Harlequin Cake Recipe – Romanian Layered Cake

Romanian Harlequin cake – tiny layered cake squares with tangy jam, a perfect recipe for the Holiday season.

The cake Harlequin – Prajitura Arlechin – is a very old Romanian recipe, which you will probably find in every Romanian grandmother’s recipe notebook.

It is the first cake I ever remember eating, actually the only cake I have ever eaten as a small child. I love the fact that although the cake is sweet, that sweetness is somewhat attenuated by the tanginess of the jam. Just make sure to use a tangy jam.

Tips for making Harlequin?

This cake is not particularly difficult to make, but unlike other easier cakes, it does require a bit of time and dedication on your side. You do have to roll the four layers of dough, but after that everything couldn’t be easier.

The best tip: Use a digital kitchen scale to measure the ingredients, especially the flour and the butter.

Make in advance:

• The Romanian layered cake has to be made 2-3 days in advance, better 3 than 2. You will wrap it well in cling film and let it rest in a cool place before unwrapping and cutting.
• The layers of dough will be very dry at first, but after being covered with jam and spending a few days nicely wrapped in foil, they will become deliciously soft and tender. So this is really not a step you can skip.

Dough:

• When rolling the layers of dough, make sure to work on a floured surface or, even better, roll the dough directly on baking paper. And don’t forget to flour the rolling pin as well a few times in between.
• When rolling the first layer you will probably curse me and think I am crazy for posting such a recipe. Rolling the second layer will be much easier and you will probably begin to smile a bit and think I am not that crazy after all. The third one will really put a big grin on your face and by the time you roll the last layer of dough, you will pat yourself on the back and call yourself an expert. 🙂
• It works better if you have a small rolling pin, which you can hold in one hand, while you hold the baking paper with the other hand. If you only have a regular-sized rolling pin, maybe someone can hold the baking paper for you or you can fix it down with some tape.
• Try to push the edges of the dough with a butter knife or your fingers in order to make them a bit neater and to prevent them from being thinner than the rest of the rectangle, so that they will not get excessively dry when baking.
• However, the edges do not have to be perfect, you can cut them straight and nicely after the cake has rested for the necessary two or three days.

Jam layers:

• I always make the Harlequin cake with plum and apricot jam, two layers of plum and one layer of apricot (or the other way around). These sorts of jams are very aromatic and tangy.
• An even tangier jam to use would be redcurrant jam, but that is something I have never seen in a Harlequin cake in Romania, so I prefer to use the traditional sorts of jam.
• However, you can use whatever jam you like, just make sure is a tangy sort.

Glaze:

• I make the glaze with raw egg yolks.
• To be perfectly safe, make sure you use pasteurized eggs.

Topping:

• I am not sure if the name of the cake Harlequin refers to the cake’s colorful jam layers or to the colorful sprinkle topping.
• Many people top it with chopped nuts or chocolate sprinkles, so the name might not have much to do with the colorful sprinkles.
• However, I have ever only eaten Harlequin topped with colorful sprinkles and that is the way I make it myself all the time, I have never tried it with nuts or chocolate. But, so you know, you have a choice, if you are not into the sprinkles.

Other delicious Romanian layered cakes:

Caramelized Walnuts Buttercream Cake

Lemon Cake – Lamaita or Alba ca Zapada

Greta Garbo Cake 

Egyptian Hazelnut Cake (actually very Romanian recipe)

Layered Chocolate Vanilla Cake – Televizor

Chocolate Poppy Seed Cake – Tosca

Romanian Regina Maria