Koningsdag, or King’s Day, is April 27th. The Netherlands celebrates the King’s birthday with a nationwide party and flea market; everyone wears orange, drinks in bars are colored orange, and even famous Dutch pastry gets an orange makeover!
This delicious pastry of rich, flavorful cream between two layers of flaky puff pastry, finished with an orange sugar glaze is immensely popular in the Netherlands. You can buy it in any grocery store and bakery, and most cafés have it on the menu, to enjoy with your coffee!
Ingredients
Filling
- 310 ml Milk
- 35 g Vanilla pudding powder
- 1 tbsp Gelatin powder
- 75 g Sugar
- Zest of one orange
- 1 Egg yolk
- 350 ml Heavy whipping cream
Pastry
- 2 tbsp Apricot Jam
- 1 Sheet puff pastry
Glaze
- 15 g Orange juice
- 100 g Powdered sugar
- 0.5 tsp Orange flavor or extract
- 3 drop Yellow food coloring
- 3 drop Red food coloring
NUTRITION
Disclaimer
Nutrition Facts provided are a calculated estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Instructions
Bake the pastry
- Preheat your oven to 160C (325F) convection.
- Roll the sheet of puff pastry to the right size
- Using a fork, or a docking roller, dock the entire sheet of puff pastry. We actually don't want the puff pastry to puff!
- Refrigerate the puff pastry for 10-15 minutes.
- Bake the puff pastry for 30 Minutes
- When the 30 minutes is over, lower the temperature to 135C (275F) non-convection, and bake the puff pastry for another 10 Minutes
- Let the puff pastry cool off.
- Cut the cooled sheet of puff pastry into two equally-sized strips, approximately 11cm (4.3") x 40cm (15.75")
Make the filling
- Add 25ml (0.9oz) of milk to the pudding powder, and mix thoroughly until there are no more lumps.
- Whisk the egg through the pudding mixture.
- In a pan, add 225ml (7.6oz) of milk, 40g (1.4oz) of sugar, and the zest of one orange.
- Bring the milk to a boil. Once it boils, remove it from the stove.
- Temper the pudding mixture by mixing in one tablespoon of the hot milk mixture into the pudding mixture, while stirring. Repeat that two more times.
- Add the pudding mixture into the pan with the milk, and while stirring, bring it to a boil. Let it boil for a short amount of time.It will be thickening up while doing this.
- Put the hot pudding in a shallow dish, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it come to room temperature.
- Bloom 1tbsp of gelatin in 60ml (2oz) of room temperature milk.
- Beat 350ml (11.8oz) and 35g (1.25oz) of sugar to stiff peaks.
- When the pudding is at room temperature (20C / 70F) Heat up the milk/gelatin mixture to between 48-60C (120-140F).You don't want to go over that temperature, as it will reduce the gelling power of the gelatin.
- Put the pudding in a bowl, and whisk it until it's loose. Mix in the gelatin while whisking.
- Add one scoop of whipped cream, and whisk it through the pudding mixture.
- Fold the rest of the whipped cream into the pudding mixture.
- Put the mixture in the fridge for 5-10 minutes, until it's set.
Assembly
- Pick one strip of puff pastry to be your top. Invert it, so that the side that was on the baking sheet becomes the top.
- Pipe the filling on the strip of puff pastry that is not inverted.
- Put the inverted strip of puff pastry on top of the filling, and gently push it down. With an offset spatula, clean up the edges where filling is coming out.
- Melt the apricot jam, and brush it onto the top of the top layer of puff pastry.
- Mix together in a small pan the orange juice, orange flavor/extract, and powdered sugar.
- On low heat, melt the sugar/orange juice mixture until it's liquid. Add food coloring until it's a nice orange color.
- Pour the glaze over the top pastry, and with an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top.
- Carefully cut the large pastry into 4cm (1.5") wide strips.