Kremówka

Kremówka is a Polish pastry made by sandwiching a thick layer of cream between thin sheets of laminated puff pastry, dusting it with powdered sugar and cutting it into squares. The composition of the cream varies: for example, it may be custard, a cream combined with butter, or a two-tier filling that also layers whipped cream. The pastry is also called napoleonka, but how the two names correspond to the types of cream varies by region and shop.

For example, the cultural institution Culture.pl explains that the name kremówka is used in Małopolska in southern Poland, while in Wrocław kremówka and napoleonka are sold as separate products. In the product guide of Trojanka, a pastry shop in the Masovian Voivodeship, the kremówka has two tiers of custard-like cream and whipped cream, while the napoleonka has a single layer of custard-like cream. Both are dusted with powdered sugar on top. Even where the two names appear side by side in Wrocław, the fillings are not necessarily the same as Trojanka’s; the way the two names are distinguished differs by region and shop.

Sandwiching cream between flat-baked pastry

A flour dough and butter are rolled out and folded, with chilling in between, to create thin layers. When the pastry is baked as a large sheet, it is pricked with a fork or pressed down with a baking tray on top so that it does not rise too high. Thin, light pastry, baked well to drive off moisture, is placed below and above the cream. Since uneven pastry is hard to stack, it is important to bake it evenly until crisp and toasty.

The custard is made by heating milk, egg yolks, sugar, starch and other ingredients while stirring until thickened, then flavored with vanilla. Covering the surface while it cools helps prevent a dry skin from forming. When whipped cream is also added, a dense, yellowish custard layer sits next to an airy white layer of whipped cream. Cutting the top pastry into individual portions in advance means the pastry can later be divided without pressing down hard.

Melting butter into hot cream, or combining it after whipping

How the butter is added also changes the texture. In the recipe by the cook Dorota, butter is melted into a hot cream cooked with milk, egg yolks, potato starch and wheat flour. Gelatin is used in the whipped cream on top, but a note adds that it can be left out if thick British double cream is used.

By contrast, in the recipe that the pastry chef Michał Doroszkiewicz publishes on Debic, custard that has been cooked and cooled is combined with butter beaten to incorporate air. Both methods add milk fat, but melting the butter with heat or adding the custard to whipped butter changes how much air the cream holds and how it feels in the mouth. In both cases, the cream is chilled after combining until it is firm enough to cut.

The Napoleon and Naples theories behind the name napoleonka

The great dictionary of the Polish Academy of Sciences explains that the name napoleonka comes from Emperor Napoleon I. The National Centre for Culture, on the other hand, also raises the possibility that the French napolitain, “of Naples,” changed into “of Napoleon.” Both are theories explaining the origin of the pastry’s name.

The masculine form napoleonek, which the Centre cites from the “Warsaw Dictionary,” is a pastry with cream or confiture sandwiched between three sheets of dough. The name has not referred only to the pastry with two sheets of dough that it describes today. It is also said that in prewar Warsaw, a pastry shop of the same name facing the former Napoleon Square popularized this pastry.

The kremówka the pope remembered eating after his final school exams

On June 16, 1999, in his hometown of Wadowice, John Paul II traced his memories of the town as he responded to the crowd. The record of his remarks published by the Vatican preserves a scene in which his recollections move on to a bookshop and to the home of his friend Jurek Kluger, and in which he says that there was a pastry shop and that he went to eat kremówka after his final school exams.

Through this recollection of his youth with old friends, the town’s kremówka became known as a pastry associated with the pope.

The former shop named in the town’s tourist materials was opened by Karol Hagenhuber in 1936 and closed in 1945. The memory of that old shop lives on in today’s town, where current pastry shops feature the slice associated with the pope.

From the pope’s recollection to a town specialty

After the pope’s recollection, more customers bought kremówka at the town’s pastry shops, and some began calling it the “papal kremówka.” A local newspaper reported this change at the shop counters on June 18, 1999. The pastry he once ate after his final school exams became a Wadowice specialty that pilgrims also choose.

Some current producers in Wadowice have made it their signature product since 1999. Its history as a town specialty tied to memories of the pope should be considered separately from the pastry and cream recipes (ingredient proportions and methods) that today’s makers choose.

Glossary