Featuring layer upon layer of flaky, buttery puff pastry lined with sweet pastry cream, this beautiful cake may take some patience, but it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort. It’s an impressive dessert, but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult. (After all, looks can be deceiving!) Store-bought puff pastry keeps things easy and the vanilla pastry cream is a filling that any cook can manage. The only difficulty is in waiting for something so delicious to chill in the refrigerator overnight!

Napoleon Cake is Russian in origin, dating back to the early part of the 19th century. Some say the name has to do with the Russian victory over Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812, with the many layers symbolizing La Grand Armée and the pastry crumbs the Russian snow that contributed to Napoleon’s defeat. In any case, it’s remained a popular dessert in Soviet cuisine and shares many similarities (and possibly some history) with the French Mille-Feuille pastry.

The cake is formed with layers of baked puff pastry that are slathered in silky pastry cream. Once it’s assembled, the whole thing is coated in even more pastry cream, and it’s all sprinkled with crumbs from a reserved sheet of puff pastry. Then it has to chill. While five hours is the bare minimum, it really should chill overnight as that gives the pastry cream time to soak into the puff pastry. It takes away a bit of the crunch, but leaves an irresistible bite that’s all at once flaky, tender, and creamy. (And totally irresistible.)

You can find this cake in rectangular and circular versions, and the assembly is up to you. We like the presentation of the circular, but squared edges are no less delicious. If you opt to do rectangles, just make sure you still roll out your puff pastry until it’s very thin, and reserve one or two sheets to make those tasty puff pastry crumbs for the finishing touch.