Mini Diplomatic Cakes with custard is a classic of Italian pastry. What can I say, delicious, absolutely exceptional. My favorite dessert.
It’s a multi-layered dessert with a delicious filling that often becomes the undisputed star dessert of birthday parties and special lunches all over the peninsula.
In pastry shops, it is offered both in cake form and in small slices or as petits fours, the so-called “Diplomatico”.
Mini Diplomatic Cakes are desserts with soft sponge cake inside filled with custard and lined with crispy puff pastry sheets. The sponge cake can be soaked with various liqueurs or non-alcoholic syrups.
The diplomatic cake can be prepared in a rectangular or round shape and can be brought to the table whole or already divided into small regular portions.
I remember when I was a girl, my mom often bought pastries on Sundays to delight us at the end of lunch.
I remember well, as if it were today, when the pastry box was opened, and I was already there with my finger saying, ‘That’s mine!’
What a delight, the puff pastry, the liqueur-soaked sponge cake, and the custard. I savored it in small bites.
A dessert that satisfies because in its layers we find everything we seek in a sweet: softness, crunchiness, a harmony of sensations and flavors that makes us close our eyes and think: what a beautiful Sunday.
You can also use ladyfingers instead of sponge cake to speed things up.
I’ll also leave you the recipe for diplomatic cream.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 12 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 182.83 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 19.32 (g) of which sugars 9.79 (g)
- Proteins 2.81 (g)
- Fat 9.23 (g) of which saturated 1.36 (g)of which unsaturated 5.27 (g)
- Fibers 0.28 (g)
- Sodium 50.24 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Mini Diplomatic Cakes
- 2 eggs (large, room temperature)
- 3/8 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 1 packet vanillin
- 2 puff pastry (rectangular)
- to taste powdered sugar
- 2 eggs (whole, medium)
- 1 1/10 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- lemon (zest)
- 3/4 oz powdered sugar (for the cream)
- 3/4 cup fresh whipping cream
- 3/4 cup Alchermes
Tools
- Pan 10.6 x 7.9 inches
- Stand Mixer
- Food Scale
Steps
Mini Diplomatic Cakes
Grease and flour the pan, preheat the oven to 356°F.
Place the whole eggs in the bowl (eggs must be at room temperature), add the sugar and a pinch of salt (optional vanilla aroma or vanillin).
Start the beaters and whip the mixture.
The mixture should be fluffy and soft.
(To achieve this result, the beaters should whip for 6-8 minutes.)
Gently add the flour and potato starch, previously sifted.
Mix with the whisk from bottom to top.
Be careful not to deflate the mixture.
Pour the obtained mixture into the greased and floured pan. (Pan 10.6 x 7.9 inches).
Bake for 15-17 minutes at 356°F (the oven must be preheated).
Let it cool before removing it from the pan.
Now take your ready-made puff pastry and roll it out slightly with the help of a rolling pin.
Transfer it to a baking sheet with its parchment paper, and prick it with a fork or the appropriate wheel.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Do the same for the other and bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 15 minutes (until they are golden brown).
If you bake them together, you can switch trays halfway through baking.
For perfect baking, of course, adjust with your oven.
My advice is to prepare the cream well in advance so it is nice and cold.
Pour the milk into a saucepan, then bring it to a boil with the whole lemon peel, be careful to take only the yellow part.
(I used lemon peel, but a vanilla pod or a tablespoon of vanilla extract works just as well).In a separate saucepan, beat the eggs with the sugar. (whole eggs—both yolk and white).
Then add the flour, mix with the whisk to remove any lumps.
(If desired, you can replace the flour with corn starch).Temporarily dissolve the mixture with a little milk poured in a thin stream, being careful, to avoid getting the lemon peel into the cream, use a strainer, after adding all the milk, return it to moderate heat.
Put it back on the heat, and always stirring, you will see that the custard thickens in seconds.
Turn off the heat and cover the quick custard with cling film placed in contact.
As soon as the custard has cooled, pour the fresh cream into a bowl, add the powdered sugar, and beat it with electric whisks until it is semi-whipped.
Soften the custard by working it with a whisk. Now add the cream to the custard little by little, stirring gently with the spatula.
When the sponge cake is cold, trim it both at the top and bottom to remove the crust.
Trim it laterally to obtain a rectangle of 9.45 x 6.3 inches.
When the puff pastry is cold, trim it laterally to obtain a rectangle of the same size.
Repeat this operation for the second layer.
Now you need to assemble the diplomatic cake. Take a rectangle of puff pastry that will serve as the base and spread half of the diplomatic cream with the help of a spatula.
Place the sponge cake on top.
Brush it well with Alchermes.
Put the rest of the cream, spread it always with a spatula, and finally place the last rectangle of puff pastry on the cream.
Transfer to a plate, cover with cling film, and place in the fridge for an hour.
Then transfer to a cutting board and cut with a serrated knife into 6 vertical slices.
Dust with powdered sugar.
They will be about 1.57 inches wide.
Enjoy your meal.
Tips for a Sponge Cake of Various Sizes
Quantities for a 20cm sponge cake (3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 3 eggs)
Quantities for a 26cm sponge cake (1 cup sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 4 eggs).
Remove from the oven, let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife, open the pan, and let it cool on a wire rack.
Useful Tips
Do not open the oven until full cooking is reached to avoid the sponge cake from deflating. Let it cool in the pan outside the oven.
For gluten-free sponge cake, use gluten-free corn starch.
For the cream, use gluten-free corn starch.
Use lactose-free milk.
Use gluten-free puff pastry.
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