What is "karpatka"

Karpatka is a traditional Polish cream pie filled with russel cream or vanilla milk pudding cream. It is made of one sheet of short pastry covered with a layer of choux pastry or two layer of the second with a layer of the cream in between. It probably takes its name from the mountain-like shape of the pastry (after the Carpathian Mountains – Karpaty in Polish). The cake is dusted with icing sugar.

There are karpatka baking mixes available in shops in Poland. In 1995 "Karpatka" became a trade mark registered for Delecta SA for the determination of cream powder in the Polish Patent Office.