This Napoleon Rules Recipes

MILLES FEUILLES (NAPOLEON PASTRY)

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Put 2 1/2 cups milk, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a small boil to come to the boil.
• Dissolve the corn flour in the remaining milk and pour into hot milk.
• Whisk the corn flour into the milk and turn off heat.
• Beat the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl and slowly whisk in some of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking all the while.
• Do this until you have incorporated nearly all the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the yolks.
• Add any leftover milk mixture and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard.
• Refrigerate and cool completely.
• For whipped cream: Place all ingredients in mixer bowl and whip until snowy peaks form.
• Remove 1/3 of whipped cream and fold into pastry cream.
• For pastry: Preheat oven to 425F.
• Take 1 sheet of puff pastry and lay out flat, with long side facing you.
• Cut in 1/2 lengthwise.
• Repeat with other sheet of puff pastry, so you have 4 equal pieces.
• Butter a cookie sheet or baking pan large enough to contain the puff pastry pieces and place the pastry on the cookie sheet.
• Pierce the pastry all over with a fork.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300F and bake a further 35-40 minutes (pastry should be baked through and a deep golden-brown).
• To assemble: Place 1 sheet of pastry on a platter, spread with half of pastry cream, ensuring you don't spread all the way out to the edges of the pastry.
• Place another sheet of pastry over and spread with remainder of pastry cream.
• Place third sheet of pastry over and spread top and sides of assembled pastry with whipped cream.
• Crumble up the fourth pastry sheet with your hands and sprinkle broken pieces of pastry on top of whipped cream and press some onto sides.
• Place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour to set.
• Just before serving, place 2 tblsps of icing sugar into a sieve and sieve directly over cake.
• Serve immediately.
• This is a dessert that is quick to make and assemble but has to be eaten close to making, otherwise the puff pastry absorbs moisture and becomes soggy.
• Note: A very nice variation is to thinly spread the first and second puff pastry sheet (the ones that you spread with the custard) with a thin scraping of seedless raspberry jam before you spread with custard.

MILLE FEUILLE (NAPOLEON PASTRY SHEETS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone sheet.
• Separate dough at the seams into 4 squares and place on prepared baking sheet. Score the dough all over with the tines of a fork to prevent it from rising too much when baking. Lightly sprinkle dough sheets with white granulated sugar.
• Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and 3 sheets of aluminum foil. Nest another baking sheet on top to apply some pressure to the dough while it bakes.
• Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes; remove top pan and foil and gently peel off the parchment paper. Return pan to oven and bake until pastry is beautifully browned, 10 to 15 minutes. (Optionally, you can bake about 7 minutes after uncovering, then flip sheets over and bake until brown on the other side, another 7 minutes.)
• Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before cutting.
• Square the sheets by trimming uneven edges off sheets using a sharp serrated knife with light sawing motion to keep the pastry from breaking. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 3 equal smaller rectangles. Use 3 small rectangles per pastry.

CLASSIC FRENCH NAPOLEON RECIPE - (3.9/5)

Steps:

• PUFF PASTRY: Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or plain brown paper; set aside. Unfold puff pastry sheet and trim edges to a 9-inch square. Cut pastry into nine 3-inch squares. Transfer pastry squares to the prepared baking sheets; prick pastry. Bake in a preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, or until golden. (Or bake according to package directions.) Carefully remove pastries from baking sheet. Cool on a rack. CREAM FILLING: In a heavy, medium saucepan stir together sugar, flour, and salt. Slowly stir in half-and-half or light cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Slowly stir about half of the hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return all to saucepan. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap and cool just until warm without stirring. In a small mixing bowl beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into warm pastry cream. GLAZE: In a medium mixing bowl combine confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Stir in enough boiling water to make a glaze of spreading consistency; set aside. ASSEMBLY: Use the tines of a fork to separate each pastry square horizontally into 3 layers. Note: If Using Fruit Jam or Preserves: Spread about 1 teaspoon of the raspberry or strawberry jam or preserves on each bottom layer. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the pastry cream over raspberry preserves or if not using a layer of fruit jam or preserves, spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the pastry cream on the bottom layer and preceed as follows: Top with middle pastry layers. Spread another 1 1/2 tablespoons of the pastry cream on each middle layer. Finally, top with remaining pastry layers. Spread glaze over top of napoleons, then drizzle with melted chocolate. Chill up to 1 hour.

THIS NAPOLEON RULES!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Vegetables:.
• Place all the vegetable ingredients in one layer in an oven and stovetop proof pan. Toss so it is well seasoned and oiled. Roast for 45 minutes. Stirring every 10-15 minutes.
• Mushroom Green Peppercorn Sauce:.
• In a large pan heat oil and add mushrooms stir fry for 5 minutes season to taste with salt and pepper. Add garlic, green peppercorns, and butter tossing to coat for one minute. Sprinkle flour over mushrooms to make a roux. Add the chicken stock stirring till slightly thickened. Add milk and cheese and simmer over very low heat. Stirring till assembly of the dish.
• Meanwhile prepare Puff Pastry:.
• Place the 8 squares on a greased cookie sheet pan. Pierce the squares with a fork making holes throughout. Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle seeds and salt over each square. Refrigerate till vegetables have roasted for 25 minutes. Then bake for 20 minutes.
• Finish sauce:.
• Transfer cooked vegetables to a dish and cover with foil to keep warm.
• Place the roasting pan on stove top over medium high heat. Add wine and scrap to remove all the flavor in the pan, reducing to a 1/4 cup. Strain and stir into the Mushroom Green Peppercorn Sauce adding the parsley.
• Arrange:.
• Plate one pastry square, top with 1/4 of the vegetables pour sauce over the vegetables then top with another pastry square.
• Garnish with Fennel Fronds.