Strawberry Mille-Feuille
This year my wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. We had the opportunity to travel to the south of France to celebrate and take in the local culture. The south of France is a beautiful area to travel and the food for the most part, is based on the sea.
While we were traveling in most cases you could get three course for one price. It always contained desserts.
An easy desert is the Mille – Feuille, which is typically three layers of puff pastry, filled with two layers of pastry crème, additionally you can have jams, fruits and even savory items in between the pastry layers.
While this version is made with strawberries, feel free to substitute other fruits, apples sautéed with cinnamon, sliced poached pears, the choice is yours.
This is a very easy dessert and your guests will be very impressed with the flavor and the simplicity.
Strawberry Mille-Feuille
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry defrosted
5 Tbs Sugar Pastry Cream (see below)
½ Cup Whipping Cream
10 ½ oz quartered strawberries
Confectioners Sugar for Topping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Roll the pastry around the rolling pin, and then unroll it onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. To make the syrup, put the sugar and ¼ cup water in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat. Cut out three 12 × 5 inch rectangles from the pastry and place them on a large baking tray. Prick with a fork, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and placea second baking tray on top to prevent the pastry from rising unevenly. Bake for 6 minutes, and then remove the top baking tray and paper. Brush the pastry with the syrup and bake for another 6 minutes until golden on top. Cool on a wire rack. Whisk the pastry crème. Whip the whipping cream and fold into the pastry crème. Spread half of this over one pastry rectangle and top with half of the strawberries. Repeat with the second layer. Cover with the last layer of pastry and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Pastry Crème 3 Egg Yolks ¼ Superfine Sugar 1/8 Cup Cornstarch 1 1/8 Cup Milk ¾ tsp Vanilla ¼ oz Butter Whisk together the egg yolks and half the sugar until pale and creamy. Sift in the cornstarch and mix together well. Put the milk, remaining sugar and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring just to the boil and then strain over the egg yolk mixture stirring continuously. It will be lumpy at first but will become smooth as you stir. Boil for 2 minutes and then stir in the butter and leave to cool. Transfer to a bowl, lay plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin forming and refrigerate.
Ciao. Glenn and Glenn
