Mille Feuille French Napoleon Pastry Food

NAPOLEON DESSERT | MILLE FEUILLE CREAM PASTRY

Steps:

• Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204.4 degrees C) and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Unfold both sheets of pastry and divide each into thirds by cutting along the fold lines, giving you 6 rectangles of pastry. Lay the rectangles on the parchment covered baking sheet, spacing them about 1/4-inch apart.
• Cover the pastry with another sheet of parchment paper and lay another baking sheet on top. This will prevent the puff pastry from rising too much and give the pastry nice, flaky layers.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and the top layer of parchment and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. (*Please read the note below abotu preventing your puff pastry from burning.)
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely before assembly.
• Lay one sheet of baked puff pastry on a serving dish and spread about a 1/2-inch thick layer of pastry cream evenly over the top. Layer another rectangle of pastry over the cream, repeat with another 1/2-inch thick layer of pastry cream and top with a third pastry rectangle. Press on the top of the Napoleon slightly just to evenly distribute the layers.
• Repeat with the remaining pastry rectangles and pastry cream. Cover the Napoleons with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (*See note below.)
• Dust the tops of each Napoleon with a thick layer of powdered sugar right before serving.
• Slice each Napoleon into 6 slices, using a serrated knife.

MILLE-FEUILLE WITH VANILLA PASTRY CREAM AND BOURBON SAUCE

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla seeds and pod. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then remove from the heat.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and egg yolks. Temper the eggs by adding about 1/4 cup of the warm milk mixture and whisking to combine. Add the egg mixture to the pan and whisk to thoroughly combine.
• Heat the pan over medium-low heat until it begins to thicken. Cook, stirring constantly with a spatula, until the mixture is the consistency of pancake batter, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean pod. Whisk in the butter until combined. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Transfer to a shallow dish and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• For the bourbon sauce: In a small saucepan, add the bourbon, granulated sugar and vanilla beans and pod. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Reduce the liquid by about half until thickened to a syrupy consistency, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard the vanilla bean pod; cool the syrup to room temperature.
• For the mille-feuille: Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface so that it is a roughly 11-by-16-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, trim off any uneven edges so that it is a perfect 10-by-15-inch rectangle. Slice the pastry into 12 approximately 2 1/2-by-5-inch rectangles. Place them on a lined baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Brush the tops of the puff pastry rectangles with the butter and sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and another baking sheet on top so the puff pastry is sandwiched in between. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and parchment and let cool to room temperature.
• To assemble: Spoon a small dollop of the pastry cream onto each plate to act as a "glue" for the first layer of puff pastry. Place one layer of puff pastry onto the cream dollop, then top with a layer of cream. Nestle about 6 raspberries in the pastry cream in rows and top them with a dollop more of pastry cream. Repeat the layers once more and top with a final layer of pastry. Dust the pastry and plate liberally with confectioners' sugar and drizzle the plate around the pastry with the bourbon sauce.

MILLE FEUILLE (NAPOLEON PASTRY SHEETS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone sheet.
• Separate dough at the seams into 4 squares and place on prepared baking sheet. Score the dough all over with the tines of a fork to prevent it from rising too much when baking. Lightly sprinkle dough sheets with white granulated sugar.
• Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and 3 sheets of aluminum foil. Nest another baking sheet on top to apply some pressure to the dough while it bakes.
• Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes; remove top pan and foil and gently peel off the parchment paper. Return pan to oven and bake until pastry is beautifully browned, 10 to 15 minutes. (Optionally, you can bake about 7 minutes after uncovering, then flip sheets over and bake until brown on the other side, another 7 minutes.)
• Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before cutting.
• Square the sheets by trimming uneven edges off sheets using a sharp serrated knife with light sawing motion to keep the pastry from breaking. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 3 equal smaller rectangles. Use 3 small rectangles per pastry.

MILLES FEUILLES (NAPOLEON PASTRY)

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Put 2 1/2 cups milk, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a small boil to come to the boil.
• Dissolve the corn flour in the remaining milk and pour into hot milk.
• Whisk the corn flour into the milk and turn off heat.
• Beat the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl and slowly whisk in some of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking all the while.
• Do this until you have incorporated nearly all the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the yolks.
• Add any leftover milk mixture and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard.
• Refrigerate and cool completely.
• For whipped cream: Place all ingredients in mixer bowl and whip until snowy peaks form.
• Remove 1/3 of whipped cream and fold into pastry cream.
• For pastry: Preheat oven to 425F.
• Take 1 sheet of puff pastry and lay out flat, with long side facing you.
• Cut in 1/2 lengthwise.
• Repeat with other sheet of puff pastry, so you have 4 equal pieces.
• Butter a cookie sheet or baking pan large enough to contain the puff pastry pieces and place the pastry on the cookie sheet.
• Pierce the pastry all over with a fork.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300F and bake a further 35-40 minutes (pastry should be baked through and a deep golden-brown).
• To assemble: Place 1 sheet of pastry on a platter, spread with half of pastry cream, ensuring you don't spread all the way out to the edges of the pastry.
• Place another sheet of pastry over and spread with remainder of pastry cream.
• Place third sheet of pastry over and spread top and sides of assembled pastry with whipped cream.
• Crumble up the fourth pastry sheet with your hands and sprinkle broken pieces of pastry on top of whipped cream and press some onto sides.
• Place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour to set.
• Just before serving, place 2 tblsps of icing sugar into a sieve and sieve directly over cake.
• Serve immediately.
• This is a dessert that is quick to make and assemble but has to be eaten close to making, otherwise the puff pastry absorbs moisture and becomes soggy.
• Note: A very nice variation is to thinly spread the first and second puff pastry sheet (the ones that you spread with the custard) with a thin scraping of seedless raspberry jam before you spread with custard.