Baking Dessert Romania Austria Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)

Cremșnit (Custard Slice)

Name: Cremșnit (Custard Slice)
Yield: about 15 squares, 25 × 35 cm (10 × 14 inch)
Cuisine: Romania, Austria
Ingredients: 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry; 1 l whole milk; 6 egg yolks; 200 g granulated sugar; 80 g cornstarch, or 100 g flour; 1 tsp vanilla extract, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod; 200 g unsalted butter, at room temperature; powdered sugar, for dusting

Also called cremeschnitte, cremsnit, krémes, vanilla custard slice

A thick layer of vanilla custard between two sheets of crisp puff pastry, under a heavy dusting of powdered sugar.

Makes: about 15 squares, 25 × 35 cm (10 × 14 inch)

Make ahead

Ingredients

Scale

Pan sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.

Pastry

2 sheetsall-butter puff pastry

Vanilla custard

1 l4¼ cupswhole milk
6egg yolks
200 g1 cupgranulated sugar
80 g¾ cupcornstarch, or 100 g flour
1 tspvanilla extract, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod
200 g¾ cup + 2 tbspunsalted butter, at room temperature

Topping

powdered sugar, for dusting

Method

Pastry. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Roll each sheet of puff pastry (2 sheets) to fit a 25 × 35 cm (10 × 14 inch) pan and prick it all over with a fork. Bake each 15 to 18 minutes, until deep golden and crisp. Cool and trim to the size of the pan.
Custard. Bring the whole milk (1 l4¼ cups) to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks (6), granulated sugar (200 g1 cup) and cornstarch (80 g¾ cup) until smooth, whisk in some of the hot milk, then pour it all back into the pot. Cook over medium-low, whisking constantly, until very thick; it should mound on a spoon. Add the vanilla extract (1 tsp). Press plastic wrap onto the surface and cool completely.
Beat the unsalted butter (200 g¾ cup + 2 tbsp) until creamy, then fold in the cooled custard in stages until silky.
Assemble. Lay one pastry sheet in the pan, spread all the custard over it and set the second sheet on top, pressing gently. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Dust thickly with powdered sugar and cut with a serrated knife.

Notes

Thick custard. The custard layer should be 1¼ to 1½ inches (3 to 4 cm) deep, as thick as both pastry sheets together or more.
Lighter version. Some recipes fold whipped cream into the custard. The older style is pure custard, dense and wobbly. For a lighter, more modern take, see Fluffy Vanilla Slice.