Home / Croatian / KREMSNITE (Custard Slices Recipe, Cremeschnitte)
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
Jump to Recipe
Try to guess whyis fluffy and airy vanilla custard cake Kremsnita (Cream Slice, Cremeschnitte ) is the most popular dessert in Croatia?
The origin of Kremsnita (Cream Slice, Custard Slice, Vanilla Slice, Krempita) is unknown. Most probably it is German or Austrian since the name Cremeschnitte is German. It is popular throughout Central and Eastern Europe. There is a small town in Croatia called Samobor (near capital of Zagreb) which is famous for their Kremsnita.
How to Make Cremeschnitte / Kremsnite?
The recipe below was given to me years ago by my colleague. It was supposed to be original Samobor Kremsnita. It was pretty close, but not quite. The recipe uses cornstarch only which gives very smooth texture to the filling, almost pudding like. I watched pastry chefs from Samobor and Bled (Slovenia) make this cake with either flour only or mixture of flour and cornstarch. That is why I decided to add 5 Tbsp flour and I think it is closer to the original now.
I increased vanilla from 2 teaspoons to 4 teaspoons. My mom would always add rum to custard which greatly improves its taste so that it doesn’t taste “eggy”.
I’m not sure why this recipe uses 1 liter of milk and 1 liter of water. Did they just want to save on ingredients or was there some other reason? I tried to make it both with water and milk only. The difference is not so great, so both versions work. I could say that I slightly prefer milk only version.
Kremsnita is supposed to be tall. This recipe will fill the 9x13x2 inch (23x33x6 cm) baking pan to the brim and will give you nice tall cake. If you use large pan, you can add a layer of sweetened whipped cream on top of custard (after refrigeration).
This cake is not overly sweet, even according to European standards. I suggest my American friends increase the sugar content to up to 350 g (1 3/4 cup).
TIP: Wash the dishes you used to make custard immediately, or at least soak them in water. When custard dries out it is a nightmare to clean.
If you have a large crowd of custard-loving people to serve, there is nothing better then Kremsnita to offer them.
4.5 from 4 votes
KREMSNITE (Custard Slices Recipe)
Try to guess why is fluffy and airy vanilla custard cake "Kremsnita" (Cream Slices, Cremeschnitte) the most popular dessert in Croatia?
Servings: 15
Author: Kitchen Nostalgia
Ingredients
- 2.1lb(500 g) puff pastry sheets,baked
- Kremsnita / Cremeschnitte FILLING:
- 200g(1 1/2 cup) cornstarch
- 5Tbspflour
- 9eggs,separated
- 12Tbspsugar (150 g) + 8 Tbsp (100 g)
- 4tspvanilla
- 2Tbsprum
- 2liters(8 cups) milk (or 1 liter milk + 1 liter water)
- 2cupswhipping cream(optional)
Instructions
Mix cornstarch, flour, egg yolks, 12 Tbsp sugar, vanilla, rum and a few tablespoons cold milk.
Boil remaining milk with water in a double boiler.
Add egg mixture to milk and continue to cook until thick, stirring very frequently.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Add 8 Tbsp sugar. Fold into the custard.
Place one layer of puff pastry on bottom of a 9x13 inch (23x33 cm) baking dish. Spread evenly with custard. (You can add a layer of whipped cream on top of custard, if you like.) Cut the second pastry sheet into 15 squares. Lay the squares over custard, pressing down slightly. Refrigerate. Sprinkle Kremsnite / Cremeschnitte with powdered sugar on top before serving.
Table of Contents
Previous Post: « Avocado Dip
Next Post: Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies »
Subscribe
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
36 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Evandro
13 years ago
Informacao
Reply
Sandy
13 years ago
Our recipe’s a bit different, I think. This one isn’t quite like my Mama’s or Baka’s.
One thing we do is score the pasty leaves before baking and then when cooled, we cut the top and set the pieces on the cream filling. That makes it easier to serve since you’ll only be cutting the bottom, which has been softened by the filling.
Reply
Anita Vovk
9 years ago
Reply toSandy
I was told the same thing.. It is a great dessert.
Reply
Anonymous
9 years ago
Reply toSandy
That is my thought exactly…
Reply
Laki
11 years ago
we make a similar custard pie dish mixed with pineapple for custard filling. that many eggs seems to overpower the custard flavor, but i like eggs so if this is so i wouldn’t mind it much. however, this is a custard pie.
Reply
Anonymous
11 years ago
Hi!
This pastry is slovenian not croatian. Originally it comes from Bled, Slovenija.
Reply
admin
11 years ago
Reply toAnonymous
@Anonymous
Actually, it comes from town of Samobor near Zagreb, Croatia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremna_rezina
Reply
Anonymous
10 years ago
Reply toadmin
No, it does not. It comes from Bled, Slovenia.
Reply
Ana
4 years ago
Reply toAnonymous
Just as Courtney said, a lot of European countries have a variation of the cake. How it came to Slovenija, was by a chef who was Serbian. There are three national heritage recipes that I know of, Prekmurska Gibanica, Prazen Krompir, and Idrijski Struklji, Kremsnita is not one of them.
Reply
Ana
4 years ago
Reply toadmin
The link you provided says a Serbian chef brought it to Lake Bled, Slovenia hotel. The link also doesn’t say it came from Samobor, BUT that there are many countries variations throughout Europe.
Reply
alana pausak
4 years ago
Reply toAna
guys I’m sure it doesn’t matter at all where it comes from, just enjoy! we all do different versions of the same cake..
Reply
Courtney
11 years ago
@Anonymous
Does it matter? Perogies are Ukranian, but Poles often call it Polish. In either case, I’m thrilled to find this recipe; my Teta used to make it every Christmas : D
Thank you!
Reply
