Patshkerey

Before you say anything – yes, I know that this is a baking website and this is not a baked good. Nevertheless I am including the recipe here due to popular demand. Patshkerey is served on Shavuot in the Shottland family but nobody complains if it shows up at other times. It consists of a layer of vanilla pudding between two layers of tea biscuits dipped in milk, then a layer of  meringue frosting and sprinkles on top. The name originates from Yiddish: “Patshke is most often used to describe a kind of fussy, painstaking cooking”. But isn’t everything about Shavuot like that? Since the meringue layer is not baked it is not very stable and tends to become watery and unattractive by the next day. This is why I prepare it using the swiss method, which adds an extra step of warming up the egg whites and sugar in a double boiler until the sugar dissolves. The resulting syrup is whisked until a stable foam is formed. Patshkerey is made in a rectangle pan of about 8″ by 12″.

Ingredients

For the tea biscuits layer:

  • Enough tea biscuits to twice cover the pan area
  • Milk for dipping the tea biscuits

For the pudding layer:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 C. sugar
  • 8 oz. light cream (20% milkfat)
  • 1/2 plus 1 1/2 C. milk
  • 2 Tbsp. vanilla sugar
  • 1/4 C. cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp. butter

For the meringue layer:

  • 3 egg whites (you can use the extra yolks for Brownies)
  • 1/3 C. sugar

Instructions

  1. Place in the pan one layer of tea biscuits dipped in milk.
  2. For the pudding: In a medium bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, cornstarch and 1/2 C. of milk until combined.
  3. In a sauce pan heat the light cream and 1 1/2 C. milk until close to boiling.
  4. While mixing slowly pour the cream-milk mixture into the egg mixture.
  5. Return pot to flame and heat on a low flame, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken (if it doesn’t get thicker turn up the flame a bit).
  6. Take the pudding off the flame and add the butter.
  7. Pour the pudding on top of the tea biscuits in the pan.
  8. Add another layer of tea biscuits dipped in milk.
  9. Let everything cool to room temperature.
  10. For the meringue : Place the egg whites and the sugar in a Pyrex or metal bowl. Place the bowl over a pot with water in the appropriate size, the bowl should fit the pot like a cover and it shouldn’t touch the water. Let the water reach a gentle boil while constantly stirring the egg whites and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Take the bowl off the pot and whisk on high speed until a stable foam is formed.
  11. Place the meringue in the pan. Put sprinkles on top.
  12. Store in the fridge until ready to eat.