Lemon Napoleons Food

NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll out three sheets of puff pastry, each to the same size and a thickness of 1/8 inch. Prick with a fork, and place on baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 10 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk with fingers until smooth. Stir in cake flour and half the sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining milk and remaining sugar to a rolling boil. Stir in egg yolk mixture; continue stirring and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool.
• In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat the jam until runny.
• Place one sheet of pastry on a board. Spread with cooled pastry cream to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Place a second pastry sheet over the cream. Brush with fruit glaze. Spread remaining pastry cream over glaze. Top with final pastry sheet and gently compress layers, using a baking sheet to press.
• To make icing, beat together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice with enough of the egg whites to make a creamy consistency like that of a cream soup. Working quickly, color a small portion of the frosting with red food coloring. Frost the top and sides of the assembled pastry with white icing. Pipe parallel lines of red icing on top of dessert, then draw a pick or knife crosswise through icing to make the traditional design. Let icing set before cutting into bars.

LEMON CREAM FILLO NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Place the lemon zest in a medium bowl and set aside. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice into a very small bowl, sprinkle with the gelatin and set aside to thicken and almost set.
• Place the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and remaining lemon juice in the bowl with the lemon zest and whisk together. Pour into a saucepan, add the butter and cook over med-low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard begins to thicken. Just before boiling remove from the heat and add the now thickened lemon gelatin mixture. Pour the whole mixture through a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl. Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and chill overnight until set quite firm.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Unwrap the sheets of fillo and cover with damp cloth or a piece of plastic wrap. You should work quickly to avoid the fillo drying out. Lay two pieces of parchment paper measuring about 16 by 11-inches out on large chopping board. Brush each piece of paper with a thin layer of butter and sift two tablespoons of confectioners' sugar onto each one.
• Lay a sheet of fillo onto each of the papers and now brush that with butter also. Continue to layer the fillo and butter on each stack to give 4 fillo layers in total, finishing with a butter layer. Finally, sift 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar on top of each. Lay another sheet of parchment paper measuring 16 by 11-inches on top and use this as a guide to trim the pastry edges using a sharp knife.
• Next, remove the top sheet of parchment and using the knife, divide each fillo stack in half down the length (to give four 5.5-inches wide and 16-inches long rectangles). Make light score marks (not cutting through) with the knife across the opposite way and at 2-inch intervals to give 8 portion marks when serving. Slide each stack onto a sheet pan, butter the top sheets of parchment paper and place them butter side down on top. Finally, place another sheet pan on top of each stack (which will ensure the pastry will cook thin and crispy).
• Bake for 15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Remove the top sheet pans and allow the pastries to cool completely.
• To assemble, set one long rectangle onto a large platter and spread over 1/4 of the lemon cream evenly. Continue to layer up the fillo and lemon cream ending with a fillo top, to give 4 fillo layers and 3 lemon cream layers. There should be a remaining 1/4 of lemon cream still in the bowl to make a sauce with. To do this, add a 1/4 cup of hot tap water and whisk until smooth and drizzly in consistency.
• Finally, prepare the blackberries. Tip them into a small bowl and lightly crush them with a fork to bring out their juices. Add 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar and toss together.
• Using a very sharp knife carefully cut the Napoleon into 8 portions using the score marks as a guide. Drizzle some lemon sauce on each serving plate and place a portion of Napoleon in the center of each one. Spoon the crushed blackberries around and serve at once.

LEMON NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Make curd:
• Whisk sugar, eggs and yolks in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Mix in lemon juice, butter and peel. Whisk over medium-low heat until mixture thickens and just begins to bubble at edges, about 6 minutes (do not boil). Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd. Chill until cold,at least 2 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Make phyllo pastries:
• Position 1 rack in bottom third and 1 rack in center of over; preheat to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon in bowl.
• Place 1 phyllo sheet on work surface (cover remaining phyllo with plastic and damp cloth). Brush phyllo with butter; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Top with second phyllo sheet. Brush with gutter; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Repeat layering with remaining 4 phyllo sheets, butter and cinnamon sugar. Trim phyllo stack to 12 inches wide by 18 inches long. Cut stack into four 3-inch-wide by 18-inch-long strips. Cut each strip into six 3-inch squares, forming twenty-four squares. Transfer to baking sheets.
• Bake phyllo squares 6 minutes. Switch sheets on racks and bake until deep golden brown,about 4 minutes longer. Cool pastries on baking sheets.
• Beat cream, 2 teaspoons sugar and vanilla in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Arrange 8 pastries on work surface. Spoon curd into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe curd in parallel lines onto each pastry. Top each with second pastry. Spoon whipped cream into another pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe cream atop second pasties. Top each with third pastry. Transfer to platter. (Can be made 2 hours ahead; chill)
• Lightly dust napoleons with powdered sugar and serve.

LEMON CREAM NAPOLEON

Steps:

• In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine ricotta, lemon pudding and sour cream. Process until smooth. Add lemon zest and process for 1 minute. Mix until pudding consistency.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with kitchen parchment.
• In a small bowl, combine honey and warm water. Stir until honey dissolves. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush wrappers on both sides with honey water. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool.
• To serve, place one wrapper on a plate and spoon a dollop of pudding mixture. Repeat with another layer. Mix 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the whipped topping. Top third wrapper with a dollop of whipped topping. Garnish with a sprinkle of lemon zest.

LEMON CURD NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Prepare the lemon curd: In the bottom of a double-boiler, pour several inches of water, and bring to a simmer. In the top of the double-boiler, combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, and zest. Add the sugar, and whisk to blend. Fit the pans together, and whisk the egg mixture constantly until thickened, about 4 minutes.
• Remove the pans from the heat, and whisk in the butter, a piece at a time, until completely incorporated. Place the top of the double-boiler in a large bowl of ice water, and stir frequently until chilled. Transfer to a covered container, and refrigerate. The curd may be stored, refrigerated, for up to three days.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the phyllo sheets on a dry work surface, and cover with a slightly dampened cloth. Remove one phyllo sheet, and lightly brush with clarified butter. Top with two more sheets, brushing each with butter. Make a second stack with the remainign three sheets of phyllo, buttering each one. Using a sharp, round 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from each stack. Sprinkle generously with confectioners' sugar, and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover phyllo disks with a sheet of parchment paper, and fit another baking sheet on top. Bake until golden, about 5 minutes; do not overcook. Remove top baking sheet and parchment paper, and allow phyllo disks to cool.
• To assemble: Place a dab of lemon curd in the center of each plate, and press a phyllo disk on top of it. Top the phyllo with 1 tablespoon of lemon curd. Arrange four raspberries on the curd. Top with another phyllo disk, more lemon curd, and raspberries, continuing until each napoleon has three layers of berries. Top with a phyllo disk, and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Serve immediately.

LEMON NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the sheets of fillo and cover with damp cloth or a piece of plastic wrap. You should work quickly to avoid the fillo drying out. Lay two pieces of parchment paper measuring about 16 by 11-inches out on large chopping board. Brush each piece of paper with a thin layer of butter and sift two tablespoons of confectioners' sugar onto each one. Lay a sheet of fillo onto each of the papers and now brush that with butter also. Continue to layer the fillo and butter on each stack to give 4 fillo layers in total, finishing with a butter layer. Finally, sift 2 tablespoons of confectioners' sugar on top of each. Lay another sheet of parchment paper measuring 16 by 11-inches on top and use this as a guide to trim the pastry edges using a sharp knife. Next, remove the top sheet of parchment and using the knife, divide each fillo stack in half down the length (to give four 5.5-inches wide and 16-inches long rectangles). Make light score marks (not cutting through) with the knife across the opposite way and at 2-inch intervals to give 8 portion marks when serving. Slide each stack onto a sheet pan, butter the top sheets of parchment paper and place them butter side down on top. Finally, place another sheet pan on top of each stack (which will ensure the pastry will cook thin and crispy). Bake for 15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Remove the top sheet pans and allow the pastries to cool completely. To assemble, set one long rectangle onto a large platter and spread over 1/4 of the lemon curd evenly. Continue to layer up the fillo and lemon curd ending with a fillo top, to give 4 fillo layers and 3 lemon curd layers. Using a very sharp knife carefully cut the Napoleon into 8 portions using the score marks as a guide. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve at once.

LEMON CREAM NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400º.
• On a lightly floured surface, rolls out puff pastry sheet to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Using cookie cutter of choice, cut out 9 shapes per sheet.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• It's a good idea to place your uncooked napoleons in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to ensure that they are cold.
• Bake at 400º for 8-11 minutes, until lightly brown and puffed.
• Cool completely on rack.
• In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Fold in Cool Whip.
• Split puff pastry shapes in half.
• Place bottom halves on serving plates.
• Spoon filling equally over bottom halves.
• Lightly top with top halves of napoleons.
• In a heavy duty zip lock baggie, melt white chocolate in microwave about 30 seconds, until soft.
• Add a drop or 2 of food coloring to melted white chocolate and knead baggie until color is even.
• Cut a small corner off the baggie and drizzle melted chocolate over napoleons.
• Alternately, you can sprinkle with powdered sugar instead of white chocolate.
• Serve immediately.

LEMON CREAM NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine ricotta, lemon pudding and sour cream. Process until smooth.
• Add lemon zest and process for 1 minute. Mix until pudding consistency.
• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Line baking sheet with kitchen parchment.
• In a small bowl, combine honey and warm water. Stir until honey dissolves.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly brush wrappers on both sides with honey water.
• Place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake for approximately 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool.
• To serve, place one wrapper on a plate and spoon a dollop of pudding mixture.
• Repeat with another layer.
• Mix 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the whipped topping.
• Top third wrapper with a dollop of whipped topping.
• Garnish with a sprinkle of lemon zest.

NUTTY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place pecan halves in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 7 to 10 minutes, or until browned.
• In a food processor, mix together cream cheese, stilton cheese, port wine, honey and pepper. Process until smooth. Transfer to a sealable plastic bag.
• Arrange half the pecans on a large, flat serving dish, flat side down. Cut the tip off plastic bag. Pipe approximately 1/4 teaspoon cream cheese mixture onto each half. Top with remaining pecan halves, flat side down. Pipe another 1/4 teaspoon cream cheese mixture onto each. Garnish with chives.