Karpatka- Poland #84

Karpatka- Poland #84

A Polish light and airy cream puff cake, filled with a vanilla pastry cream, and topped with powdered sugar resembling a ragged mountain top.

Choux Pastry:

1 c. water
10 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. all-purpose flour
5 eggs

Pastry Cream:

2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 T, all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted softened butter

Garnish:

Confectioners' sugar

1. Heat oven 375F.  Lightly coat a 13"x9" pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper overhanging sides to be able to lift our of pan later.
2. Choux Pastry: In a medium saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil.  When butter is completely melted, remove from heat and , using a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once. Return to stove and stir over low heat for approximately 3 minutes or until dough comes off sides of the pan cleanly and forms a ball.
3. Remove from heat and stir in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, either by hand or with an electric mixer.  The batter will be smooth and shiny and stick to the spoon.
4. Pour dough into prepared pan.  Spread it into the pan but DO NOT smooth it out.  You want it to look all craggy.  Bake 30 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and poke with a skewer all over the top and bake another 10 minutes or until top is golden brown and looks dry.
6. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
7. Pastry cream:  In a medium saucepan, bring milk, sugar, cornstarch and flour to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat and continue to stir and cook until thick like pudding, about 2-3 minutes.  Stir in vanilla.
8. Pour filling mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl, pressing gently with a rubber spatula to remove any chunks for a silky filling.  Place bowl in an ice water bath to cool to room temperature., stirring occasionally.  Make sure the filling is completely cooled before beating in the softened butter.
9. Assemble:  Split the cooled dough in half horizontally with a sharp, serrated knife.  I found this part a bit tricky because of the uneven top.  Be patient.  Place the bottom half back in the clean baking pan and the filling evenly.  Top with the other half of dough and refrigerate until cold.  
10. Dust heavily with powdered sugar.

Results: This is not a difficult cake to make.  I was surprised by how high the pastry dough rose. It looks a bit odd when layered. Once you sprinkle the powdered sugar on top it does look like a mountain with snow. The pastry cream filling is very, very buttery. In fact, you might want to use it for lipgloss. LOL

Bottom Line: I made this for a pool party. Checkout crowd at the pool. Note the mountain in the background. I would definitely make this again, perhaps with a little less butter in the filling.

Please share this blog with all those folks you need to butter up or who like to have pool parties by the mountain side.