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cremeschnitte piece sprinkled with icing sugar on a plate.
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4.55 from 61 votes

Cremeschnitte Recipe

The best cremeschnitte - two layers of puff pastry filled with heavenly creamy vanilla custard, this is a classic Romanian pastry recipe.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Romanian Cakes and Desserts
Cuisine: Romanian
Servings: 15 pieces
Calories: 230kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs separated
  • pinch of salt
  • 300 g granulated sugar 10.5 oz/ 1 ½ cups
  • 100 g cornstarch 3.5 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon
  • 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract to taste
  • zest of ½ organic lemon optional
  • 1 liter full-fat milk 34 fl.oz/ 4 ¼ cups
  • 200 g unsalted butter 7 oz/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon
  • 2 sheets of puff pastry about 40x24 cm/ 16x10 inches (See note)

Instructions

Vanilla custard:

  • Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.
    5 eggs + pinch of salt + 300 g granulated sugar/ 1½ cups
  • Add the egg yolks one at a time, incorporating each yolk carefully and slowly. Next, add the corn starch, vanilla extract, and finely grated lemon zest and combine it with the help of a plastic spatula.
    100 g cornstarch/ ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon +1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract + zest of ½ organic lemon
  • Heat the milk: In the meantime, heat the milk well. Do that in a jug; it will be easier to pour the milk over the egg mixture. Or transfer the milk to a jug after heating it.
    1 liter full-fat milk/ 4¼ cups
  • Mix: Very slowly, pour the milk over the egg mixture. Keep the jug in the left hand if you are right-handed and the electric mixer in the right hand. Pour in a thin stream while mixing.
  • Transfer the egg-milk mixture back to the jug/pan where you heated the milk, if large enough. If not use a large pot.
  • Cook custard: Place on low heat and bring to a simmer while whisking continuously. It will be like making a pudding; this is also the consistency you will have to reach. So keep whisking (I do that with a regular whisk this time) until you get a thick pudding; it will not take long, about 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the pot. Make sure to regularly reach the bottom and the walls of your pan with the whisk to avoid the custard catching at the bottom.
  • You will not be able to see the custard in the pot very well at this point as there will be a lot of foam on top. But you will be able to feel it when it thickens, stirring will become less easy. The foam will disappear once you start stirring in the butter.
  • Add butter: Take off the heat and add the cubed butter, 1 or 2 small pieces at a time, while whisking continuously to help them melt and incorporate in the custard.
    200 g unsalted butter/ 7 oz
  • Leave to cool for a while; the filling should be lukewarm when you spread it on the pastry.

Cremeschnitte:

  • In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius/ 430 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Cut pastry: It is preferable to cut one of the pastry sheets into squares (15) before baking, it will be much easier to cut the whole cake into pieces once it is baked.
    2 sheets of puff pastry
  • Bake the puff pastry sheets one after another according to the packet's instructions or until golden brown. It took me about 12 minutes but keep an eye on them and read the instructions. Leave to cool completely.
  • Fill: Place the uncut pastry sheet on a rectangular serving plate, press it down gently if too puffed up. Spread the vanilla custard evenly on top. Place the pastry squares on top and press gently.
  • Refrigerate for one or two hours and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
  • Cut: If you didn't cut the squares before baking, cut the pieces with an electric knife.
  • Serve: The cremsnit is best served on the day it is made, this way the pastry will still be crunchy. It is still delicious the next day, but the pastry will become rather soggy.

Notes

Puff pastry: I used already rolled puff pastry sheets about 40x24 cm/ 16x10 inches. They are to be found in the refrigerator section of the supermarket. If using frozen puff pastry, thaw it according to the package's instructions and roll it to the requested size.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 121mg | Sugar: 19g