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Papal Cream Cake Recipe

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4.7 from 123 reviews

Papal Cream Cake is a luscious layered pastry combining flaky puff pastry with a rich, creamy custard filling, topped with powdered sugar for a delicate finish. This classic dessert features homemade laminated puff pastry enveloping a smooth vanilla custard, perfect for special occasions or an indulgent treat.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Puff Pastry:

  • 1⅓ cup (300g) butter
  • 2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 medium egg
  • ½ tablespoon vinegar (5%)
  • ⅓ cup warm water

For the Custard:

  • 4½ cups (1L) whole milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup potato starch
  • Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

  1. Prepare Butter Mixture: Combine 300g butter with 100g flour and knead until smooth. Form this mixture into a 2 cm thick square between plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill.
  2. Make Dough: Mix the remaining 200g flour with the egg, vinegar, and warm water until a soft, pierogi-like dough forms. Roll the dough into a circle.
  3. Enclose Butter: Place the chilled butter mixture in the center of the dough circle. Fold the dough edges over to completely enclose the butter like an envelope and seal the edges tightly.
  4. Laminate Dough: Roll the dough into a long rectangle and fold it into thirds as for a letter. Lightly roll again, then wrap and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Repeat this rolling, folding, and chilling process three more times, rotating the dough 90° each time to create multiple layers.
  5. Bake Pastry: Divide the laminated dough into two halves. Roll each half into a large rectangle and bake separately in a preheated oven at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the baked pastry sheets to cool. Cut one sheet into squares to use as the cake’s top layer.
  6. Make Custard: In a saucepan, bring 750 ml of the milk with the butter, white sugar, and vanilla sugar to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 250 ml milk, egg yolks, whole eggs, flour, and potato starch to form a smooth mixture. Slowly pour this into the boiling milk mixture, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Continue cooking and stirring until the custard thickens.
  7. Assemble: On a serving platter, place the full sheet of baked pastry as the base. Pour the warm custard evenly over the bottom pastry layer. Top with the pre-cut pastry squares to form the upper layer of the cake. Chill the assembled cake in the refrigerator for several hours to set.
  8. Finish: Just before serving, dust the top of the cake generously with powdered sugar. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut clean slices for serving.

Notes

  • Ensure the butter and dough are well chilled during lamination to achieve flaky puff pastry layers.
  • The lamination process creates multiple thin layers for a crisp and tender texture.
  • Use a sharp serrated knife for clean cake slices to avoid breaking the delicate pastry layers.
  • Allow ample chilling time for the custard to set properly inside the pastry layers.
  • Vanilla sugar adds extra depth of flavor but can be substituted with vanilla extract if unavailable.

Keywords: Papal Cream Cake, puff pastry, custard dessert, layered cake, laminated dough, vanilla custard, European dessert

Find it online: https://cookedbycleo.com/papal-cream-cake-recipe/