No-Bake Napolean Cake 簡易拿破崙蛋糕 is a perfect dessert for a non-baker like me! It’s easy to make and very delicious. It’s a very popular cake in Chinese bakeries. Chinese bakeries kind of combine the Italian Napolean cake and the French mille-feuille but still call it a Napolean cake. And I adapted this Chinese-style and combined it with a dash of parfait and a pinch of trifle to get a Napoleanesque parfait/trifle cake! I also added lots of nuts and some instant coffee. The result was an airy, flavourful, and delicate dessert than didn’t take much effort to make. My family loved it!
The first Napolean cake in China was introduced in Shanghai by Russian immigrants in the 1930’s. Then in the 1940’s and 50’s, Shanghai merchants migrated to Hong Kong and brought the recipe with them. And to this day, the Napolean cake is still one of the most beloved cakes at bakeries, cafés, restaurants and buffets.
Apparently, the Napolean cake really has nothing to do with Napolean. It was actually named for its Naples inspired style, and called the Napolitano. At some point, the English, for unknown reasons, started to refer to the Napolitano as Napolean.
In my No-Bake Napolean Cake 簡易拿破崙蛋糕 recipe, as the name suggests, we will not be baking the puff pastry. Instead, we will use store-bought palmiers also known as palm leaf or butterfly cookies. For the cream, we combine a custard with whipped cream making it light and full of flavour. It’s then all layered together with some nuts and crushed palmiers.
Don’t have much time to assemble a cake? No problem! Simply layer the ingredients in a glass or bowl, chill and serve. This is actually one of my favorite ways to make a simple, yet impressive dessert for guests. Everyone gets there own glass which means no messy slicing and clean-up. Try this easy cake next time you have a dinner party or a celebration.
Looking for more desserts? Another classic favourite is the Fried Sugar Egg Puffs 炸莎翁
No-Bake Napolean Cake 簡易拿破崙蛋糕
Ingredients
- 500 ml Whipping cream (aka heavy cream or cream that has minimum 30% fat)
- 6 tbsp Confectioner’s sugar aka icing or powdered sugar
- 250 ml Milk
- 2 Egg yolks
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 packet Instant coffee , approx. 3g
Starbucks Via packets work really well - 800 g Palmiers (Butterfly or palm leaf puff pastry cookies)
- 500 ml Pecans or any kind of nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Put a large mixing bowl, a small mixing bowl and beaters (from your electric mixer) in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes
- Take the large mixing bowl, add 500ml of whipping cream and 6 tbsp confectioner’s sugar and whip on high speed for 2-3 minutes using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator
- In a bowl (not the small one in the fridge), combine 2 egg yolks, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1/8 tsp salt and 1 packet instant coffee. Whisk well until smooth
- In a pot, add 500ml milk and bring to approx. 90˚C or 194˚F (just before boiling point). Use a ladle to add one ladle full of milk into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well and add another ladle of milk and mix well again
We add the milk gradually so that we don’t cook the egg yolks and create lumps in the custard - Pour the rest of the milk into the egg yolk mixture and mix well
- Pour the whole mixture back in the pot and cook at low heat. Whisk constantly for around 3 minutes depending on the size of your pot.
- When the custard starts to thicken, turn heat down to simmer and keep whisking. It should soon thicken to the consistency of smooth peanut butter. Remove from heat and retrieve the small bowl from the refrigerator
- Pour the custard into the cold bowl and continue whisking until the custard cools down
This will help you achieve smooth custard. But even if your custard is lumpy (as you can see in my photo), it’s not a big deal. Chances are no one will notice. (Using the chilled bowl method, I did manage to make very smooth custard, but I was so happy that I forgot to take a picture!) - Cover your custard, let it cool completely
- Once the custard has cooled completely, fold it into the whipped cream in 1/3 increments until the cream and custard have fully mixed. Cover and refrigerate for an hour
- Optional step: toast pecans in a pan until lightly golden or aromatic. Let cool.
- Take 300 g of the palmiers, put into a zipper bag and pound with a rolling pin or rubber mallet to make loose flakes for coating the top and side of the cake
- Cut 1-2 strips of parchment paper to line the sides of the springform pan. The parchment paper should be taller than the side of the pan
- Take 2/3 of the whipped cream/custard mixture and leave the other 1/3 in the fridge the 1/3 is saved for covering the sides of the cake
- Spread approx. 4 tbsp of the cream on the bottom
- Layer one layer of palmiers. Press lightly. Break some of them apart so that you can fill the gaps with the smaller pieces
- Use half of the cream to make a layer on top of the first layer of palmiers and sprinkle all the pecans evenly onto the cream
- Put another layer of palmiers and press lightly so that the pecans are submersed into the cream
- Spread the remaining cream on top of the last palmier layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Overnight would be best
The palmiers should soften from the moisture in the cream, making it easy to cut. However, if you would like it crisp and crunchy, you may want to freeze it for 20-30 minutes before cutting - Remove the cake from the fridge. Remove the springform pan and the parchment paper lining the sides
- Cut 4 strips of parchment paper and lay under the cake on 4 sides
- With the remaining cream, cover the sides of the cake
- Sprinkle the sides and the top of the cake with the broken pieces of palmiers
- Decorate your cake with fresh berries or fruit and/or dust with confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder
- Remove the bottom pieces of parchment paper
- Serve
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