Karpatka

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time38 mins

Cool Time3 hrs

Total Time3 hrs 53 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Multicultural

Keyword: butter, custard, eggs, karpatka, milk, mountain, sugar, vanilla

Calories: 490kcal

Put 1 C. of whole milk into a small bowl. Add egg yolks, cornstarch, 5 Tbs. of flour. Mix well with a whisk.
Heat 3 C. of whole milk in a medium or large sauce pot on medium heat. Mix occasionally to prevent scalding or burning.
When small steam bubbles form on the edge of the milk, add 1 C. of sugar and occasionally mix until small steam bubbles return on the edges of the milk, just before it starts to boil.
While beating the milk quickly, slowly add the egg mixture. Beat thoroughly.
While whisking constantly, wait for the mixture to thicken. This should take about 2 minutes.
Remove the custard from the heat and add the vanilla, mixing slowly.
Transfer the custard to a mixing bowl. Cover the custard with plastic wrap, pressing the it onto the surface of the custard.
Put the custard into the refrigerator until completely cool - seriously, not warm at all. This will take 2-3 hours. Butter will be added to this custard during the assembly phase.

Prepare two 13” x 9” baking pans by lining them with parchment paper, including up the sides.
Preheat the oven to 395 degrees F. (~200 degrees C).
In a small bowl, mix 1 C. of flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium sauce pot, place water and 125g of butter. Cook on medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture boils.
Add the flour mixture to the butter, and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough will form into a smooth ball, but keep cooking and mixing this ball for about a minute.
Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl (or stand mixer), and begin beating it with an electric mixer for about a minute to cool it down.
While beating on high, add the eggs ONE AT A TIME, beating for about 30 seconds between eggs. The dough will look like wet crumbles at first, but around egg 4 or 5 it will quickly turn into a thick smooth dough.
Divide the dough between the two baking pans.
Carefully spread the dough out along the bottom of the baking pans - this will feel like working with glue or putty. Be patient, the layer will be very thin on the bottom of the pans. It’s best to use a metallic object to spread the dough, like the back of a spoon.
Place both pans in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Turn out the cakes from the pans, remove the parchment paper, and place them on wire racks to cool. The cakes will look like a mountain range, hence the name “Karpatka”, which is inspired by the Polish name for the Carpathian Mountain range.

Once the custard and cakes have cooled completely, you can begin the assembly process.
Place 1 C. of room temperature butter into a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high for about 6 minutes, scraping down the sides a few times.
In small additions, a third of a cup at a time, incorporate the custard into the butter. Let the mixer beat for at least 15-20 seconds between additions, and scrape down the sides.
Once all of the custard is incorporated into the butter, place one of the cake layers into the bottom of a 13” x 9” baking pan.
Cover the cake layer with all of the custard, pressing it into the crevices.
Place the second cake layer on top of the custard, mountain side up. Press the cake into the custard so it pushes into the crevices.
Cover the whole pan with foil, and return to the refrigerator for a few hours to set.
When serving, dust the cake with a light layer of powdered sugar to resemble the snowy peaks of a mountain range!

Source: Ania’s Kitchen. “Carpathian Mountain Cream Cake - Karpatka”, YouTube <https://youtu.be/705uh1OnSTY> (Modified)