Raspberry Napoleon Food

HEART-SHAPED RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place puff pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and poke holes all over surface using the tines of a fork; top with a second piece of parchment paper. Place 2 baking sheets on top of parchment paper to weigh down; transfer to oven. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove puff pastry from oven and uncover; let cool completely. Using a 3 1/4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut six hearts from puff pastry, reserving scraps.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip with pastry cream. Place 1 heart-shaped piece of puff on each of two dessert plates. Pipe pastry cream over the surface of each heart, almost to the edge. Place raspberries around the perimeter of the pastry cream. Top each with a second puff pastry heart and repeat process. Top each with a third puff pastry heart.
• Crumble a little of the reserved puff pastry scraps and top Napoleons with crumbs. Dust tops with confectioners' sugar and pipe a little pastry cream in the center of each. Top with a raspberry and serve immediately.

RED VELVET NAPOLEONS WITH RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Unfold the puff pastry and place 1 sheet on each of 2 baking sheets. Top each with another sheet of parchment weighed down with a baking sheet topped with a ceramic baking dish. Bake until the pastry is crisp and golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Carefully cut each puff pastry sheet with a serrated knife into 9 rectangles, each about 2-by-5 inches; dust the tops with superfine sugar. Bake the pastry, uncovered, until crisp and caramelized, watching carefully and rotating the baking sheets--this is quick, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Alternatively, you can use a kitchen torch. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks. Transfer the cooled pastry to a cutting board.
• In a large bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the melted chocolate, butter, cream cheese, the 4 cups confectioners' sugar and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Color as desired with the food coloring then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe round little blobs onto 6 of the pastry rectangles, covering the surface. Top with 6 more of the rectangles and repeat the piping. Top with the remaining 6 rectangles. Set a metal offset spatula over the center crosswise of each napoleon and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Garnish each with 2 to 3 raspberries and a small edible flower.

RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS DESSERT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet on a floured work surface until it is 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 16 squares. Transfer to a baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on the top and bottom, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool, about 10 minutes.
• Combine cream cheese, white sugar, heavy cream, and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix by hand until smooth and glossy. Dollop cream cheese mixture over 16 squares. Spread out cream cheese mixture and cover with raspberries. Top with the remaining puff pastry squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

LEMON CREAM AND RASPBERRY PHYLLO NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• For Phyllo Squares:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. Stack phyllo sheets on work surface. Trim to 10 1/2-inch square (reserve scraps for another use). Place 1 phyllo square on work surface (cover remaining phyllo with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel). Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with second phyllo square. Brush lightly with melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with third phyllo square. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Cut phyllo stack into 9 equal stacked squares. Arrange stacked phyllo squares an prepared baking sheet. Repeat layering and cutting with remaining 3 phyllo sheets, sugar and butter making total of 18 stacked phyllo squares. Bake until phyllo is golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool completely.
• For Lemon Cream:
• Beat cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until medium peaks form. Whisk lemon curd in another medium bowl until smooth. Add to cream mixture. Beat to stiff peaks.
• Spread 1 generous tablespoon lemon cream on each of 6 stacked phyllo squares. Top each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 1 phyllo square, 1 more tablespoon lemon cream and 6 raspberries (save any remaining lemon cream for another use). Top each with 1 phyllo square. Sift powdered sugar over desserts. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover loosely and refrigerate).

VANILLA PUDDING RASPBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• In a small bowl, gently stir together the honey, fruit spread and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Add the raspberries and toss to coat.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the pudding and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• To assemble, place a wafer cookie onto a plate. Place with 1 heaping tablespoon pudding and 1 heaping tablespoon raspberries and top with a second wafer cookie. Top with another heaping tablespoon pudding, another heaping tablespoon raspberries and a third wafer cookie. Top with a small dollop of the pudding and garnish with a reserved raspberry. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

BERRY NAPOLEONS WITH SUGARED WONTON WRAPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Arrange wonton wrappers on prepared baking sheet and spray the surface with cooking spray. Sprinkle sugar over wontons. Bake 5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove wontons from oven and arrange 4 on a serving platter (or individual dessert dishes). Top each wonton with 2 tablespoons whipped topping and then 2 tablespoons berries. Top with second wonton wrapper. Repeat layers (whipped topping, berries, wonton wrapper). Sift confectioners' sugar over top layer. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE-BERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into a 10-inch square; cut into 2 1/2-by-5-inch rectangles (8 total). Sandwich between 2 unlined rimmed baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees F until golden, 30 minutes. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cool. Cook 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small skillet over medium heat, whisking, until thick. Stir in 2 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate; cool. Fold in 1 1/2 cups whipped cream. To assemble, layer 2 pastry rectangles with the chocolate cream and raspberries. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Line a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside. Place raspberries (if using fresh raspberries, reserve 1/2 cup for garnish) in a medium skillet over medium heat. Simmer until raspberries begin to break down and liquid is released, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer raspberries to a food processor, and puree, about 20 seconds. Pass through a fine sieve. Set aside to cool.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a stockpot 1/4 full of water to a boil. Let simmer. In a medium stainless-steel bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar, corn syrup, and kirsch or champagne; place over simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until mixture thickens (when whisk is lifted over the mixture, the ribbonlike trail it leaves on the surface should hold its shape for 1 or 2 seconds), about 4 minutes. Transfer bowl to the ice-water bath; whisk mixture while it cools. Add 3/4 cup raspberry puree to mixture; whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on high speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. While mixer is running, gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar; beat until very stiff, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Beat cream with whisk attachment until stiff; fold into egg whites.
• Fold raspberry mixture into egg whites and cream. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan; cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the freezer; freeze until hardened, at least 4 hours. This can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
• To make the raspberry sauce, stir superfine sugar into the remaining raspberry puree (about 2 tablespoons). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter (2 1/2 inches across at the widest point) to cut out 4 hearts from the semifreddo. Divide the raspberry sauce between 2 dessert plates. Place a chocolate heart, off center, on top of the raspberry sauce. Place a semifreddo heart on each chocolate heart and repeat layering until there are 3 layers of chocolate and 2 layers of semifreddo, ending with a chocolate heart. Garnish with the reserved fresh raspberries (if using), sift confectioners' sugar over the raspberries, if desired.