Mille-Feuille
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Indulge in the decadent layers of the classic French pastry, the Mille-Feuille. Dating back to the 17th century, this exquisite dessert has been perfected over the years by talented chefs such as François Pierre de la Varenne and Antonin Carême. Imagine three layers of flaky puff pastry, delicately paired with luscious pastry cream, Chiboust cream, or even a velvety Chantilly cream. The top is elegantly glazed with white icing fondant and adorned with intricate melted chocolate stripes. This timeless treat is a true masterpiece of French pastry craftsmanship, promising a symphony of flavors and textures in every bite.
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Napoleon
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Puff Pastry Sheet
- Roll out puff pastry into a 14.5X19.5-inch/37X50cm and lightly prick. Lay pastry over a large sheet tray and refrigerate for 30 min to rest. Trim off into a 13X18- inch/33X46cm sheet or leave it as is (it can also be trimmed and readjusted upon baked). Freeze pastry sheets until ready to bake.
Baking
- Fan oven offers best results when baking puff pastry. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Bake puff pastry for 55 minutes. After 20 minutes, top pastry with an upside down wire rack; it helps pastry to puff evenly.
Mille-Feuille Montage – 3 Ways
- When producing Mille-Feuille in large scale, baked puff pastry sheets and filling are framed into large devices, flash frozen and cut into portions. In upscaled restaurants and luxury hotels, Mille-Feuille is rather assembled to order ''a la minute''. The baked pastry is already portioned into serving sizes. They are then assembled with the filling right before being sent to the table. This is actually the best way to do it – indeed, the flakiness of the pastry remains intact. The pastry is rather presented sides up without being glazed with icing fondant. It is then topped with an elegant finish. These are made up of vanilla diplomate cream. Here is the most common way to make it. Called ''mille-feuille monté en bande'', Mille-Feuille built into strips. With a serrated knife, cut pastry sheet into 3 equal portions. Save the neater pastry for the top (flat side up).
- In the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, smooth out pastry cream.
- Pipe custard onto the first pastry (flat side down), the thickness of the custard should match the height of the pastry. Top with the second pastry (flat side up), add custard and top with the third pastry (flat side up).
- Smooth out Mille-Feuille sides and refrigerate Mille-Feuille until ready to glaze.
Glazing Mille-Feuille
- For the chocolate stripes: prepare a small cone made up of piece of parchment paper. Melt some dark chocolate, and add 10% oil. Chocolate mirror glaze can also be used. Keep warm. For shiner lasting results, lightly brush top pastry with warm neutral mirror glaze or apricot glaze. Warm up icing fondant to ≈104ºF/40ºC. If it is too stiff still, loosen it up with some neutral or apricot glaze or simple syrup. Spread the icing fondant onto the top. Spread icing fondant over the Mille-Feuille and layer it out with an offset spatula. Immediately pipe chocolate stripes across the surface then use a paring knife or skewer to rake across the chocolate stripes in alternating directions to create a chevron pattern.
Cutting Mille-Feuille
- For better handling, freeze Mille-Feuille for about 90 min or until it gets firm enough to be cut through. Trim off sides first with a serrated knife.
- Cut into 6 or 8 portions. Clean up knife between each cut.
Storage
- Mille-Feuille is best eaten the same day. Though, it can handle refrigeration for a couple of days.
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