Napoleonshatte
Napoleonshatte © kvalimad.dk
Recipe with video — shortcrust pastry, marzipan, and chocolate. A simple cake that tastes really good. There’s a reason it has been one of the longest-lived pastries in Denmark — a hit at bakeries for more than 70 years.
Ingredients
Yields 8 pieces (pastry shop size), or 16 smaller
dough
- 1 portion shortcrust pastry
- 75 g powdered sugar
filling and coating
- 125 g marzipan
- 200 g 70% dark chocolate
Directions
Make the shortcrust pastry, but use the 75 grams of powdered sugar instead of the 1½ tbsp sugar mentioned in the shortcrust recipe.
Let the dough rest as normal.
Divide the marzipan into 8, 16, or 32 pieces.
Roll the marzipan into balls.
Divide the shortcrust dough into 8, 16, or 32 pieces.
Roll them into round balls and press them into flat circles with a rolling pin.
Use a little flour so they don’t stick to the counter.
The circles should be wide enough to fit 3 marzipan balls across — meaning the circle should be 3 times as wide as the marzipan balls. That way everything lines up when you fold.
Place a marzipan ball on each circle of dough.
Lift 3 “corners” of the circle up and press them together around the marzipan.
Bake for about 10 minutes at 390°F (200°C).
When the edges turn golden, they’re done.
Let them cool to room temperature.
Chop and melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
Dip the tip of the “triangles” and the bottom of the cakes in the chocolate.
Place them on parchment paper and let them cool at room temperature.
Notes
At the end of the day, this is just a shortcrust pastry recipe with marzipan — with a bit of extra sugar added. Some recipes add the extra sugar to the marzipan instead. That doesn’t make much sense to me — you end up with very sweet marzipan inside dough that doesn’t taste of anything.
Adding the sugar to the dough saves a step, gives better distribution of sweetness, and makes the dough turn more golden and crisp.