Custard Millefeuille Food

CUSTARD MILLEFEUILLE

Steps:

• Method:.
• Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
• Roll out puff pastry and cut in squares ( approx 4 x 5 cm).
• Place on baking tray (I line it with baking paper) and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until puffed and golden-brown.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
• Filling:.
• Heat the milk, cream and butter until just under boiling point.
• Remove from heat and add the vanilla essence.
• Mix custard powder, sugar and cornflour with a small amount of water to a smooth paste.
• Add the custard mixture to the warm milk mixture and stir until smooth.
• Add the egg yolks and once again, stir until smooth.
• Heat slowly over a low temperature until boiling point, stirring continuously, and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened and cooked.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool till room temperature.
• In the meanwhile, halve the puff pastry squares.
• Spoon a thick layer of the custard filling onto one half of the pastry square.
• Place the top half of the square on top of the custard.
• Gently sieve/dust puff pastry lid with icing sugar.
• Enjoy!

RASPBERRY MILLEFEUILLES

Steps:

• For the pastry, mix the flour, salt and butter together in a bowl - the butter should remain in cubes. Make a well in the centre and pour in the lemon juice and 100ml cold water. Mix well, then bring together with your hands.
• Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead until smooth. Shape into a rectangle, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to ridge and roll (see tip, below left) the pastry into a rectangle, so that it is three times as long as it is wide, about 15 x 45cm. Keep the edges of the pastry as straight as you can.
• Lift the bottom third of the pastry and fold it up and over the middle third. Dust off any excess flour.
• Fold the top third of the pastry down and over the bottom third, so that you have three layers of pastry in a neat rectangle. Dust off any excess flour. Wrap and chill for 15 mins.
• Give the pastry a 90-degree right turn so it faces you like a book. Repeat steps 3-5 four more times, always starting with the pastry facing you as it was after the last fold and giving it a turn. Chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out to a rough 32cm square. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges to make a neat 30cm square.
• Cut the pastry into 3 long strips measuring 30 x 10cm. Transfer to 2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment and chill for 30 mins or until firm.
• Top each tray with a sheet of baking parchment, then stack on top of each other. Pop another baking tray on top and weigh down with an ovenproof dish. Bake for 25-30 mins or until golden brown and crisp.
• Leave the pastry to cool a little, trim the edges if needed, then cut each sheet into 6 smaller rectangles. You should end up with 18 pieces of pastry measuring about 10 x 5cm.
• Transfer 1 piece of pastry to a serving plate, pipe over blobs of Crème patisserie (see recipe tip, below left), then top with some raspberries and another layer of pastry.
• Add another layer of Crème patisserie and raspberries. Dust a third piece of pastry with icing sugar, then decorate with more raspberries and pop this on top. Repeat with the remaining pastry to make 6 millefeuilles.