Napoleonka facts for kids
Two typical kremówkas
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| Alternative names | Kremówka (slang) |
|---|---|
| Type | Cream pie |
| Place of origin | Poland |
| Main ingredients | Puff pastry filled with cream |
Napoleonka (called krémeš in Slovakia) is a popular Polish dessert. It's a type of cream pie that many people enjoy. In some parts of Poland, it's known as kremówka (which means "cream cake"). In other places, it's called napoleonka.
This delicious cake is made with two layers of light, flaky puff pastry. Between these layers, you'll find a yummy filling. This filling can be:
- Light whipped cream
- Rich, creamy buttercream
- Smooth vanilla pastry cream
- Sometimes, a fluffy egg white cream
After it's put together, the top of the cake is usually dusted with powdered sugar. Sometimes, it's decorated with more cream or covered with a layer of sweet icing.
Napoleonka is a version of a famous French dessert called mille-feuille. The mille-feuille also has layers of puff pastry and cream, and it's sometimes called the Napoleon cake too.
The Pope's Favorite Cream Pie
A special story made the kremówka even more famous in Poland. On June 16, 1999, Pope John Paul II shared a memory about this cake. He said that after he finished his high school exams (called matura), he and his friends went to eat kremówkas in his hometown of Wadowice.
They even made a bet to see who could eat the most! The future Pope ate eighteen kremówkas, but he didn't win the bet. He remembered it fondly, saying:
And there was a cake shop. After the matura we went for kremówkas. That we survived that all, those kremówkas after the matura....
—Pope John Paul II
This story was shared widely by the news. Because of this, the "papal" kremówkas from Wadowice became very popular all over Poland.
Who Made the Pope's Kremówkas?
The bakery where Pope John Paul II ate his kremówkas was owned by a baker named Karol Hagenhuber. He was Jewish and came to Poland from Vienna. His shop was right in the main town square of Wadowice.
Some people wondered if the original kremówkas the Pope ate had alcohol in them. However, Hagenhuber's son said that his father's cakes were regular, non-alcoholic kremówkas. He said they were made with natural ingredients and a traditional recipe. This story helped the cake become even more famous, even internationally, and it was sometimes called the "papal" kremówka.
In 2007, to celebrate Pope John Paul II's 87th birthday, a huge kremówka was baked in the city of Rzeszów. The kremówkas that Pope John Paul II remembered were filled with a creamy vanilla milk pudding, also known as custard.
See also
In Spanish: Napoleonka para niños
