Krówki: Polish Milk Caramel Toffee 

150 g butter (extra for greasing)
200 ml heavy cream
200 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla 

Method:

1. Line a square 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper and grease with butter
2. In a pot, heat heavy cream and butter till completely dissolve, stirring often
3. Then add cream and vanilla, and simmer for about 30 mins (dont forget to stir!) - till a thick molases consistency (the volume would reduce down to 60%)
4. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, and continue stiring till it cools down. This is to eliminate air bubbles, (you can see thinner layers at the side of the bowl is cooled and hardened)
5. Pour cooled milk caramel into the lined baking pan, and let sit overnight (in a cool place). 
6. Cut it into smaller pieces, and if you can wrap them individually (looks awesome when you do!)

Karpatka: Polish Vanilla Custard Slice 

Prep time:  20 mins | Cook time:  30 mins
(Printable Recipe) 

The Polish recipe calls for budyn, a powdered custard which might be tricky to find outside of Poland, so I used thick pouring custard instead. I used a 32 x 25 cm tray 

Ingredients 

For the choux pastry:  

 125g unsalted butter 

1 cup / 125g plain flour 

1 cup / 240ml milk 

5 eggs 

For the vanilla custard cream: 

750ml thick pouring vanilla custard (see alt in n.b)

2 eggs 

2 tbsp vanilla extract 

4 tbsp plain flour2 tbsp cornflour 

300ml thickened cream 

To serve: icing sugar 

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 220C (200C fan forced, 425F). 

To make the choux pastry:

1. In a medium pot bring milk and butter to a boil.
2. Add flour and mix vigorously with a spatula - eliminating the flour lumps, until the mixture comes away from the sides and forms a ball. This should only take a few seconds.
3. Transfer dough to a mixing bowl, add eggs one at a time and beat with an electric mixer until glossy and smooth.

To bake the choux pastry:

1. Line tray with non-stick baking sheet. (optional: grease with butter)
2. Spread pastry into a rough rectangle until the dough is only a couple of centimeters thick.
3. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
4. When ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray.

To make vanilla custard cream

1. While the choux pastry bakes, make the vanilla custard cream:
2. Place cream into a mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer until it's fairly stiff - be careful not to over beat as it will turn into butter.
3. In a medium pot, combine custard, eggs, flours and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
4. Place over low heat and cook, whisking, until the custard thickens.
5. move into a bowl and cover the bowl with clingwrap - to prevent skin to form. Cool to room temperature.
6. Add whipped cream to the mixture and whisk through. Refrigerate

To layer vanilla custard slice: Use a sharp knife (preferably bread knife), cut the pastry in half, the two sides will be yor top and bottom.  Spread custard cream over one layer, leaving a 2cm edge around and top with another pressing down gently. Trim edges if you want to get perfect squares. Otherwise skip this step if you prefer a more rustic look.

To serve: Use a sharp knife, cut the slice into 8 even squares. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve.

Nota Bene   

1. store the slice in the fridge and consume within 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving. You may need to re-dust with some icing sugar.  
2. Alternative for thick custard cream:  

1. 1/4 cup custard powder
2. 2 1/2 cups (625ml) milk 
3. 2 tablespoons caster sugar (optional)

Recipe adapted from Wholesome-Cook