Puzzling over the preparation of the next dessert for the upcoming celebration, remember about one of the most popular cakes from “Luciano” - “Harlequin”. The recipe for this delicious pastry combines the most favorite delicacies of many sweet tooth: honey biscuits, cakes of the famous "Napoleon", two varieties of cream - cream and milk, as well as a truly huge amount of nuts.
A little information
The technology for preparing this dessert is rather complicated, but if you select all the ingredients correctly, stock up on a little patience and time, you can still create such a culinary miracle at home.
Only one thing is important - to make a treat a couple of days before the planned event, so that it has time to insist and thoroughly soak in a gentle cream. In the process, you can use any shape: rectangular, square, round or some other, it all depends on your preferences and wishes in the design. You only need to pre-prepare the appropriate patterns. Although, usually, it is most convenient to trim the cakes with a plate.
Be that as it may, the Harlequin cake turns out to be unusually tasty, rich, with a pleasant aroma, and also looks great in section. So take the suggested recipe and spoil your family with an unusual dessert.
Product Preparation
So, to prepare puff pastry for a delicious Harlequin cake, you will need:
- 0.4 kg of flour;
- 200 g sour cream;
- 200 g butter;
- 0.5 teaspoon of salt;
- a tablespoon of vodka.
For honey dough, prepare:
- 50 g of sugar;
- a teaspoon of soda;
- 2 eggs;
- 30 g butter;
- a quarter teaspoon of salt;
- 50 g of honey;
- 0.3 kg of flour.
For cream you will need:
- 0.5 l cream with a fat content of 33%;
- 100 g of sugar;
- some vanilla essence.
For milk cream, take:
- 200 g of condensed milk;
- 6 tablespoons of cream.
The filler in the Harlequin cake recipe uses hazelnuts. Its you need a glass.
As soon as all the necessary products are prepared, you can immediately begin the process - it will be very exciting.
Harlequin cake recipe with photo step by step
Step 1. First of all, you need to prepare puff pastries, from which "Napoleon" is usually collected. To do this, pre-cool all used products, as well as dishes and other appliances. Sift the flour directly onto the work surface, forming a slide from it.
Step 2. Grind the frozen butter with a coarse grater and mix with flour. Armed with two knives, chop the resulting mass so that you get a homogeneous crumb. In this case, you can not touch the test with your hands, and the process itself should occur rather quickly.
Step 3. In a separate container, combine chilled sour cream and salt. When the mass becomes homogeneous and all the crystals dissolve, send it to flour with butter. Add vodka to this as well. Chop the mixture once more with knives. No need to knead the dough by hand.
Step 3. Finally, form a lump from the prepared mass, wrap it with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Step 4. At this stage, prepare confectionery parchment, baking sheets and patterns from cardboard with a diameter of about 24-27 cm. After the appropriate time, remove the dough from the refrigerator, add a handful of flour and gently knead a lump. Divide the mass into 6 equal parts, each of which needs to be rolled into a thin layer.
Step 5. Carefully transfer the finished workpieces to a baking sheet covered with parchment. Place the patterns on top and carefully cut the shortcakes to size. Pierce each layer of dough in several places with a fork. Bake puff cakes for the Harlequin cake should be only 4-5 minutes at 220 degrees. During this time, the products will be covered with a beautiful golden hue. Just keep in mind that you can’t overexpose the cakes, otherwise, they will come out too dry. So bake 6 pieces. If the oven allows you, you can cook them at the same time.
Second phase
Step 6. Now it's the turn of honey dough. Beat eggs thoroughly with sugar until a lush, creamy mass is obtained. Then add liquid honey, melted butter and salt to the mixture. Constantly stirring, heat the mass and add soda to it. Mix the components thoroughly. As soon as the mixture begins to foam, remove it from the stove.
Step 7. Now add the sifted flour to the mass in small portions and mix well. As a result, you will get a very elastic dough that resembles softened plasticine in its consistency. In this case, the mass may be slightly sticky.
Step 8. Divide the prepared dough into 3 equal parts, each of which is thinly rolled. In the same way as in the case of puff pastry, transfer the workpieces to a baking sheet and cut out the cakes with a pattern. Bake layers should be at 200 degrees for just a couple of minutes. At this stage, it is very important to monitor the cakes so as not to overexpose them. Finished products are very light and quite solid.
Impregnation preparation
Step 9. Now it’s time to prepare creams for the future Harlequin cake. First you need to make a creamy mass. To do this, chilled cream must be thoroughly whipped with vanilla essence and sugar. The mass should be dense and stable. To do this, treat it with a mixer at maximum speed. Set aside 6 tablespoons of the resulting cream for the second type of impregnation.
Step 10. Now you need to prepare a milk cream. To do this, the deferred mass must be combined with condensed milk and simply stirred. As a result, you get a beautiful, homogeneous mixture.
The final stage
Step 11. In conclusion, it remains only to assemble a confectionery masterpiece from the prepared ingredients. A simple scheme will help you:
- puff pastry, butter cream, some nuts;
- honey cake, milk and cream, nuts;
- puff pastry and milk cream;
- the same cake and butter cream, as well as a handful of nuts;
- honey cake, both creams, nuts;
- puff layer and milk cream;
- another puff pastry, nuts and cream;
- honey cake, both creams and nuts;
- puff pastry and milk cream.
You can decorate the dessert at your discretion. For example, arrange a treat in the same way as in the photo. Cake "Harlequin" from "Luciano", usually decorated with crumbs left over from the cakes, and nuts.
Finally, do not forget to put the dessert in the refrigerator. He must stay there for at least 2 days. This is a prerequisite for obtaining a truly delicious, delicate treat.
Second option
Another popular dessert with the name "Harlequin" is cake pie. This delicacy was very popular in Soviet times, but even today many housewives do not deny themselves the pleasure of delighting their family with delicious treats.
Such a colorful dessert is obtained from the minimum set of available products. The delicacy comes out very delicate, melting in the mouth, and its rich shortbread mixes perfectly with each other.
To make a Harlequin cake-pie, you will need:
- 3 cups flour;
- 250 g margarine;
- 4 tablespoons of sugar;
- 4 eggs;
- 3/4 cup currant jam;
- a tablespoon of lemon juice;
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder;
- 0.5 teaspoon of soda.
Harlequin cake recipe with photo
Step 1. Separate the squirrels from the yolks, and then send them to the refrigerator.
Step 2. Grind the margarine with sifted flour until crumbs are obtained. Then add the soda and yolks slaked with lemon juice to the mixture. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients so that the dough becomes sticky.
Step 3. Divide the cooked mass into 3 equal parts, in one of which add cocoa powder. Put the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Step 4. Beat the cooled proteins with sugar until a stable mass is obtained.
Step 5. Now it remains to form a cake-pie. Lubricate the baking dish with butter and sprinkle it with a handful of flour. Lay out the first part of the white dough down, evenly distribute it and form neat sides. Then put the jam. And on top, grate the chocolate portion of the dough on a coarse grater. Put protein cream on top of it. And you need to complete the composition with the remaining dough, grated on a coarse grater.
Step 6. Send the cake to bake for an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees.