The culinary book of each housewife does not do without step-by-step recipes of favorite cakes, and “Napoleon” is a classic for home-made confectioners. Unlike other famous desserts, it has several cooking options.
In fact, a simple design, a delicate creamy-nutty flavor - the perfect solution for a festive tea party. But even the recipe for a classic cake, over time, I want to improve, and since “Napoleon” was invented a long time ago, there are many interesting cooking options in its history that deserve attention. One of the reasons why housewives are looking for new step-by-step recipes for the cake "Napoleon" - the products included in its composition. The recipe for the first time appeared at the royal court in 1912, on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812. Since then, “Napoleon” has changed a lot, because in the twenty-first century, technologies appeared that allow replacing natural butter and milk with a spread or margarine, as is done at enterprises that advertise their confectionery products, cheap and tasty.
What lies behind the cheapness of "Napoleon", why homemade cake is always better - in a step by step recipe.
Step-by-step recipe for cake “Napoleon” - the basic technological principles
The basis of the dessert - puff pastry and moist cream. As a rule, the impregnation process lasts about 10 hours - during this time the cake absorbs all the moisture and becomes very soft, and for those who like to “crunch” it takes a three-hour aging from the moment the cake is assembled. Classic “Napoleon” should have at least 8-10 layers of thinly rolled minced or layered dough.
In the preparation of any dessert an important point - the selection of products, the quality of which must be given special attention. Remember:
• Oil, accidentally absorbed foreign odors, after heat treatment will give them to the entire product. Do not use stale oil, even for making dough. • All products for the preparation of puff pastry must be cooled. If the temperature is too low (less than 14 ° C), the cakes are torn during rolling, and the melted butter will make the dough hard, “rubber”.
• The cake is based on dough, which requires compliance with the temperature regime for its preparation, therefore, the temperature in the room, when working with chilled products, should not exceed 18 ° C.
• The complexity of making the “Napoleon” cake lies in rolling the cake, but it is important to treat this stage responsibly, having gathered all patience. The layering of the cake layers determines the taste of the dessert, its delicate texture.
Separately it is worthwhile to dwell on the choice of fat for the dough and cream: butter, spread, margarine, or vegetable oil. At the time when the first “Napoleon” cake was made, there were only two types of fat out of four options that are used now: vegetable and butter. If we talk about the authenticity of the recipe "Napoleon", then, definitely need to make a choice in favor of butter. If you listen to the opinion of doctors and nutritionists, then margarine and spread are unhealthy, to put it mildly, products whose use should be reduced to a minimum, due to the content of harmful cholesterol in these products.
The cream is mainly used custard, but there are often varieties of cake with butter, cheese and butter cream. In addition, it adds various nuts or berries, sprinkled with powdered sugar and chocolate.
Such a variety of ingredients can not be found in the production recipes of "Napoleon", because the first rule that guides the confectionery enterprises that produce cakes is low cost and maximum profit. For the same reason, the cake "Napoleon", bought in the confectionery department of the supermarket, does not deliver the expected pleasure. Margarine or spread, even with sugar and vanilla, will not replace the real creamy taste. It follows a simple conclusion: you can not argue with the classics.
Classic “Napoleon” - step by step cake recipe
Ingredients:
Flour 760 g
Butter 650g
Vinegar (9%) 15 ml
Salt 10 g
Sour cream (25%) 200 g
Milk 0.5 L
Vanillin 10g
Sugar 250 g
Yolks 4 pcs.
Dietary eggs 2 pcs.
Walnut Kernels 200 g
Cooking:
1. Separate from the specified amount of oil 250 g, and cool this part, and the rest of the oil, for the cream, leave at room temperature.
2. On the desktop, sift the flour, separate the two tablespoons of custard, combine the rest of the flour with the cooled oil and chop with a knife until a homogeneous butter-flour crumb.
3. Collect the mixture, divided into 2 parts. One half put in the refrigerator, and the second shift in a bowl, make a well, pour the sour cream, add vinegar and salt.
4. Knead the dough to a plastic state, but hurry: the oil should not melt.
5. Divide the dough into 16 pieces, roll the blanks into balls, put them in a plastic bag and put them in a refrigerator for a couple of hours.
6. While the dough cools, you can start making custard. In a saucepan of 2.5 - 3.0 liters, pour out the milk, separating a small portion of the liquid (100-150 ml).
7. Put the saucepan on the stove and bring the milk to a boil, Connect 150 ml of cold milk with flour, whisk the mixture, rub through a sieve to avoid the formation of lumps. Pour the mixture into the boiled milk, intensively stirring the whole mass with a whisk until it thickens completely. Temporarily remove the pan from the stove.
8. Spread the yolks and whole eggs with sugar, adding vanilla powder. Combine the resulting mass with brewed milk jelly, mix the cream again.
9. Warm the creamy mass in a water bath before boiling. Stir the contents of the pan constantly, whisk.
10. As soon as the first bubbles appear on the surface of the brewing mass, remove the cream from the stove and allow it to cool to room temperature. 11. Put the softened butter remaining on the table into the bowl of the combine, beat it until white, gradually pouring in the custard mixture. The readiness of the cream is indicated by the appearance of stable peaks on its surface.
12. Remove the cooled dough and oily flour from the refrigerator. Sprinkle the surface of the table with flour, and begin to roll each ball individually. The shape of the future cakes, choose arbitrarily. The classic cake "Napoleon" is formed in the form of a rectangle or square.
13. Each portion of the dough should be rolled out as thin as possible, until transparent. Then the layer is powdered with a fat crumb, rolled up with an envelope, again rolled to the former size. Keep the dough cool and keep the fat from melting. Blanks can be taken out of the refrigerator as needed, keeping part of them in the cold while working with the rest of the layers.
14. Bread rolls on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour at 200 ° C. The oven should definitely be heated to the required temperature in advance. Dough blanks, put on a baking sheet, pierce with a fork or make cuts with a knife so that the layers are not deformed during baking. Cake baked no more than five minutes. During this time, it becomes slightly browned and brittle.
To prevent the cakes from breaking when assembling the cake, put them in a pile on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven by turning on the combi steamer and steam the semi-finished products with steam for 10-15 minutes. Then put it in a plastic bag and move it in the cold. In 7-8 hours they will become softer and more plastic.
15. Put the cakes one by one on a dish, greasing each of them with the prepared cream and pouring with nut crumb. Align the surface, decorate with cream and nuts. Sprinkle the sides of the cake with the crumb left after leveling the cakes.
16. Soak the finished cake in the fridge so that the cream soaks. After 10-12 hours, “Napoleon” will be soft, and it can be easily cut into triangles. For a change, you can try other options of the cream in combination with the cakes for “Napoleon”, for example, lighter and less high-calorie cream based on cream and “Mascarpone” with fruits or berries.
Ingredients for cream number 2:
Mascarpone 750g
Cream (not less than 33%) 250 ml
Sugar 200 g
Bilberry 100 g
Strawberry 300 g
Mint 20 g
Cooking:
1. Pour cold cream into a deep bowl, and beat a few minutes with a mixer, gradually increasing the speed.
2. Add “Mascarpone”, and continue to beat at maximum power until the mass becomes dense and begins to hold the shape. It is very important to monitor the consistency of the cream, and not to interrupt it, but insufficient beating adversely affects its consistency. Put in the fridge for half an hour.
3. Wash berries and mint. Put on a paper towel and let dry. Slice up half the strawberries.
4. Collect the cake, coating each cake with cream and spreading the strawberries. Spread whole berries on top of the edges, and sprinkle blueberries on the rest of the surface. Put mint leaves in the middle and in several places along the edges. Leave the cake in the fridge for 5-8 hours to soak.
Step-by-step recipe for cake "Napoleon" with liqueur
Ingredients:
Eggs 3 pcs.
Butter 700 g
Sour cream (20%) 300 g
Wheat flour 1 kg
Milk, condensed 400 g
Liqueur 3 tbsp. l
Cooking:
1. Prepare a crumb of 300 g of butter and the same amount of flour by chopping the cooled butter with a knife. Spread pieces of butter on top of the flour and cook crumb.
2. Beat 2 eggs with sour cream and combine with the rest of the flour. Knead the dough until it stops sticking to the hands. Cut it into 6 identical pieces.
3. Triturate the table with flour and roll alternately equal layers of cakes, sprinkling them with an oil-flour mixture. Put them one on one and roll them up. Put the finished dough into the bag and place in the refrigerator for 7-8 hours. 4. Cut the roll into 19 pieces. Their thickness should be approximately 1.5 cm. Leave one part on the working surface, and place the rest in the refrigerator, and take out one by one.
5. Roll out the dough on the outside into a thin cake on a table sprinkled with flour. Cut the irregularities with a plate and set aside the remains. Preheat oven to 200 ° C. Put the parchment paper on a baking sheet and transfer the cake to it. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Do the same for the rest of the cake layers.
6. Bake a small dough cake. Let it cool and chop.
7. Beat the remaining butter with a mixer and begin gradually mixing the condensed milk. Add liqueur.
8. Spread cakes one by one, promazyvaya cream. Spread the prepared crumb over the surface and sides of the cake. Put in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours to soak the cakes.
Step-by-step recipe for cake “Napoleon”: useful tips on cooking
To prevent the dough from compressing too much during baking, lightly moisten the edges and center of the pan with water.
When assembling the cakes, it is better to lay them upside down, turning the smooth side up - the cake will be more even.
For the cake, you can use any cream or make a snack, putting unsweetened filling between the cake layers.
Cakes can be baked in the pan if you can not use the oven. But for this, choose a frying pan with a thick bottom, and heat it well. Ideal for this method of baking frying pan with a double bottom.
