Kremna Rezina — the Bled cream cake

i. Origin & history

Cream slices are a family that runs right across central and south-eastern Europe — the Austrian Cremeschnitte, Polish kremówka, Hungarian krémes, Croatian and Serbian kremšnita — all descended, more or less directly, from the French mille-feuille by way of Vienna's pastry kitchens. Slovenia's kremna rezina is one member of that family, but one with an unusually specific biography.

The Bled version is credited to Ištvan Lukačević, a pastry chef who came to Bled from Serbia and, in 1953, began making a cream slice at the Hotel Park on the lakeshore, adapting a recipe he had brought with him. The cake became famous with visitors to the resort, and the hotel's patisserie still bakes it to what it describes as the original recipe, cut into neat squares. The hotel says it has sold more than fifteen million since the 1950s — a figure worth treating as a proud house estimate rather than an audited one, but one that conveys how central the cake is to a trip to Bled.

Today blejska kremna rezina is sold in cafés all around the lake and across Slovenia. Visitors eat it on terraces overlooking the island church, and Slovenes treat a slice as an obligatory part of any trip to Bled.

What distinguishes the Bled cake from most of its cousins is proportion: the custard layer is very tall — usually several times the height of the cream — and is lightened with beaten egg whites, so it is light and wobbly rather than dense. Polish kremówka has no separate cream layer; Austrian Cremeschnitte usually has a glazed top. The Bled slice is the tall, square, icing-sugar-dusted one.

ii. How the tall custard layer stays light and still holds its shape

The heart of the cake is a custard of milk, egg yolks, sugar and starch, cooked until thick and then folded with a meringue of beaten egg whites while still hot. The hot custard partly cooks and sets the whites, and the result is a cream that is almost mousse-like — pale, light and trembling — yet firm enough to stand five or six centimetres tall once chilled. Many home recipes add a little gelatine to make it more reliable.

Timing matters. The custard must be fully boiled for a minute or so, so that the starch thickens fully and any amylase enzymes in the yolks — which would otherwise digest the starch and thin the custard overnight — are destroyed. The meringue must be folded in while the custard is still hot, so the two combine smoothly and the meringue sets. Folded into cold custard, meringue stays in lumps and the layer weeps.

The pastry needs equal care. Puff pastry rises unevenly if left alone; for a cream slice it is pricked all over and baked under a weight — another tray or baking paper and a rack — so it stays flat, crisp and evenly thin. The bottom layer needs to be crisp enough to resist the moisture of the custard; the top is often cut into portions before assembling, which makes it possible to slice the cake later without squashing the soft filling.

Finally, the cake must be assembled in a frame and chilled for several hours. The custard sets, the layers settle, and cutting becomes clean rather than a slide of cream across the plate.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 2 sheets ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry (about 320 g each)
• 1000 ml whole milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split, or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 egg yolks
• 100 g caster sugar, for the custard
• 90 g cornflour
• 3 sheets leaf gelatine, optional
• 6 egg whites
• 150 g caster sugar, for the meringue
• 400 ml whipping cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar, for the cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar, to dust

Use all-butter puff pastry, which tastes far better than versions made with vegetable fat and bakes crisper. Whole milk and a real vanilla pod give the custard its rich colour and flavour. Cornflour gives a clean, smooth set; some Slovenian recipes use a mixture of flour and cornflour, or a packet of vanilla pudding powder. The gelatine is optional but recommended for a first attempt and on warm days, as it makes the custard layer more stable when sliced. Use very fresh eggs, since the whites are only partly cooked by the hot custard.

iv. Method

1. Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F), or 180 °C fan. Lay each pastry sheet on a lined tray, prick all over with a fork, cover with baking paper and a second tray, and bake for 15–18 minutes. Remove the top tray and paper and bake for 3–5 minutes more until deep golden and crisp. Cool, then trim both sheets to fit a 23 cm square frame or tin.
2. Place one pastry sheet in the base of the frame lined with baking paper. Cut the second sheet into 12 squares and set aside. If using gelatine, soak it in cold water.
3. Heat 800 ml of the milk with the vanilla until just steaming. Whisk the remaining 200 ml milk with the yolks, 100 g sugar and cornflour until smooth.
4. Pour the yolk mixture into the hot milk, whisking constantly, and cook over a medium heat, still whisking, until it thickens and boils. Let it bubble for 1 minute, then take off the heat, remove the vanilla pod and stir in the squeezed gelatine until dissolved.
5. Immediately whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually add 150 g sugar and whisk to a glossy, stiff meringue.
6. Fold the meringue into the hot custard in three additions, gently but thoroughly, until smooth and pale. Pour onto the pastry base in the frame and level. Cool, then chill for at least 4 hours until fully set.
7. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to soft peaks and spread it in an even layer over the set custard. Arrange the 12 pastry squares on top in rows.
8. Chill for another hour. Dust thickly with icing sugar, run a hot knife around the frame, and cut along the lines of the top squares with a long, sharp knife, wiping between cuts.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Bake the pastry under a weight. Unweighted puff pastry puffs into uneven domes. A second tray on top keeps it thin, flat and evenly crisp.
• Boil the custard properly. Undercooked custard thins out overnight. Let it bubble for a full minute after thickening.
• Fold in the meringue while the custard is hot. This sets the whites and gives a smooth, light layer that does not weep.
• Pre-cut the pastry lid. Cutting a whole crisp pastry lid presses the soft custard out at the sides. Placing ready-cut squares on top makes clean slices easy.
• Be patient with chilling. At least 4–5 hours in total, or overnight, is needed for the custard to set firmly enough to slice.
• Use a hot, clean knife. Dip it in hot water and wipe between cuts for neat, straight-sided squares.

vi. Variations

Kremšnita in Croatia and Serbia (notably the version from Samobor, near Zagreb) is closely related, often with an even taller custard and no separate cream layer. Kremówka papieska from Wadowice, Poland, became famous as Pope John Paul II's favourite cake. Austrian Cremeschnitte is often finished with a thin fondant glaze. Russian Napoleon cake stacks many thin pastry layers with custard. Slovenia's other famous dessert is the layered prekmurska gibanica, with poppy seeds, walnuts, apple and quark.

Other custard-filled pastries on DessertCat include the Greek galaktoboureko in filo and the French Paris-Brest with praline cream.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve kremna rezina well chilled, one square per person, with a fork and a cup of coffee. In Bled it is traditionally eaten on a café terrace with a view of the lake; at home it is a good dessert for a gathering because it is made entirely in advance.

It is best on the day it is assembled, while the pastry is still crisp, and keeps for up to 2 days covered in the fridge; the pastry softens gradually. It does not freeze well — the custard turns watery and the cream separates. The baked pastry sheets can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.

ix. More from Turkish & Mediterranean

• Kremówka — Polish cream slice
• Cremeschnitte — Viennese cream slice
• Napoleon Cake — Russian mille-feuille
• Galaktoboureko — Greek custard in filo
• Somlói Galuska — Hungarian sponge trifle
• Paris-Brest — praline choux ring