornflour
• 40 gplain flour
• 2 tspvanilla
• 150 gbutter

Cream layer

• 400 mldouble cream
• 2 tbspicing sugar

To finish

• icing sugar

Directions

1. Roll each pastry sheet to fit a rectangular tin, prick them all over with a fork, and lay a second tray on top of each.
2. Weighting the pastry with a tray keeps it flat. A kremówka needs two thin even sheets, not two puffed pillows, or it cannot be cut.
3. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 15 to 18 minutes until deep golden, and cool completely.
4. For the custard, heat the milk with the vanilla to just below boiling.
5. Whisk the yolks with the sugar, cornflour and flour until smooth and pale.
6. Temper the hot milk into the yolks a ladleful at a time, then return everything to the pan.
7. Cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and bubbles, then cook a further 2 minutes.
8. Cook it past the first bubble. The flour needs those extra two minutes or the custard tastes starchy and will not set firm.
9. Beat in the butter, then press film onto the surface and cool it completely.
10. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks and fold it into the cold custard.
11. Fold the cream into cold custard, never warm. Warm custard melts it and you lose all the lightness.
12. Lay one pastry sheet in the tin, spread the cream filling thickly and evenly, and lay the second sheet on top.
13. The filling should be at least as thick as both pastry sheets together, which is what makes a kremówka rather than a mille-feuille.
14. Press the top sheet down only very gently.
15. Chill for at least 4 hours, and overnight is better.
16. Dust heavily with icing sugar and cut into squares with a long serrated knife, wiping the blade between cuts.
17. Score the top sheet into portions before the final press if you want clean edges, because cutting through set puff pastry always shatters it somewhat.
18. It is associated above all with Wadowice, where Pope John Paul II grew up and later mentioned eating them, which made the town’s version nationally famous.
19. The Serbian krempita and Croatian kremšnita are the same Austro-Hungarian pastry, differing mainly in whether whipped cream is folded in or layered separately.

Technique

• The Wadowice version is sometimes called kremówka papieska after the papal association.
• Some recipes use only the custard with no whipped cream, which gives a denser slice.
• It must be genuinely cold to cut, which is why it is made the day before.

Substitutions

• Shop-bought puff pastry, which nearly everyone uses.
• All cornflour if you have no plain flour, for a slightly glossier custard.

Variations

• Napoleonka, the same pastry under another Polish name.
• Kremšnita, the Croatian version with a distinct whipped cream layer.
• With a rum or lemon note in the custard.

History

Known as the papal cream cake after John Paul II recalled eating it as a boy in Wadowice, which he said publicly in 1999.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kremówka?

Kremówka is a dessert from Poland: two sheets of puff pastry filled with thick custard cream. Known as the papal cream cake after John Paul II recalled eating it as a boy in Wadowice, which he said publicly in 1999.

How long does Kremówka take to make?

Kremówka takes 40 min plus 4 hr chilling of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Kremówka?

Yes, within limits. Shop-bought puff pastry, which nearly everyone uses. All cornflour if you have no plain flour, for a slightly glossier custard.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kremówka?

Weighting the pastry with a tray keeps it flat. A kremówka needs two thin even sheets, not two puffed pillows, or it cannot be cut.