KARPATKA

This Karpatka recipe is an amazing Polish Carpathian mountain cream cake that consists of two layers of choux pastry and delicious pastry cream in between. Dusted with powdered sugar, the choux pastry that puffs up unevenly in the oven represents the Carpathian mountains. It’s so delicious and decadent, with just the perfect sweetness.

INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTES

Flour – I use all-purpose flour but you can use pastry flour if you like to make this cream puff cake.

Cornstarch – Cornstarch has no aftertaste and it doesn’t affect the texture or the color of the cream. However, some people prefer to use a blend of flour and starch, while others replace it with potato starch.

Eggs – We need three whole eggs at room temperature to make choux pastry for Polish Carpathian cake and 4 egg yolks to make the cream. If you don’t know where to use egg whites, check my Meringue cookiesrecipe.

Milk and water – For the choux pastry, we need whole milk and water. However, you can use only water if you like. As for the pastry cream, we need whole milk which you can’t replace with anything else.

Vanilla extract and salt – I add these to the pastry and cream to make the flavors more interesting.

Butter – We need unsalted butter for the dough as well as for the cream. Although the temperature of the butter for the dough doesn’t really matter because you’re going to melt it together with the milk and water, the cream calls for room temperature butter.

Sugar – I use granulated sugar for the dough and cream and powdered sugar to decorate the cake.

COOKING TIPS

Use a digital kitchen scale for the best results. Measuring the ingredients in cups is not the best way to approach baking projects.

Preparation is key! You think that this recipe is complicated because it has a lot of steps. I assure you, the cooking itself takes a maximum of one hour if you’ve prepared all your ingredients in advance.

Cool down your pastry cream in a large, shallow dish. The larger the surface, the faster your cream comes to room temperature.

Put your pastry cream in a fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to speed up the cooling process, but don’t overdo it. If the cream becomes too cold, you need to let it sit at room temperature to warm it up.

Use an instant-read thermometer to check your pastry cream and butter temperature. They should be approximately the same temperature to combine well into mousseline cream. If your pastry cream is too warm, it will melt the butter and your cream will turn out runny instead of fluffy and stable. If your pastry cream is too cold, it will make your butter hard right away when it touches it, meaning the butter will appear grainy. So either use a thermometer or make sure that your pastry cream sits at room temperature for a good amount of time.

Make your pastry cream ahead of time. If you’re worried that your mousseline cream won’t turn out right, cook the pastry cream in the evening and let it sit at room temperature overnight. Next morning you can continue baking and assembling our delicious Karpatka cake.

Whisk vigorously. When making pastry cream, the mixture can look lumpy as it thickens up. If that’s happened, don’t panic and whisk vigorously. Use your muscles! The lumps will dissolve if you continue whisking. For that reason, I highly recommend using a metal whisk, as a rubber whisk can be too soft to break the lumps.

No mixer – no problem. If you don’t have a stand mixer or a hand mixer, you still can make Karpatka cake. Use a wooden spoon to mix the eggs into the dough. Yes, it will take more time, but mixing with a machine or with a wooden spoon won’t make any difference in the texture of your choux pastry!

STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS

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