Vanilla mille-feuille - french napoléon

Ingredients

For about ten mille-feuilles:

• 1.5 lbs puff pastry
• Icing sugar

For the pastry cream:

• 3 cups milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup corn starch

For the marbling:

• 0.8 lb royal icing
• 1.7 oz of dark chocolate

Materials

• Rolling pin
• Baking tray 16x16 inches/40 x 40 cm
• Serrated knife / bread knife
• Piping bag
• Syringe or pastry cone
• Stainless steel spatula
• Ruler
• Pie dish (optional)

Preparation

• Cut one third of the block of puff pastry and set aside. Roll out the remaining pastry into a large square of 16x16 inches/40 x 40 cm.
• Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray (16x16 inches/40 x 40 cm) and moisten it slightly. Place your square of puff pastry on top. With a fork, poke holes all over the surface of the puff pastry. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  Do the same with the remaining third of pastry, forming a rectangle of 8x16 inches/20 x 40 cm.
  
• Pastry cream:
  Bring the milk to a boil with the split vanilla pod and its seeds.
  Beat the eggs with the sugar.
  Add the cornstarch and mix well.
• Once the milk has boiled, gradually add it to the previous mixture, then return everything to the saucepan.
  
• Thicken over medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure it thickens well; this is essential for the success of the recipe. Also, remember that the pastry cream will thicken slightly as it cools.
• Place plastic wrap at the bottom of a pie dish or a large dish. Pour the hot pastry cream into it, and cover it with plastic wrap "in contact" (this means the wrap should touch the cream to prevent a skin from forming).
  Let it cool completely.
  
• Sprinkle icing sugar over the puff pastry and bake it for 25 minutes at 370°F/190°C.
  Let it cool completely.
• Once the puff pastry has cooled, cut it into 3 equal-width strips (here we cut strips 5 inchesx13 cm wide). Use your serrated knife and saw gently: do not press down on the pastry, or you will break it. Make lateral movements to saw through the pastry.
  
• Set aside the middle strip to go on top. Keep one strip of puff pastry.
  Spread a layer of pastry cream on it and smooth it out to make it even.
• Place the 2nd strip of puff pastry on top and press down lightly. Spread another layer of pastry cream, and finish with the middle strip, smooth side up.
  Do the same with the piece of puff pastry measuring 8x16 inches/20x40 cm.
  
• Marbling:
  Prepare all your ingredients before proceeding, as time is essential at this stage.
  Heat the icing/fondant in the microwave for 15 seconds to loosen it (no longer!).
  Melt the chocolate and place it in a syringe or pastry cone.
  Pour the icing/fondant over the top strip (remember to save some for the small piece) and spread it quickly with a spatula. It's okay if the icing/fondant drips over the edges.
• Immediately after, make horizontal lines of chocolate on the fondant, spacing them about 0.4 inches/1 cm apart.
  
• Then, with the back of a knife blade, make strokes from top to bottom to form a pattern. Space each "stroke" 0.8 inches/2 cm apart.
  Do the same by making strokes from bottom to top, between the lines already formed.
  This step must be done relatively quickly, before the fondant sets, which would prevent a nice pattern from forming. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Trim the edges of the large mille-feuilles formed, always using a sawing motion to achieve clean edges without icing/fondant. Then cut portions about 2 inches/5 cm wide.
  
• And there you have it, your mille-feuilles are ready!

Observations

Pastry cream: you can flavor it to your liking, although the traditional mille-feuille is vanilla. Be sure to thicken it well; if it is too runny, it won't hold, and you won't be able to assemble your mille-feuilles.
Icing: this is a tricky ingredient to work with. Here we opted for a icing from the Vahiné brand, which is suitable for the general public and easier to work with. If you use professional white incing/fondant, be careful not to heat it above 95°F/35°C, or it will lose its shine. You will also need to add a few drops of water to loosen it, as it can be quite thick and therefore hard to handle.

Cookware

Attributes

Questions

Photos of members who cooked this recipe