Napoleon Torte

Directions

• Beat eggs with a fork. Add lemon juice and salt and whisk well. Add water and whisk until well combined. Refrigerate until needed.
• Grate butter directly into flour. Toss it to ensure butter is well coated with flour. Make a little well in the middle and pour in the prepared liquid. Mix the flour and butter mixture into the liquid with a fork. Then using your hands, quickly form everything into dough. Don’t overmix it, work with it gently. Combine it by folding the dough over and over again like a letter (to create those delicate layers) rather than just kneading it. I like to fold it like a letter at least 4 times (roll it out into a rectangle, fold, repeat.) Form into a block, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours before rolling it out and baking it; but I like refrigerating it overnight.
• Alternatively, instead of forming a block – you can divide the dough into 12 portions and roll them into balls. Then refrigerate for at least two hours. You will be rolling each of these balls into about 8-9 inch circles.
• Divide the pastry into 3 portions (2 equal and 1 smaller portion.) Divide two equal portions into two. You will now need to roll out 4 layers about 3mm thick. For me, it worked out to 10 1/2 x 14 inches layers (yours might be slightly smaller or bigger.)
• Start by rolling two layers, dab them with a wet towel gently and prick all over with a fork. Place onto half sheets and bake two sheets at a time for about 20-22 minutes. Halfway through the baking, rotate the baking sheets (the top one can now go to the bottom rack and the bottom can go to the top rack) to ensure even baking. When you can lift the pastry with a fork and it doesn’t bend, as well as when the pastry is flakey and a nice golden brown in colour – you know it’s done.
• If you rolled your dough into 12 balls, each one will bake less, maybe about 10 minutes. Be sure to cut out the exact cake circle using 8 or 9 inch cake pan as your guide. Be sure to bake the pieces you cut off as well, those will be used for cake garnish.
• While the layers are baking, roll out the other two layers. Repeat step 4.
• Roll out the last layer (the uneven one) to any size you like, keeping it at about 3mm thick. Repeat step 4, but bake it for about 30 minutes – this will be used for crumbs to garnish the cake – we want it firmer and more golden, that’s why we’ll bake it longer. Allow all lawyers to cool completely.
• To make the buttercream:
• Split vanilla bean in half, if using, scoop out seeds with a butter knife and add to milk. Warm the milk in a sauce pan until steaming and small bubbles are just starting to form. It shouldn’t boil.
• In a bowl, whisk together sugar, flour and salt. Then add the egg yolks and eggs and whisk them into thick pale paste, for about 4-5 minutes. Make sure the ingredients are well combined.
• Carefully ladle hot milk a bit a time into the egg mixture whisking constantly. It’s important to add the milk slowly while whisking non-stop, otherwise your eggs will scramble; gradual heat tempering is key. Switch back between adding some more milk and whisking the custard.
• Pour everything back into the saucepan you used to heat the milk in and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, being careful to scrape the bottom and the corners of the pan; this should take about 3-5 minutes. When large bubbles start to appear and the custard has thickened into thick pudding-like consistency, reduce the heat to low simmer for 30 seconds or so, then remove the pan from heat.
• Strain the pastry cream into a bowl with a fine mesh sieve. Add butter and vanilla and stir aggressively until melted and combined. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Then cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap directly against its surface, this is to prevent a skin from forming on top. Cool at room temperature until cool, just over an hour.
• Beat softened butter (it has to be really soft, nearly consistency of sour cream) in a stand mixer, start adding the custard 1 TBSP at a time while beating on medium high, ensuring it’s fully incorporated before adding the next tablespoon. When all the custard is added, beat on high for a minute or two. You now made your buttercream!
• To Assemble:
• Break up the uneven cake layer we baked in step 6. Add powdered sugar to it. You now made sweetened crumbs that you will use to garnish the cake.
• Place the first layer on a large cutting board and add about 1/5 of the buttercream, spreading it evenly. Repeat with the remaining 3 layers. The remaining buttercream can be used to garnish the sides and perhaps pipe some decorations on the cake. Sprinkle sweetened crumbs we made in Step 1 of Assembly over the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 12 hours or ideally overnight, for it to be soft and moist, to ensure the cake layers absorb the buttercream. I like letting this cake come to room temperature for an hour before serving but serving straight from the fridge also works well. Enjoy!