I have been asked to make a cake with a "neapolitan crust". At first I thought they were asking for a cake with chocolate, vanilla & strawberry flavors. Not the case....they want a white cake with pineapple, raspberry and custard fillings and buttercream icing. But they want the top layer of the cake to be somewhat "flaky" under the buttercream. Does anyone know what this means? The person I'm making it for is from Hungary and apparently this is some sort of European thing! Any suggestions?

Hi,

The only thing I can think of is a Napoleon pastry that I have had. It is flaky layers filled with custard and then topped with a crisp glaze.

I'm not much help sorry!

Berta

Thanks for the advice. The client specifically said that they wanted buttercream....I told him that I didn't know what a "flaky" top was and he said not to worry about that as long as the fillings are there. So should be OK! Thanks again!

This is a specialty cake and is not easy to make. My MIL makes a version of this and it takes hours to do. She is a very accomplished baker and it doesn't always turn out for her. I think you should make it clear to your customer that the product you will make for them isn't what they are looking for, just so they are aware and you don't get negative feedback from them for it. Then, take the artistic freedom and make an awesome cake

Squirrelly,
She has 2 versions. The first version is like you've described and is the 'quick' version.
The other is an "authentic" version, which is much more difficult because the crusting batter is extraordinarily finicky and the cooking technique is different. It is made at the same time as the cake, right on top of the cake, not separately. I know that when she makes it (which isn't very often anymore) it takes several hours to do it (like 7 or 8 hours). She makes the quick version fairly regularly though. That's another good thing about having an old-school German MIL...we get to eat cake and drink tea twice a day when she is around I still haven't figured out everyone's secret to eating so much cake and not getting fat though. Everyone here is skinny as a stick, lol.

PS, the glaze on the top layer is 'bitey'. It isn't crisp, really, but it kind of snaps or cracks when you cut it.

Thanks Cande. Haha, either they have really good genes or perhaps they are always walking? Had a German friend who hadn't been home in many years and when she returned from a trip home she said her feet were killing her because everyone walked so much over there.
Sounds like your mother-in-law is a wonderful baker too!
Hugs Squirrelly

I definitely did make it VERY clear that I wasn't going to be making a "flaky" crust....they were fine with that! Thanks again ladies!

Sounds good kiddo, let us know how it turns out and post a picture if you can.
Hugs Squirrelly

Great Ape! Good luck making your cake! Now let your imagination flow and create a new 'ape neopoloitan'--maybe it will end up being your signature cake?

lol Squirrelly! I know how she feels. Everytime I go home for a visit then come back here it takes at least a week for my body to readjust to all of the walking, lol.

Sounds like I need to seriously consider the move!
Hugs Squirrelly

OK, so just watched Sugar Rush last night and he made a Neapolitan Napolean....all layers puff pastry with fillings. I thought I would try to make a small one of these since I already have all the fillings the customer wanted for the cake. Just make the puff pastry and fill in....give it to him like a "bonus" and see if that was what he was looking for. So....anyone ever used frozen puff pastry, where do I find it, or should I just make from scratch?

Pepperidge Farms makes it (so do others, but that is a common brand) and its in the frozen foods by the pie shells, like Squirrelly said (Squirrelly knows just about everything, including how to make the best oatmeal cookies on the planet! )

www.puffpastry.com has tips for using it as well.
HTH

Thanks to everyone for the good advice! I looked at the recipes to make your own puff pastry....even I'm not that brave! Will definitely try to find the pepperide farm brand!