Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Simple Strawberry Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille (French for Thousand Leaves) or a Napoleon is a pastry made with several layers of puff pastry alternating with sweet (and sometimes savoury) filling .The sweet filling is usually custard or pastry cream or sometimes simply whipped up jam.The savoury ones which are more modern has cheese spinach etc.I made a simple mille feuille using a vegan pastry cream from here and used strawberries as well.It was simple and as easy as it gets as I used store bought puff pastry and made only a simple layer layer like a sandwich.It was perfectly tasty but very very simple.

Ingredients:
Puff Pastry: atleast 1 rectangular sheet
Strawberries: handful
Icing/Confectioners Sugar: few tbsp
Pastry Cream:(makes around 2-3 cups)
Soy milk:2 cups
All Purpose Flour: 1/2 cup
Sugar: 1/3 cup
Salt: a pinch
Vanilla: 2 tsp
Lemon juice (optional): 1/2 tsp

Preparation:
Pastry Cream: In a small bowl,whisk together flour,soymilk,salt and sugar.Cook it on low fire,stirring continuously until thickened for 5-6 minutes.Add remaining ingredients,whisk well and cook for an additional 1 minute.Remove from fire and then transfer it to another bowl where it can quickly attain room temperature.Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap such that the wrap touch the cream within the bowl.Once the the cream attains room temperature,refrigerate overnight or for several hours till it cools completely.

The recipe from which I adapted it uses lemon juice and lemon zest and makes a lemony pastry cream.Since I planned to use strawberries,I did not want the additional tartness of lemon in this,so I increased the vanilla and just added a tinge of lemon juice.You can avoid the lemon juice completely.Except for the sugar ,the recipe is vegan.This is actually a vegan equivalent of custard and can be used as a pie filling,fruit dip,fruit salad etc.

Mille feuille:
Cut the puff pastry rectangle(thawed as per instructions) into two halves.Place these on a baking sheet and top the sheet with another baking sheet of the same size.This prevents the puff pastry from puffing up during baking.Bake the bakingsheets in a pre heated oven at 400F for 15 minutes or until the puff pastry starts browning.Take out,remove the top baking sheet and puff pastry cool a bit.


Take a baked puff pastry half,spread the pastry cream on it.Top it with strawberries,sprinkle additional icing sugar on top of the strawberries,top it with another puff pastry sheet.Sprinkle some more icing sugar on top.Top it with more strawberries and icing sugar.Serve as a delectable dessert.

You can also check out the potato napoleon with cilantro pesto for a savoury and puff pastry less version.Do check out from the scratch chocolate mille feuille at Cannelle et Vanille.

This is my last minute entry to AWED: France by Dear DK.I am typing this in a hurry,as its last minute and my broadband is in a playful mood with me.I was off blogging after announcing T&T:Tasty Palettes as 'power' god and 'connection' goddess are not so pleased with me.I may be absent for a few more days before the issues are completely resolved.I hope to be back by next week atleast,but its not in my hands.So do bear with me as I may not be able to visit anyone for a few days and do send me your delicious entries for T & T:Tasty Palettes.I may be late in responding,but I will sure visit each and every entry.


26 Comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Simple but yet delicious...millefeuille looks simply scrumptious...

Cham said...

Ur pastry cream without egg! Gosh I made with egg and It killed my patience in double boiler. I should bookmark ur creme patissiere recipe! Mille feuille is gorgeous :)

Varsha Vipins said...

oh..they look so delectable..am craving for this ..Good one Cl..:)

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

wow.... those layers look crisp and pretty... rich and yummy!

Manju said...

good one!! i was planning to make strawberry napoleans, the recipes for which come on the puff pastry wrapper :D this one looks professional like made by a french pastry chef :)

Finla said...

I love this dessert, i have to admit i have never made them home only had from the bakers, and this looks yumm.

Pavithra Kodical said...

Delicious and yummy dessert.Perfect :)

Kitchen Chronicles said...

They look beautiful and mouth-watering.

Unknown said...

wah wah looks so crisp and yumm sweatha love the combo with strewberry

Sunshinemom said...

I too use the same recipe for cream, custard etc. but since lime puts me off I use orange juice or sweet lime or vanilla beans! I am still not able to get frozen puff pastries here, but I really love these mille fuilles, so planning to make my own puff pastries though it is a long process!

Alka said...

Looks Delish.....would like to make this for my kid ,since he doesnt eat eggs,it will be a good one for him
And yeah i know wht do u mean by the MEHERBAANI of POWER GOD AND CONNECTION GODDESS.....sounds like a true INDIAN scenario ....lolz

Chitra said...

looks delicious:)

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow crispy and yum.

Medhaa said...

they look absolutely lovely. easy breezy.

Soma said...

Very easy & lovely recipe! I had done something like this with raspberry preserves but without the cream. The cream would that melt in the mouth touch I guess.
Soma(www.ecurry.com)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Looks lovely but I always hesitate to make pastries like these because I have to make puff pastry from scratch!
Where do you get readymade puff pastry there?

Yasmeen said...

Simple indeed,I love such quick and easy delectable desserts.I understand your frustration,hope you problem gets fixed soon:)

Recipeswap said...

I have eaten this just one and I liked it.Looks good.

Rachel said...

Puff Pastry from scratch isn't for the lazy me.....

scrumptious it does look!

Divya Kudua said...

This is indeed a simple recipe.I am getting so excited since I have puff pastry inside the freezer and strawberries too..yummo yum!!

Indian Khana said...

Looks delicious...wonderful pic....have a gud weekend :)

Swapna said...

Cute pictures. Looks delicious with simple ingredients in hand....

Thistlemoon said...

Wow, that looks gorgeous! A great summer dessert!

Anonymous said...

Thats a yummy dessert for sure..the clicks make it worth more.

Usha said...

That looks absolutely beautiful and tempting!

Sum Raj said...

wooo...this looks simple delicious...i am fan of pastry..no doubt i would like this..

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