How long does it take to make Napoleon Cake?

Bake the puff pastry at 200°C (390°F) for about 10 minutes, until crisp and golden brown, and chill the assembled cake for at least 2 hours, until set.

10 hr 38 minTotal

8 hr 20 minActive time

2 hr 18 minSetting

Step by Step

#	What to do	How long
1	Thaw the puff pastry in the fridge overnight	8 hr
2	Heat the milk to just below a boil	5 min
3	In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and starch	1 min
4	Pour the hot milk in a thin stream into the mixture, whisking constantly	1 min
5	Return to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly	2 min
6	Add the vanilla and stir	1 min
7	Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream and let cool	1 min
8	Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) and line a sheet pan with parchment paper	12 min
9	Cut the pastry into three equal layers and place them on the baking sheet	3 min
10	Bake 10–15 minutes	12 min
11	Let the pastry layers cool	—
12	Whip' the cream' to stiff peaks.' Fold it into the cold cream with gentle strokes.'	—
13	Assemble: a layer of pastry, a layer of cream, a layer of pastry, a layer of cream and a layer of pastry on top	—
14	Sprinkle the powdered sugar on top and chill 2 hours before cutting	2 hr

How to Tell It's Done

until pliable but still cold
until the cream thickens and bubbles in the center, then cook 1–2 more minutes
until the layers are browned and crisp

Tips

Work with store-bought dough while it's cold: warm puff pastry gets sticky and won't puff in the oven, and phyllo sheets dry out fast, so keep the waiting sheets covered with a damp towel.
Stir nonstop until it bubbles: only then does the starch thicken fully, and the cream won't turn runny later.
Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
Whip cream very cold, in a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, and stop when it holds firm: overwhipping turns it grainy and buttery.
Assemble only with completely cold cream and cooled layers: warm cream softens the puff pastry, and it loses its crispness.
Chilling sets the cream: a cake that has chilled long enough cuts with a serrated knife without the cream squeezing out the sides.

Common Mistakes

The hot liquid goes into the eggs slowly while whisking, and only about a third of it in the first batch: that way they warm gradually and don't turn into scrambled eggs.
Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.

More Ways

500 g puff pastry, baked and cut into three layers, with vanilla cream with whipped cream folded in between the layers.
The filling is usually pastry cream, or diplomat cream: pastry cream with whipped cream.

The full recipe: Napoleon Cake →