Hungarian Krémes

Makes: about 10–12 slices
Prep: 30 min
Bake: 20–25 min
Chill: 4+ hours

Ingredients

Pastry

• 2 sheets ready-made puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Custard

• 500 ml milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 40 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 250 ml heavy cream, cold
• 30 g powdered sugar

Method

1. Bake the pastry: Heat oven to 200°C. Place each puff-pastry sheet on a baking tray, prick lightly with a fork, brush with egg, and bake for about 15–20 minutes, until golden and crisp. Cool completely.
2. Make the custard: Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, salt and about 100 ml of the milk until smooth.
3. Heat the remaining milk with vanilla until hot but not boiling. Slowly whisk it into the egg mixture.
4. Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until very thick—about 3–5 minutes.
5. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap, and cool until just warm.
6. Whip the cream: Beat the cold heavy cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold it into the cooled custard.
7. Assemble: Put one pastry sheet on the bottom of a lined dish. Spread the custard evenly over it, then place the second pastry sheet on top.
8. Chill: Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
9. Dust generously with powdered sugar and cut into neat squares with a sharp knife.

Tip: For easier cutting, you can cut the top pastry sheet into squares before placing it on the custard. This prevents the crispy top from crushing the cream underneath.