This Easy Polish Cream Puff Cake Recipe (Karpatka) Is Babcia Approved by Donna John

My grandma was from Poland, so Polish recipes are always intriguing to me and ones I want to try. While Grandma didn't make many traditional Polish recipes, I still find myself wanting to learn more about Polish cuisine and honor her memory. This Polish cream puff cake recipe (karpatka) was one I could not pass up. Vanilla custard encased in a golden pastry crust? Yes, please.

The crust is basically a pâte à choux dough, which is used for cream puffs, eclairs and profiteroles. The custard is reminiscent of a thick vanilla egg custard. Delicious. While I was intimidated at first, this karpatka recipe is really easy to make.

To make this cake recipe you will need simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. Here is what you need to gather to make this Polish custard cake: butter, all-purpose flour, eggs, baking powder, milk, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, corn flour and powdered sugar for dusting the finished cake. The pastry cooks up quickly on the stovetop, then is baked until golden. While the crust bakes, prepare the custard. The two combine to create the sweet, creamy cake and it is refrigerated until cold. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

I have no doubt that any babcia (aka grandma) would give a nod of approval for this karpatka recipe. Why not introduce your family to this European recipe and serve it for dessert with a cup of hot coffee, tea or iced-cold milk? 

Cuisine: Polish
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 20

Ingredients

Pastry 

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Custard

• 3 cups milk (divided)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons corn flour
• 4 eggs
• powdered sugar, for garnishing

Recipe Notes

• If you don't have a hand-held electric mixer, simply transfer the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Don't cover the cake with plastic wrap when refrigerating, or moisture could collect and make the top crust soggy.

Here's how to make it: 

1. To make the pastry, put the water and butter into a saucepot and bring to a boil. Quicky add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough, about 30 seconds. Remove the dough from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time, beating with an electric mixer until all the eggs are incorporated. Add the baking powder and beat until all ingredients are combined. 
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough between the two baking sheets pressing to form same-size rectangles. Bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool. 
3. To make the custard, put 2 cups of the milk, sugar and butter into a saucepot. Bring to a boil. While it comes to a boil, whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl with the vanilla extract. Add the flour, a little at a time, until combined. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of milk. When the milk-sugar mixture comes to a boil, pour carefully in the egg mixture and cook, whisking, for about 2 minutes or until it thickens and comes back to a boil. Remove from the heat.
4. Carefully pour the custard onto one of the baked pastry sheets, leaving about a 1/2-inch border. Top with the other baked pastry sheet, gently pressing to adhere it to the custard. 
5. Refrigerate the cake until custard is cold. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. 

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. Any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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