Russian Napoleon Cake
This scrumptiously delicious Russian Napoleon Cake or Honey Cake is made up of very delicate and rich puff pastry sheets with a thick, rich and creamy custard filling. The best thing about this cake is the fact that you can make it 24 hours beforehand and store it overnight in the fridge for an even tastier bite! Who wouldn’t want to make their life that much easier and sweeter?
Eye-catching Russian Napoleon Cake Topped with Strawberry
To let you in on a little secret, by moistening each layer with milk, heavy cream or a mixture of instant coffee and water, this can give your cake the moisture it needs with alternating layers giving you a taste of flavor in every single bite! So why not give it a try now?
Now for the fun part! You can decorate your Russian Napoleon Cake in any way you desire. Now, I personally love the look of fresh berries as a topping with a patterned chocolate glaze giving your cake a new extravagant look! How to make the chocolate glaze or chocolate ganache you may ask? It’s simple!
First, mix 1/3 cup of heavy cream with a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
Next, microwave up to 20 seconds in 3-4 second intervals.
After, keep stirring until you chocolate is completely melted.
Finally, using a pastry bag or strong zip-lock bag get creative with designing the chocolate ganache over the cake.
Facts you didn’t know about Russian Napoleon Cake…
Making a Russian Napoleon Cake helps improve patience! It’s not just about baking a cake and moving on, each dessert made needs love and attention to get the masterpiece we all like and want! Pre-prep your ingredients is an essential part in creating this type of cake as well as having all primary elements all set. Then, it becomes a matter of just putting things together.
Also, this cake looks absolutely amazing that you can even cut down costs of some ingredients, it will still look… absolutely amazing!
Moreover, the pastry was actually first created by an Italian chef in Naples who named the cake ‘Napoletano‘ after his city which was later changed to Napoleon in English. It has since been adapted so many times and has now become a completely different version of the French custard cake – it is now fully nationalized by the Russians, as the name clearly states!
*Top Tip*
You can choose to roll out your puff pastry super thin to create many layers allowing it to soften and become more moist and tender.
How many types of Napoleon Cakes are there?
Very simply, there are 2 types of Napoleon Cakes, French and Russian.
Very like the Russian Napoleon Cake, the French Napoleon Cake has a stuffing and consists of crispy puff pastry layers with a rich custard cream filling. The top is then garnished specifically with glossy royal icing elaborately and creatively designed using chocolate or coloured icing. It differs to the Russian in such a way that it consists of three layers of puff pastry with two middle layers of pastry cream.
The Russian Napoleon Cake is layered with a yummy paste type instead of cream.
Ingredients for your Russian Napoleon Cake with Puff Pastry:
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp. corn starch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 stick of butter
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese
- 6 puff pastry sheets
Russian Napoleon Cake Step-by-Step
- In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch together in a big bowl.
- Add hot milk to the egg mixture slowly and keep stirring until everything is combined.
- Transfer the entire mixture to a pot and keep stirring on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
- Allow the custard to cool down for 5 minutes and then add butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Add Mascarpone cheese to the custard and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer until well combined.
- Roll sheets of puff pastry with a rolling pin to the desired shape and generously prick the puff pastry with a fork.
- Bake the sheets of puff pastry on 400 degrees F (200 degree C) for 20- 25 minutes or until golden Brown. Remember to put aside one puff pastry sheet to crumble later.
- Divide the custard into 5 portions enough for each layer of puff pastry and begin layering your Russian Napoleon Cake.
- Coat the top and sides with the crumbled puff pastry sheet put aside.
- Decorate as you wish!
- Refrigerate for 3-5 hours or preferably, overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do you eat the Russian Napoleon Cake?
Easy! Cut a piece and make sure you eat every last bite… a cup of milk wouldn’t go a miss too! The cakes tastes a lot better being left overnight in the fridge to taste the delicious thick custard filling with a combination of cool crunchy pastry layers.
What is the best pastry to use for the Russian Napoleon Cake?
There are 7 different types of pastries, shortcrust pastry, filo pastry, choux pastry, flaky pastry, rough puff pastry, suet crust pastry and puff pastry. I’m sure you guessed it! The best pastry to use for the Russian Napoleon Cake is the puff pastry.
How long does pastry keep in the fridge?
The puff pastry dough will keep in the fridge for up to two days and any leftover puff pastry can be well wrapped and frozen for up to a year.
Other Dessert Recipes You Will Like:
- No-Bake Nescafe Cake
- Apple bundt cake with cake mix
- Red velvet cookies using cake mix
- Chocolate bundt cake with cake mix and pudding
- No Bake Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake
- The Best Carrot Cake from Scratch
- Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe from Scratch
- Easy and Fancy Pistachio Icebox Cake
- Banana Bread Recipe with Walnuts and Chocolate Chips
- Philadelphia Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake
We would love to hear how your Russian Napoleon Cake turned out! Let us know in the comments below and share your experiences with us on Instagram.
Don’t forget to rate the recipe too!
Russian Napoleon Cake
Ingredients
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 sticks butter
- 16 oz mascarpone cheese
- 6 sheets puff pastry
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch together in a big bowl.
- Add hot milk to the egg mixture slowly and keep stirring until everything is combined.
- Transfer the entire mixture to the pot, and keep stirring on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
- Allow the custard cool down for 5 minutes and then add butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Add Mascarpone cheese to the custard and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer until well combined.
- Roll sheets of puff pastry with a rolling pin to the desired shape and generously prick the puff pastry with a fork.
- Bake the sheets of puff pastry on 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes or until golden Brown. Remember to put aside one puff pastry sheet to crumble later.
- Divide the custard into 5 portions enough for each layer of puff pastry and begin layering your Russian Napoleon Cake.
- Coat the top and sides with crumbled puff pastry sheet put aside.
- Decorate as you wish!
- Refrigerate for 3-5 hours or preferably, overnight.
