Above is a photo of the Carpathian Mountains and Krakow, Poland. Rob's great grandfather was born in Krakow; he died in the Gurs internment camp in France during the Holocaust. The Carpathian Mountains can be found in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. This mountain range covers more than 932 miles. The Tatra range between Slovakia and Poland is a national park. Maybe some of you have traveled to this area. If you have, please comment at the bottom of this blog entry to share your insights. Rob chose a recipe that connects to his Polish ancestry, which you can find below. (Photo credit from above: World Walks)
Polish Carpathian Mountain Cream Cake (Karpatka)
from: Nel’s World
“This Polish Carpathian Mountain cream cake recipe is known as karpatka. It's a peasant version of the more refined kremówka, which is made with puff pastry.
Karpatka is made with the same type of dough used to make cream puffs and éclairs, known as pâte à choux in French. When dusted with confectioners' sugar, the dessert takes on the look of the craggy, snow-capped Carpathian Mountains, hence its name.” from The Spruce Eats
Ingredients:
Dough
1 cup milk
1 cup water
5 oz butter
pinch of salt
2 cups flour
5 eggs
Cream
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
2 cups milk
8 oz butter - room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
optional: berries for decoration
Directions
preheat oven to 350
Lightly coat 2 9-inch springform pans with cooking spray and then line them with parchment paper.
Dough
In a medium saucepan, bring milk, water, 5 oz butter, and salt to a boil. When butter has completely melted, remove from heat and, using a wooden spoon, add 2 cups flour all at once. Return to stove and stir over low heat for 2 or 3 minutes or until dough cleans sides of pan and forms a ball.
Remove from heat and stir in eggs one at a time, beating well, either by hand or with an electric mixer, after each addition. The batter should be smooth and glossy and cling to the spoon.
Pour dough into prepared pans, but don't smooth it out. You want the finished tops to look like a rugged mountain. Bake 40 minutes.
Remove from oven, cool 10 min, then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack
Filling
In a medium saucepan, mix 2 egg yolks and 1 cup sugar, add 2 tbs flour
Heat 2 cups of milk and slowly add to egg mixture
Put egg mixture on low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens
Pour into bowl and cool to room temperature
In a separate bowl cream 8 oz butter until pale and white
slowly add cooled egg mixture to butter and mix together - add vanilla
and refrigerate until set
Assembly
Add first layer to 9" mold - line with parchment paper or acetate sheet
spread filling on top and add second layer of cake
cover and refrigerate for 4 hours
once chilled remove cake from mold
optional: add berries to top of cake
sprinkle top of cake with powdered sugar
Wouldn't you consider hiking a mountain for this scrumptious dessert? It would be worth it. Thank you for spending time with us and our blog. Linda
Looks absolutely delicious !!
ReplyDeleteThank you !
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