This Polish cream cake dessert was renamed papal cream cake or kremówka papieska (kreh-MOOV-kah pah-PYESS-kah), when it was learned Pope John Paul II loved it. Last December, I had the honor of meeting Karol Hagenhuber (now living in Indiana), who attended Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, Poland, with none other than Karol Wojtyla, who later became the cardinal of Krakow and then Pope John Paul II. Wadowice is in southern Poland, about 50 km from Krakow.
"My father had a bakery in Wadowice, and Karol would come in several times a week for kremówka," says Hagenhuber.
Here's a larger photo of kremówka papieska.
"My father had a bakery in Wadowice, and Karol would come in several times a week for kremówka," says Hagenhuber.
Here's a larger photo of kremówka papieska.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Refrigerate before serving: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 9 slices Kremówka Papieska
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets (1.1-pound package) frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
- 1 recipe Easy Pastry Cream
- Confectioners' sugar
Preparation:
- Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out each piece of puff pastry slightly to blend the seam lines. Without cutting all the way through, lightly score each pastry sheet into 9 sections. Sandwich each puff pastry sheet between two pieces of parchment paper and two cooling racks. This will keep the pastry flat but still flaky. Bake 15 minutes, remove top rack and top sheet of parchment paper. Replace rack and continue to bake until golden and crispy throughout, about 15 more minutes. Cool completely.
- If you like a thick layer of filling, make a double batch of Easy Pastry Cream.
- Using a 13x9-inch pan as a mold, place one layer of cooked puff pastry in the bottom of the pan. Pour hot pastry cream over it, and place second layer of cooked puff pastry on top. Refrigerate until set. When ready to serve, using the prescored marks as guides, cut into 9 pieces. Dust each piece with confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.
