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Mille-Feuille (Napoleon Pastry) – Sally’s Baking Habit


From the numerous flaky layers of delicate puff pastry, to the creamy clouds of vanilla pastry cream, to the ornamental marbled icing, mille-feuille is a formidable dessert worthy of a special day. Discover ways to make this traditional European pastry in your personal kitchen—no sophisticated substances or pastry college diploma wanted. I embody thorough explanations within the weblog submit under, in addition to many step pictures within the recipe, to set you up for fulfillment.

mille-feuille square serving on white plate with fresh raspberries.

Able to majorly impress your self and anybody fortunate sufficient to be a style tester? Let’s make an ornate-looking (however completely approachable) pastry dessert.


What Is Mille Feuille (and How Do You Pronounce It)?

The French “mille feuille” (pronounced meel-foy) interprets to a thousand sheets or leaves, an outline of this dessert’s many whisper-thin pastry layers. It’s additionally generally known as a “Napoleon” or a “custard slice” relying on the filling and/or area. (There are so many variations!) It doesn’t matter what you name it, this eye-catching European pastry is a formidable sight to behold in a pâtisserie show case.

I’ve beloved pouring over recipes on-line, together with from The Spruce Eats, Erin Jeanne McDowell’s on Food52, Bake from Scratch, Preppy Kitchen’s mille feuille, and Prue Leith’s on GBBO. I got down to make my very own model, utilizing a few these recipes as my inspiration.

And at present I’m going to show you the way to make it, too. Similar to with do-it-yourself croissants, it could seem like a frightening baking problem, however when you take your time with a few of the technical steps, I promise it’s doable! The method does take time, however the steps could be damaged up over a few days.

slices on napoleon pastry dessert with icing on top and dripping down the side.
mille feuille napoleon pastry stack with vanilla icing and chevron-style swirled melted chocolate on top.

Easy methods to Make Mille-Feuille (Millefeuille or Mille Feuille)

Right this moment’s mille-feuille is made up of:

  • 3 layers of baked puff pastry
  • 2 layers of pastry cream
  • 1 layer of marbled icing

Right here is the whole lot it is advisable make this recipe:

ingredients measured on marble counter including egg yolks, cornstarch, butter, pastry dough, heavy cream, chocolate, and milk.

Pastry Cream Filling

Let’s begin with the filling as a result of it has cooling and chilling steps concerned; it’s environment friendly to make this primary so it’s prepared when the baked puff pastry layers are prepared. (You can too make it a day forward.)

Pastry cream, or crème pâtissière, is a vanilla custard-like filling you should utilize for treats like pies, eclairs, doughnuts, and extra. You cook dinner it on the range similar to you put together the pudding filling for banana cream pie. It’s fairly thick after chilling, so that you often want to provide it a stir to {smooth} it out once more. On this layered mille-feuille, we really take it a step additional and add whipped cream. This significantly lightens up the feel, making it velvety-smooth—suppose do-it-yourself whipped cream, however richer and extra substantial. Whenever you add whipped cream to pastry cream, I realized, it’s known as crème légère, or lightened cream. (It will also be known as diplomat cream or crème diplomate, however that generally consists of gelatin.)

In the event you’ve ever made Boston cream pie, you’re conversant in pastry cream. I deviated from that recipe, although. It’s a cake filling there, so it’s actually sturdy and thick. I wanted much less pastry cream, and I wished a lighter consistency for this dessert’s filling.

The detailed directions and step pictures are within the recipe under, however let me share some key steps and success suggestions so you’ve got a greater understanding.

  • Cornstarch and egg yolks thicken the cream. Mix these first, after which transfer to the range. You’ll simmer complete milk and granulated sugar collectively, after which take away it from warmth and mood the egg yolks.
  • Tempering is vital right here. To mood, slowly pour the new milk combination into the egg yolks and cornstarch, whisking always. This fastidiously and slowly raises the egg yolk’s temperature. The aim of tempering is to stop scrambling them.
  • Pressure it. Simply in case there are some solids! Pour the entire combination again into the saucepan by means of a fine-mesh sieve, to pressure out any solids which will have shaped.
  • Deliver it to a boil. At first it received’t seem to be it’s thickening a lot, simply getting frothy, however as quickly because it reaches a boil with large bubbles bursting on the floor, it should thicken up just about instantly.
  • Take away from warmth & add taste. Stir in butter, vanilla extract, vanilla bean + a pinch of salt.

Then you definitely’ll must refrigerate it so it thickens.

That is the velvet-rich pastry cream earlier than chilling:

spoonful of creamy pastry cream in glass bowl.

Chill it within the fridge for at least 3 hours or in a single day. It is going to agency up so much throughout this time. Give it a stir after which mix it with whipped cream. Chill it as soon as once more for 1 hour, so it’s good and thick for piping between the flaky pastry layers.

And that is the pastry cream after combining with whipped cream:

vanilla bean pastry cream with whipped cream folded in with red spatula.

Puff Pastry Layers

I’m utilizing my do-it-yourself tough puff pastry, however you possibly can completely take the shortcut of utilizing store-bought puff pastry. If frozen, thaw it based on bundle directions earlier than you start.

In the event you’d prefer to make the tough puff pastry from scratch, you want simply 5 substances together with flour, sugar, salt, chilly butter, and chilly water. The entire similar substances as butter pie crust, however there’s the added rolling and folding course of, much like biscuits, which provides us all of these flaky layers.

After you have your store-bought dough thawed, or the do-it-yourself dough chilled (after the second refrigeration as detailed within the tough puff pastry submit), it’s time to roll it out and I’ve these actual directions under. Place the rolled-out dough on a lined baking sheet and dock it with a fork, similar to you’ll when par-baking pie crust.

That is the do-it-yourself puff pastry dough able to bake:

rolled-out dough with fork dock marks all over it on top of lined baking sheet.

That is the store-bought puff pastry dough able to bake (you’ll join the 2 sheets that often are available in a field):

rolled out store-bought puff pastry docked with fork on top of lined baking sheet.

An Odd Step: Weigh it Down!

Now right here’s the step not often included in puff pastry recipes: we’re going to overwhelm the pastry to stop it from puffing up an excessive amount of.

Place one other sheet of parchment paper on prime of the pastry dough, then set one other baking sheet on prime of that. In case you have pie weights, pour them onto the highest baking sheet. You can additionally use dried beans as an alternative. In the event you don’t have both, bake it with simply the (empty) prime baking sheet, and when it comes out of the oven, set a pan or skillet on the highest baking sheet whereas it cools.

You’ll bake it lined with weights (or no matter you’re utilizing) for 20 minutes, after which with out weights for one more 7 to 9 minutes.

Word: I discovered that the do-it-yourself puff pastry will get a lot darker than the store-bought; probably as a result of it’s made with butter as an alternative of oil-based fat.


As soon as the baked pastry has cooled, you’ll reduce it into 15 (roughly) equally sized items, to make 5 mille-feuille stacks containing 3 pastry layers every.

baked homemade puff pastry and then cut into squares.

Mille-feuille are sometimes rectangular in form, however I discovered that making them as squares was simpler when it got here to slicing uniform measurement items. Once I examined these as rectangles, I discovered they have been both too small and troublesome to assemble, or else made 4 enormous pastries that have been a lot too massive for particular person parts. I had one of the best success with making 5 assembled 3-inch sq. pastries.


Prime & Assemble the Mille-Feuille

There are various methods to prime these, starting from a easy dusting of confectioners’ sugar to fanciful swirls of two-toned icing. Some recipes name for royal icing, whereas others use fondant. I really like the signature marbled icing look, in order that’s what I’m demonstrating.

After testing many variations, my style testers and I decided {that a} thick vanilla icing + melted chocolate pairing makes for the tastiest topping. Darkish, bittersweet, or semi-sweet chocolate tastes greatest with the candy vanilla icing. Like I at all times suggest for melting chocolate, chop up a bar of baking chocolate—save the chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookies.

You’ll ice the entire tops first, earlier than assembling as a result of it’s troublesome to ice the tops effectively after they’re layered on prime of a creamy filling. Place the 5 pastry squares you’ll use for the tops on a wire rack. With an icing spatula or a spoon, unfold the vanilla icing on every sq.. Then pipe or drizzle melted chocolate on prime. For this, I piped 4 stripes throughout after which used a toothpick to create the traditional chevron design by dragging it in a perpendicular path. Like this:

piping melted chocolate on top of icing on square of pastry and shown again running toothpick through it.

Now let’s fill the pastries. Match a pastry/piping bag with a big spherical tip, corresponding to Ateco 808 (which I exploit for lots of cupcakes—see this piping suggestions submit). Or, you possibly can merely use a big plastic bag and snip off a backside nook with scissors.

Begin with one plain (un-iced) sq. of pastry and pipe on 3 dollops of cream in 3 rows, so you’ve got a grid of 9 dollops. Place one other pastry sq. on prime of that, after which repeat the piping the identical method. Lastly, place one of many iced pastry layers on prime.

Refrigerate the assembled pastries (uncovered) for at least half-hour earlier than serving, simply so that they aren’t toppling over. Like in most pastry recipes, the fridge is your good friend right here.

hand placing the icing-topped pastry square on top of the other two layers of pastry cream.

Easy methods to Eat Mille-Feuille

Ahh, sure. Essentially the most troublesome instruction of the day. 😉 On this step, you’ll merely stuff your face with it. However slowly! Savor and revel in each chunk. Respect the time that went into making it!

Plate every mille-feuille and serve with a fork, or you possibly can eat it handheld. The longer the assembled pastries sit within the fridge, the extra stable they’ll develop into. However whatever the time it units, the mushy filling will spill out the edges while you reduce or chunk into it, and that’s advantageous! It’s crispy, it’s creamy, it’s close-your-eyes-and-sigh dreamy.

Can I exploit store-bought puff pastry?

Sure, completely. However if you’d like the problem, and a heightened taste expertise, I strongly encourage you to make use of do-it-yourself puff pastry. You’ll be rewarded with an optimum taste and texture expertise. And you’ll actually style that butter within the do-it-yourself model!

What can I exploit to overwhelm the baking pastry as an alternative of pie weights?

You need to use dried beans. OR you possibly can simply add the baking sheet on prime and never fill it with weights or beans. (At all times add a bit of parchment paper on prime of the dough, although, so the pan will not be touching it.) OR because the baked pastry is cooling, place one thing heavy like a pot or pan on prime of the highest baking sheet, to overwhelm the baking sheet that’s on the puff pastry. (I’ve carried out that final suggestion earlier than and it really works simply advantageous.)

Do I’ve to make use of pastry cream because the filling?

Although it’s the most typical filling on this dessert, you shouldn’t have to make use of pastry cream between the layers. I’ve an inventory of different filling choices under, like mousse or no-bake cheesecake filling.

What different topping choices are there?

As a substitute of the vanilla icing + chocolate combo, you possibly can merely mud the tops with confectioners’ sugar. You can too skip the chocolate for a plain vanilla icing topping, or skip the vanilla icing and drizzle melted chocolate immediately on prime. Or, some recipes name for royal icing. (If you wish to use my recipe for royal icing, I like to recommend halving it.)


Different Filling Choices

Or you possibly can nonetheless use pastry cream, or any of the ideas above, and layer your filling of alternative with contemporary raspberries or thinly sliced strawberries and dollops of jam. Or pipe rows of raspberry cake filling between rows of your alternative of cream/mousse filling. Numerous choices!

straight on photo of 3 layered puff pastry and pastry cream layers.
mille feuille square serving with forkful taken out on a white plate with raspberry and mint leaf.

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