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One of my readers, Natalia wrote in with this old family recipe for Napoleon cake (Mille-feuille). I doubled this recipe to make a large Napoleon cake for our Mother’s Day church potluck and there was not a slice left! Thank you Natalia for sharing this family recipe!
I don’t claim to be a professional cake decorator, so I’m sure you can make it much prettier than mine, but non-the-less, it was смачненьке (delicious)!! This cake is best served the following day after the cake layers have had a chance to soften from the cream.
Ingredients for Napoleon Cake:
1 lb package of Puff Pastry (Pepperidge Farm brand), thawed according to package instructions.
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar (or 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 white sugar)
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla powder, optional
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
You will need:
1 large sheet of parchment paper.
How to Make Napoleon Cake Cream:
1. Whisk 2 eggs and 1 cup light brown sugar in a medium sauce pan – do not beat, just mix.
2. Whisk in milk and flour and put the pot on medium-low heat
3. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally – (stir more often towards the end so it doesn’t get lumpy) until it becomes thick, like pudding (approx 15-17 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Prep the puff pastry in the mean time.
5. Once the mixture has cooled a little, add softened butter to the cream and beat the mixture on medium/high speed for a few minutes. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla powder. The cream is ready.
How to Make Napoleon Cake Layers:
Preheat the oven to 400 ˚ F.
1. Roll 1 of the puff pastry sheets onto a large sheet of parchment paper until the dough is double in size and nearly see-through. Thinner is better!
2. Cut the rolled out sheet into 4 equal squares (about 6″x6″ each).
3. Poke Holes all over the top of the pastry or it will puff up. Make sure to really poke all the way through the dough.
4. Place the parchment paper with dough onto a large cookie sheet. Bake at 400˚ F for 12-13 minutes or until tops are golden. These are easy to burn so keep an eye on them! Set pastry aside, and place the same parchment paper on a cool surface. Re-use the paper to roll out and bake the next sheet of pastry. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the second sheet of pastry dough.
5. Once the frosting is finished, assemble the cake by placing 2 sheets of pastry side by side and spreading a generous amount of cream over the top. Repeat with all of the pastry. Before glazing the top, gently press down on the cake to make it more compact.
6. To make the topping, Trim the edges of the cake to make it more uniform. Crumble the cut-off sections and sprinkle over the top. (If cut-off pieces do not crumble easily, you may need to bake them until they are browned). Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts evenly over the top.
Notes: My photos are for a double size of this cake. This recipe is for a smaller rectangular cake. You can make a larger cake by exactly doubling the ingredients.
Cover and refrigerate the napoleon cake overnight then let it stand at room temperature about 2 hours to soften prior to serving. This cake is best served the following the next day after the cake layers have had a chance to soften from the cream overnight.
Napoleon Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb package of Puff Pastry, Pepperidge Farm brand, thawed according to package instructions.
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup light brown sugar, or 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 white sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter,, or 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder, optional
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Whisk eggs and sugar in a medium sauce pan - do not beat, just mix.
- Whisk in milk and flour and put the pot on medium-low heat.
- Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally - (stir more often towards the end so it doesn't get lumpy) until it becomes thick, like pudding (approx 15-17 minutes).
- Remove from heat and let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Prep the puff pastry in the mean time.
- Once the mixture has cooled a little, add softened butter to the cream and beat the mixture on medium/high speed for a few minutes. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla powder. The cream is ready.
How to Make Napoleon Cake Layers:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Roll 1 of the puff pastry sheets onto a large sheet of parchment paper until the dough is double in size and nearly see-through. Thinner is better!
- Cut the rolled out sheet into 4 equal squares (about 6"x6" each).
- Poke Holes all over the top of the pastry or it will puff up. Make sure to really poke all the way through the dough.
- Place the parchment paper with dough onto a large cookie sheet. Bake at 400°F for 12-13 minutes or until tops are golden. These are easy to burn so keep an eye on them! Set pastry aside, and place the same parchment paper on a cool surface. Re-use the paper to roll out and bake the next sheet of pastry.
- Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the second sheet of pastry dough.
- Once the frosting is finished, assemble the cake by placing 2 sheets of pastry side by side and spreading a generous amount of cream over the top.
- Repeat with all of the pastry. Before glazing the top, gently press down on the cake to make it more compact.
- To make the topping, Trim the edges of the cake to make it more uniform. Crumble the cut-off sections and sprinkle over the top. (If cut-off pieces do not crumble easily, you may need to bake them until they are browned). Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts evenly over the top.
Notes
Hi Natasha. I’m making this cake right now and I quadrupled the recipe and it’s not getting thicker. What should I do?
Do you mean the cream isn’t solidifying? It’s not really supposed to solidify. If you look at the picture where the cream is on the puff pastry, it’s still kind of thin. Does it look that way or is it watery? Did you quadruple the recipe exactly?
Hi . I really like your website and all cool recipe . I have little problem with cutting this cake. For some reason it will start to break. Do you know any way to make little practical so will cut easy ? Let me know thnk u so much .
It’s much easier to cut if you wait until the next day when the layers have had a chance to soften up. There will always be a little bit of “break” to it. Also, a serrated knife makes it easier.
I plan to make this for Thanksgivings. Do I assemble this Wednesday night or Thursday morning? I would like to have some crunch to it. Maybe I should put the top layer before serving?
I would make the whole cake the day or night before your dinner. This will give it time to soften. I hope you LOVE it! 🙂
Can I make this cake a day before? Will it be soggy?
btw thanks for the great recipe!
This cake should be made the day before for best results. 🙂
You are wonderful, very high-quality photos, why do not you put them on their own votemark?
Thank you! What’s a votemark?
Natasha, спасибо за интересный рецепт и подробные инструкции! Мне очень понравилась идея испечь коржи для Наполеона из готового слоеного теста! И я уже приготовила свой Наполеон)))
Thank you Elena, I’m glad you like the cake :).
Hi Natasha!
I have tried so many of your recipes and loved them all. I am so happy to have found this website! Wanted to try out new recipes but didn’t trust most of them…. But your recipes have been coming out great! I cook and bake a lot so it was great to be able to make something different or differently….
I just wanted to mention that I make a similar cake that my family and friends go bonkers over…
We buy our pastry sheets at ‘Cash and carry,’ not sure if you have a store like that, but price-wise it comes out cheaper. Because you kinda buy a lot. 🙂 I always put my dough in the freezer and then have it available at all times 🙂
The cream is also done a little differently. I put 6 yolks (usually make meringue with the whites :-)), 1 cup of sugar, 750 ml of milk, and 1 cup of flour…. You cook this over medium heat until its as thick as sour cream. You let it cool completely (very important rule) after it has cooled completely you add another cup of sugar and a pound of butter (it is a lot of butter) but the cake is heavenly!!! 🙂 I also forgot to mention that you add a teaspoon of vanilla to the cooking part of the cream 🙂
Oh that does sound heavenly. How many puff pastry sheets or pounds of puff pastry do you use? Do you cook it the same as in this recipe?
I first had this cake in Italy and i could not for the love of God find out what it was called! And i now i know! Thank you!
Anytime 😉
Wow girl, You explain everything soooo well! Thanks for your work.
You’re welcome Alison, I try as best as I can 🙂
Hi darling! Beautiful cake you made there =] hehe. Im going
try to to make it today, I was wondering where did you buy
vanilla powder? I found vanilla sugar! Is that ok if I substitute
the vanilla powder with the vanilla sugar? It shouldn’t make a huge
difference should it? Or should I buy vanilla powder instead
somewhere? Does it make a huge difference in the cake?
Thanks,
Galya
You can use liquid vanilla instead. I think the vanilla sugar will have a different effect. 🙂
Thank You
Do i put the cake in the fridge after its done? Or leave it a side for protitanie?
In winter you can leave it overnight in a cool garage. In summer if you are planning to eat it the next day, refrigerate overnight. For same day cake enjoyment, you can cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter.
I have wax paper. But it started burning last time for some reason.
I guess you could just put it on a non-stick baking dish but you have to have multiple ones to roll them out on. Make sure the baking dish is not warm when you roll the dough onto it.
Could I use foil instead of parchment paper? I don’t have time to run to store and I decided to make this today.
I’m not sure how that would change things. I haven’t tried with foil but it would probably work. Do you have wax paper?
Thankyou so much for this recipe, I love the flavour of the cream this cake had and reminded me of my childhood. But there is one question, is there by any way to make the cream a little moist? Like I mean can the cream kind of soak into the dough to make it moist?
I’m planning to experiment with new creams in the future. Nothing currently.
I was only really able to indulge in this cake when I went to my gf’s grandparents house. We broke up and I have been craving this cake ever since. Thanks for the recipe!
Happy to help. I guess 🙂
Nice site, I like that you dream big 🙂 Awesome of your hubby to do the photography. I wanted to say that the puff pastry can easily be made by hand if someone can’t find it in stores, in fact I just made Napoleon completely from scratch for my hubby’s birthday yesterday and it was perfect if I say so myself 🙂
Is there a certain store to buy the puff pastry, or is it sold in any supermarket storte? & thanks for this post, your site is AWESOME!
You can find it at most grocery stores: winco, walmart, fred meyer, I think Albertsons also. Thank you Irina 🙂
Delish!
Natasha, this recipe looks delicious! Reminds me of the Napoleon my grandmother used to make. I saw another recipe for this cake that used 2 different fillings, one with egg yolks, milk and butter and the second had condensed milk and egg yolks and butter. Have you every heard of that? Is it also traditional? Thanks for your help!
I could see how the condensed milk would work since the mixture almost turns into the texture of a cooked condensed milk. I don’t know about whether or not it is traditional – sorry.