Dessert📍 All of RomaniaMedium🥗 Vegetarian🐟 Pescatarian🌾 Gluten-free💪 High-protein

Diplomat Cake

Name: Diplomat Cake
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Romanian
Ingredients: 500 ml whole milk; 4 egg yolks; 100 g sugar; 40 g cornstarch (cornflour); 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 packet vanilla sugar); 10 g gelatine (5 sheets or 10 g powdered gelatine); 400 ml whipping cream (minimum 30% fat); 2 tbsp icing sugar (for the cream); 300 g ladyfinger biscuits (savoiardi or homemade piscoturi); 200 ml syrup from canned apricots or peaches; 50 ml water; 1 tbsp rum or rum essence (optional); 400 g canned fruit (apricots, peaches, pineapple or fruit cocktail), drained; whipped cream for decoration; sour cherries or maraschino cherries (for garnish); fresh seasonal fruit (optional)

Diplomat cake is a chilled, refined dessert made of layers of syrup-soaked ladyfinger biscuits, diplomat cream (vanilla custard lightened with whipped cream and set with gelatine), and canned or fresh fruit. Easy to prepare without any baking, elegant in presentation, and wonderfully refreshing, it is one of the most beloved occasion desserts in Romanian cuisine.

🍽️

Servings

⏱️

Prep

45 min

🔥

Cook

10 min

⏰

Total

5 hrs (including chilling, preferably overnight)

🥘Ingredients

servings

Diplomat cream

Layers and syrup

Fruit and decoration

📝Preparation steps 🗓️Add to Meal Planner🎨Serving & Presentation

✅Dietary Compatibility

🥗Vegetarian🐟Pescatarian🌾Gluten-free💪High-protein

🍽️

Yield

1 cake for 10 servings

📦Storage

❄️

Refrigerator

Keep refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 days. Do not freeze — the cream and whipped cream separate on thawing.

🧊

Freezer

Freezing the assembled cake is not recommended. Diplomat cream does not tolerate the freeze-thaw cycle.

🥗Nutrition Facts

Estimated values per serving (cake cut into 10 slices)

🔥

Calories

approx. 310 kcal / serving

🥩

Protein

6 g

🧈

Fat

17 g

🍞

Carbohydrates

34 g

🌾

Fiber

0.5 g

🍷Pairs Well With

🥂Extra whipped cream when serving

🥂Berry coulis (raspberry or strawberry)

🥂Black tea or fruit tea

🥂Champagne or dry sparkling wine

💡Variations

Chocolate diplomat cake: stir 100 g melted dark chocolate into the warm vanilla custard before cooling to make a chocolate diplomat cream.

Fresh strawberry diplomat cake: replace the canned fruit with sliced fresh strawberries for a lighter summer version.

Cocoa ladyfinger diplomat: replace classic ladyfingers with cocoa sponge fingers or cocoa Swiss roll slices for a dramatic visual contrast.