Napoleonka (; colloquially ''kremówka'' (), is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

type of

cream pie A cream pie, crème pie, or creme pie is a type of pie filled with a rich custard or pudding that is made from milk, cream, sugar, wheat flour, and Egg (food), eggs and typically topped with whipped cream. Cream pies are usually what is used for ...

. It is made of two layers of

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

, filled with

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

, ''

crème pâtissière Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from ...

'' (according to Polish gastronomy textbooks made from whole eggs; some versions consist of melted butter) or just thick milk kissel enriched with melted butter,For the purposes of this article, it is assumed that any boiled cream made of milk kissel enriched with egg yolks (or whole eggs) qualifies as ''crème pâtissière''. or sometimes filled with

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...

cream. It is usually sprinkled with

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar and icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent—such as corn starch, potato ...

but it also can be decorated with cream or covered with a layer of icing. In some places in Poland the cake is known as (roughly translated as "cream cake"), in others, it is called . This Polish "war" between names and has been subject to a satirical drawing by the Polish illustrator

Andrzej Mleczko Andrzej Mleczko (born 5 January 1949) is a Polish illustrator, mostly known for his satirical activities. He is also connected with painting, book illustrations, adverts, scenography and posters. He has worked with Polish and foreign magazin ...

. The cake itself is a variation of ''

mille-feuille A (; ),The name is also written as and . also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influ ...

'' – a French dessert made of three layers of puff pastry filled with cream or jam – also known as the Napoleon. Sometimes kremówkas containing alcohol are sold. These became popular particularly in the aftermath of a false story that Pope John Paul II was fond of that variant. In fact, the Pope was fond of the traditional kremówka.

Papal cream pie

On 16 June 1999 Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

mentioned that after he had completed his

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

exam, he had kremówkas with his colleagues in his home town of

Wadowice Wadowice () is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the bir ...

. They wagered who could eat more. The future Pope ate eighteen kremówkas but did not win the bet. This was publicized by media, and "papal" kremówkas from Wadowice became popular in Poland.
The confectionery shop where the Pope ate kremówkas was owned by Jewish cake maker Karol Hagenhuber, who came to Poland from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. It was located in Wadowice Town Square. Some speculated that the original papal kremówkas contained alcohol, but this was denied by Hagenhuber's son. According to him his father's cakes were regular, non-alcoholic kremówkas, although made with all natural ingredients, using a traditional recipe. Either way this led to renewed, and even international fame for the cake, rebranded as "papal". In 2007, to celebrate Pope John Paul's II 87th birthday, a giant kremówka was baked in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

. Kremówkas remembered by Pope John Paul II were filled with cream made of whipped butter mixed with ''crème pâtissière'' made of whole eggs. This is the typical fillng for '' karpatka''.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremowka Custard desserts Polish desserts Puff pastry

Papal cream pie

See also

Notes

References