Napoleon Cake

Ingredients:

• For pastry:
• ==========
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream (regular or light)
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• all-purpose flour enough to make soft dough
• For cream:
• ==========
• 1 1/2 quarts of whole milk
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 very full tbsp flour
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 lemon (zest only)
• vanilla essence or vanilla powder to taste
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
  

• Directions:

  • Pastry:
  • -------
  • Mix eggs, soft butter and sour cream together till they blend well.
  • Add salt.
  • In a table spoon, dissolve baking soda in vinegar - you will see "bubbles". When bubbling stops, add soda+vinegar to your mixture. Stir well.
  • Start adding flour, cup-by-cup, make soft smooth dough. Don't knead it too much, just enough to make it smooth and "un-sticky".
  • Split dough into 16 pieces, form little balls.
  • Cover the dough with plastic, and put in the fridge to chill.
  • While it's chilling, prepare cream.
  • • Custard Cream:
    • --------------
    • Pour 1 1/2 quarts of milk into thick bottom pot and bring it to boil. Don't use aluminum pots - it will burn !
    • While the milk is warming up, prepare the cream mix:
    • Separate egg yolks and stir them very well with sugar and a pinch of salt - until mix turns very light yellow.
    • Add flour, mix well.
    • Add 1 cup cold milk, mix very well. Avoid lumps.
    • When your milk starts to boil, reduce the heat immediately to low.
    • Pour the cream mixture into boiling milk very slowly, using a whisk to stir the cream.
    • Bring the mixture to boil again, constantly stirring it. When it starts boiling, you will see it become thicker. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes, don't forget to stir at all times.
    • Remove from the stove, add lemon zest, vanilla, nutmeg
    • When you are able to touch the pot, add butter and mix it in as it melts. Set aside.
    • Now back to pastry:
    • • Preheat oven to 420 degrees F.
      • a. Get 1 piece of dough from the fridge, roll it into a very thin crust on well floured surface - as thin as you can, forming a round or a square crust.
      • b. Roll the crust onto rolling pin, and unroll it onto UNGREASED baking sheet.
      • c .Pierce crust with the fork all over.
      • d. Bake in the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly golden. Don't over bake. It is better when it is not dark.
      • • e. Remove the crust from the oven and put aside.
        • Repeat steps a-e for all the rest of the dough.
        • Never leave the kitchen while the crust is in the oven - check it all the time - it bakes very quickly.
        • Bake the last crust a little longer than others, letting it turn brown.
        • Put one crust on the cake dish.
        • Pour a ladle full of cream onto it.
        • Use skimmer to spread the cream evenly on the crust. Repeat for all crusts, except for the brown one.
        • Crush the brown crust on the board, using the rolling pin - just roll it over the crust several times - it will make great fine crumbs.
        • Pour the crumbs over the top layer of the cake.
        • Let the cake soak for 2-3 hours. Cut out the uneven edges, forming your favorite cake shape - square or round, or oval. 
        • via grouprecipes.com