Krempita 🍮 Balkan Custard Slice 🇷🇸 (Vanilla Cream Slice)

Description

Shatter-crisp pastry sandwiching a tall, silky vanilla custard—bakery classic that cuts into perfect, wobbly squares.

Hook: Hot custard + cool pastry = clean layers and a glossy set—foolproof slice. ⚡

Ingredients

• Pastry
• 🥐 Puff pastry sheets, thawed (23×33 cm / 9×13 in pansize): 2 sheets (≈500 g / 17.6 oz)
• 🍬 Powdered sugar, for dusting: 16 g (2 tbsp / 0.6 oz)
• Custard
• 🥛 Whole milk: 1 l (4 cups / 34 fl oz)
• 🍚 Sugar: 200 g (1 cup / 7 oz)
• 🥚 Egg yolks: 6 large (≈110 g / 3.9 oz)
• 🌽 Cornstarch: 80 g (⅔ cup / 2.8 oz)
• 🧂 Pinch of salt: 1 g (⅙ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🌿 Vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, seeds): 10 ml (2 tsp / 0.34 fl oz)
• 🧈 Unsalted butter: 60 g (¼ cup / 2.1 oz)
• Optional light top
• 🥛 Heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks: 250 ml (1 cup / 8 fl oz)
• 🍬 Powdered sugar: 8 g (1 tbsp / 0.3 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Bake pastry: Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F. Dock each pastry sheet with a fork; bake on parchment until deep golden and flat, 12–15 min. Cool. Trim to fit a 23×33 cm (9×13 in) pan. Line pan with one sheet (the flattest).
2. 2️⃣ Whisk base: In a bowl, whisk yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a thick paste.
3. 3️⃣ Heat milk: Bring milk just to a simmer with vanilla. Slowly whisk ⅓ into the yolk mix to temper; return all to the pot.
4. 4️⃣ Cook custard: Whisk over medium heat until thick bubbles appear and streaks hold, 3–4 min. Off heat, whisk in butter until glossy.
5. 5️⃣ Assemble: Pour hot custard over the bottom pastry; level. (If using whipped cream, cool custard 10–15 min, spread whipped cream over.) Cap with the second pastry sheet, smooth side up.
6. 6️⃣ Chill & finish: Chill 3–4 h until fully set. Dust top with powdered sugar. Slice with a hot, dry knife into 12 squares.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 25 min
🔥 Cook: 20 min
⏳ Total: 45 min (+ chill 3–4 h)

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