Sunday, February 8, 2009

Raspberry Mille-Feuille

Mille-feuille is actually French and translated to English, it means a dessert of a thousand layers. I do believe it is also called "Napolean" in the States and "Custard Slice" in some countries in Europe. The name "mille-feuille" itself conjurs up images of sophistication and the very first time I tried this dessert, I fell thoroughly in love with it. The dessert which I had many years ago, had custard cream in-between layers of puff pastry with a topping of lemon glaze icing. Simple but absolutely delicious! Thus I'm somewhat surprised that this dessert is not found in most coffee shops or bakeries.

I've been thinking of trying this for some time now and this seems the right opportunity. This is my first attempt at mille-feuille and I was quite pleased with the end result. You should have seen my husband clean up his dessert plate (shucks if only I had a video camera!). For a "non-dessert" person, he certainly enjoyed this one! Definitely something that I'll be making again.




Raspberry Mille-Feuille
Recipe Adapted from Desserts by James Martin
(serves 8)

Ingredients:

250g puff pastry (see recipe below) or packet of fresh or frozen ready rolled all butter puff pastry
Flour for rolling out pastry
About 2 1/2 cups of lemon custard see recipe below)
1 egg beaten
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (substitute with other fruits/berries if preferred)
Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1) Prepare the custard cream and set aside to cool. Once cool, refrigerate for about 30 minutes before using.

2) Preheat the oven to 180C.

2) Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut out a rectangle measuring 12cm x 45cm. Place on a non stick baking tray and brush the top with the egg wash.

3) Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool. Once cooled cut the pastry in 3 rectangles of equal size.

4) Spread half of the lemon custard on the first layer. Then sprinkle 1 cup of the raspberries on top the of the custard, spread each fruit apart to get an evenly distributed layer. Then add the 2nd layer of puff pastry on top of the 1st layer and repeat with the remaining custard and raspberries. Place the final layer of puff pastry and dust the top with icing sugar. Serve immediately.


Simple Rough Puff Pastry:
(Makes 350g)

200g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
150g butter
1 tsp lemon juice

1) Mix together the flour and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and mix the butter into the flour without breaking up the lumps. Mix to a stiff doug with 100ml cold water the lemon juice.

2) On a floured board, roll the dough into rectangle three times as long as it is wide - about 30cm x 10cm.

3) Fold the top third down and bottom third up. Turn the pastry sideways and seal the edges. Continue to roll adn fold four times, leaving the pastry to rest for 15 minutes between each folding and rolling. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before using. (Left over pastry can be frozen in the freezer.)


Lemon Custard
(makes 750ml)

8 egg yolks
75g castor sugar
300ml milk
300ml double cream
zest of 1 large lemon
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I added a bit more as I prefer it to be a bit more tart)
1 tspn lemon extract

1) Beat egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until well blended.

2) Place the milk and cream in a saucepan. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract Bring mixture to a slight boil over medium fire.

3) Once the milk and cream starts to boil, remove from heat and pour a little into the egg mixture and mix well. Then pour back into the pan. Return to the heat and using a whisk, lightly stir the mix to thicken, do not boil.

4) As the egg yolks warm, the cream will thicken to create a custard. Keep stirring until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve and leave to cool. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using. Remaining custard can be frozen in the freezer for about one month.


14 comments:

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Love the flavor & texture combinations! That's awesome you made your own puff pastry!

btw, your(?) doggie is a cutie!
~ingrid

Jacque said...

Mmm, that does look yummy! It it makes for such a nice presentation too.

Nice work!

Edith said...

Beautiful and it looks divine and delicous. I wish I have a piece too.

Your doggie so cute. Next time bring to my hse.

pigpigscorner said...

Love mille-feuille! So light and delicious!

Garrett said...

Layered desserts seem to always be so visually appealing, and the combination of raspberry with lemon custard sounds great. I might have to try this one out... :-)

Creative Classroom Core said...

What amazing pictures! You had me at raspberry... :)

Pam said...

I've never had this before but I know I would love it. The lemon is calling my name.

Kana said...

What a cute puppy! I really like the presentation of this dessert.

Jescel said...

I have watched someone made something like this on TV and i thought, "i'm going to try this!" and then, i found your blog.. Millie-feuille gives this dessert such a classy name... you did good.. thanks for sharing. (and the pic with your pup is sooo cute)

Hillary said...

Ooh yet another great looking puff pastry dessert!

Hillary
Chew on That

Susan said...

Looks wonderful. Raspberry and lemon are a great combo.

I've never made puff paste from scratch. Your recipe reads very easy. I'm so tempted to try it. : )

Lisa said...

This looks amazing.I love raspberries and lemon. A light and refreshing dessert!

Eunice said...

this looks awesome! Lovely job you've done here Jo dear!

viagra online said...

I went to Europe last year and I had been eating Rapberry Mille/Feuille during two days.

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