The Curse of the Cremeschnitte #CakeSliceBakers
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| "If you have a problem or a disagreement, offer a kremsita and then everything is forgiven!" --a Croatian saying. Dipolmacy by dessert is a fantastic idea. |
I am enjoying baking through The European Cake Cookbook and trying cakes that I've never heard of before. Obscure desserts are fun, but it's even more fun when you find a cake that is actually quite popular, but outside of your realm of experience.
Enter the cremeschnitte.
Cremeschnitte cakes are popular across Central Europe, and go by different names: krempita, cremsnit, kremowka, kremes--all meaning something akin to "cream slice" in their respective languages. Cremeschnitte an Eastern cousin of the millefeuille or napoleon, and consists of layers of puff pastry, cream, and custard--though recipes vary regionally. It is wildly popular in Croatia, where it is eaten on a holiday called Remembrance Day. A hotel in Slovenia has reported served over 10 million of these cakes since it was introduced in the 1950s.
This version has a mascarpone white chocolate whipped cream, vanilla custard, and is topped with jam and raspberries. The raspberries gave it the extra zip that it needed.
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| Mmmm...layers...aaaggggh (how do you type a sound to indicate drooling a la Homer Simpson?)
In theory, this cake should have been fairly easy to make. Store bought puff pastry, custard and whipped cream are pretty straight forward.
However, I had a dickens of a time with this one. I felt like I had fallen under some kind of Central European curse, the way things kept going awry. This was almost 99% certainly an Amanda problem--I face issues like this often. In sewing, I have never, ever made anything that I haven't had to take apart and redo at least once. That's just how I roll.
I did feel like some details as written in the recipe might be a bit off, though. But that was only part of the saga.
Phase 1 of the Curse of the Cremeschnitte: Saturday Night--
I baked my puff pastry without incident. The custard also went to plan. I started on the mascarpone whipped cream, which the recipe directed to be whipped to stiff peaks before adding the mascarpone and melted white chocolate. The recipe said to whip 1-2 minutes after the addition. I placed the bowl in my stand mixer and walked away for about a minute. When I returned, I discovered a frightening mess of curds and whey that would have scared Miss Muffett. The cream had completely turned to butter and was sloshing around in watery glop. I vainly tried adding some more cold cream (which sometimes fixes overwhipped cream), but to no avail. It was 10 pm, and I didn't have any more mascarpone, so I turned in for the night.
After church, I stopped by the store and got some more mascarpone. I had *just* enough chocolate chips for the recipe, so I melted them and began stirring in the mascarpone. I tasted a little, and it was funky. I stirred a bit more and saw that my brand new mascarpone had mold in it.
Aww Cremeschnitte! @#$%
Phase 3: The Curse is Broken--
I went back to the store with my moldy mascarpone, and exchanged it for a new container, and bought another bag of white chocolate chips. This time, I baaarely whipped the cream, and added in the third, un-moldy mascarpone and melted white chocolate. Unfortunately, it hardened and made globs of chocolate in the cream.
I ran it through a sieve and got rid of the chunks. And it was fine after that. Hallelujah!
The recipe called for raspberry jam, but I realized I had accidentally ordered strawberry when I did my Walmart pick-up.
#firstworldproblems
It still worked though :)
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If you have time, I'd definitely recommend letting it chill. It was quite difficult to cut and eat because the puff pastry did not have time to soften--making the custard and cream squish out every time you tried to put a fork in it. It tasted great, though!
Try out this popular dessert from across the world. Just don't make it when the moon is full or after you've spilled the salt ;)
Custard Layer:
2 yolks
1/2 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 T water
1 1/2 c milk
1 T flour
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 c butter
4 teaspoons plain gelatin
3 T water
Pastry:
2 sheets thawed store-bought puff pastry (or homemade if you're feeling like a hero)
1 beaten egg
Cream Layer:
8 oz mascarpone (not moldy)
1 c melted white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c cold heavy cream
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 c raspberry jam
2 cups fresh raspberries
1. Make the custard by whisking the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl--about 2 minutes or until pale. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl, then add to the egg mixture. In another saucepan, combine the flour and the milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking until the milk is steamy.
2. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking furiously to make sure you don't scramble the eggs. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes, or until it's thick like a custard. Take it off the burner and add the butter and vanilla and cover with plastic wrap. Cool in the refrigerator (at least 30 minutes).
3. When the custard is cool, combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 second bursts, until the gelatin has all dissolved. Pour gelatin into the cool custard mix and whisk until combined well.
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line two big baking trays with parchment. Unroll the puff pastry sheets and lay them side by side. Use a rolling pin to squish them into one big sheet. Using a 9 inch cake pan, cut 4 circles of dough (I had to piece the dough together after cutting the first two in order to get all four). Poke the circles all over with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much. Brush each circle with the beaten egg. Bake the pans one at a time for 10-12 minutes or golden. They shrink to fit in an 8" spring form pan. Let them cool, then trim any wonky edges so that they fit in your spring form.
5. Make the cream by mixing the mascarpone until smooth. Add in the melted chocolate and whisk until combined. In a stand mixer bowl, whisk the cream and powdered sugar until it starts to thicken. Add the chocolate mixture to the half-whipped cream and whisk again until stiff peaks form.
Assembly:
6. Line an 8" spring form pan with plastic wrap. Put one trimmed circle of pastry in the bottom, and top with half of the mascarpone cream. Top with another round of pastry.
7. Put all of the custard in a layer over the second puff pastry round. Top with another round, and put the rest of the mascarpone. Place the final circle of puff pastry on the top.
8. Spread the jam over the top of the cake, and arrange fresh raspberries as desired. Allow to sit in refrigerator overnight, or at least 4 hours. Overnight is better, as the layers of puff pastry will soften and make cutting the cake an overall easier experience ;)
Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
Our choices for June 2019 were ~
Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake
Raspberry Cremeschnitte
Tiramisu Cake
HERE
Rave reviews from all my taste testers. Huzzah!
Try out this popular dessert from across the world. Just don't make it when the moon is full or after you've spilled the salt ;)
Raspberry Cremeschnitte
from The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk
Custard Layer:
2 yolks
1/2 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 T water
1 1/2 c milk
1 T flour
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 c butter
4 teaspoons plain gelatin
3 T water
Pastry:
2 sheets thawed store-bought puff pastry (or homemade if you're feeling like a hero)
1 beaten egg
Cream Layer:
8 oz mascarpone (not moldy)
1 c melted white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c cold heavy cream
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 c raspberry jam
2 cups fresh raspberries
1. Make the custard by whisking the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl--about 2 minutes or until pale. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl, then add to the egg mixture. In another saucepan, combine the flour and the milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking until the milk is steamy.
2. Slowly add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking furiously to make sure you don't scramble the eggs. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes, or until it's thick like a custard. Take it off the burner and add the butter and vanilla and cover with plastic wrap. Cool in the refrigerator (at least 30 minutes).
3. When the custard is cool, combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 second bursts, until the gelatin has all dissolved. Pour gelatin into the cool custard mix and whisk until combined well.
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line two big baking trays with parchment. Unroll the puff pastry sheets and lay them side by side. Use a rolling pin to squish them into one big sheet. Using a 9 inch cake pan, cut 4 circles of dough (I had to piece the dough together after cutting the first two in order to get all four). Poke the circles all over with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much. Brush each circle with the beaten egg. Bake the pans one at a time for 10-12 minutes or golden. They shrink to fit in an 8" spring form pan. Let them cool, then trim any wonky edges so that they fit in your spring form.
5. Make the cream by mixing the mascarpone until smooth. Add in the melted chocolate and whisk until combined. In a stand mixer bowl, whisk the cream and powdered sugar until it starts to thicken. Add the chocolate mixture to the half-whipped cream and whisk again until stiff peaks form.
Assembly:
6. Line an 8" spring form pan with plastic wrap. Put one trimmed circle of pastry in the bottom, and top with half of the mascarpone cream. Top with another round of pastry.
7. Put all of the custard in a layer over the second puff pastry round. Top with another round, and put the rest of the mascarpone. Place the final circle of puff pastry on the top.
8. Spread the jam over the top of the cake, and arrange fresh raspberries as desired. Allow to sit in refrigerator overnight, or at least 4 hours. Overnight is better, as the layers of puff pastry will soften and make cutting the cake an overall easier experience ;)
- Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake
- Raspberry Cremeschnitte
- White Chocolate Raspberry Pistachio Mousse Cake
- Tiramisu Cake
Raspberry Cremeschnitte
Tiramisu Cake
White Chocolate Raspberry Pistachio Mousse Cake
- Note - this cake was not chosen by any group members
That is a gorgeous cake! I would have never known about the curse. Way to overcome. Winning!
ReplyDeleteAfter all of that you ended up with an absolutely stunning and delicious looking cake.
ReplyDeleteLol, sounds like some of my attempts. This time part of my kitchenaid (the stopper for attachments) fell into the batter while it was mixing, and it took two attempts after the batter flew everywhere for me to realize what it was. Your cake looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat made me laugh so much... but fabulous results in the end!
ReplyDeleteHa ha! You are now a mascarpone queen! Gorgeous cake!
ReplyDelete