Millefeuille French Style with Strawberries

A gourmet and home-made pastry, a millefeuille with strawberries this delicious dessert  consists of three layers of crisp puff pastry and two layers of custard or vanilla cream mousse. The top is traditionally glazed with fondant. We can add fruit according to the desire or even perfume chocolate. I propose my simplified version of the millefeuille using puff pastry ready but you can still make the dough yourself.

Start by preparing the pastry cream

Follow the detailed steps here then reserve it in the fridge.

Puff pastry

Divide the puff pastry into three round or square lowers according to the choice (for me some discs 20 cm in diameter)

Place the first dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, prick the dough with a spear roll or with a fork over its entire surface. This will prevent the dough to over-inflate when cooking, because it is important in this preparation to obtain plates of puff pastry cooked not too thick, well puffed to keep the side crisp, and regular.

Cover the puff pastry with another sheet of parchment paper, covering all the dough.

Put on the top a second baking sheet, identical to the first one. It will put pressure on the dough and thus prevent it from developing too much during cooking.

Bake the puff pastry in a hot oven, 180 ° C (preferably convection oven) for about 15 to 20 minutes.

At the end of cooking, the dough has risen very little, remove the top plate and the parchment paper and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes so that the dough turns a beautiful golden color.

At the end of cooking, take the puff pastry out of the oven and let it cool on a rack.

Do the same with the second and the third dough.

Filling the millefeuille

Fill a pastry bag with a 1.5 cm plain pastry.

Wash and cut the strawberries into small pieces, reserve a few for decoration.

Place the first puff pastry disk on a serving platter, then poach the cream on the surface and place strawberries on top.

Put on the top a second disc of puff pastry.Always adjust the edges, one above the other.

Poach the cream again on the second disc and garnish with strawberries in the same way as the lower layer.

Make sure to put them together, and not leave spaces without cream.

Gently place the third disc of puff pastry on the cream and press lightly to make sure to adhere.

With a metal spatula, smooth the sides. If necessary add a little cream to leave no hole. Refrigerate for 15 minutes while browning the crushed almonds in a frying pan or oven and allow to cool.

Remove the millefeuille from the fresh ones and then adhere all around the golden almonds. Be sure to adhere them so that the sides are completely covered, that there is no vacuum left.

Sprinkle with the millefeuilles of icing sugar and arrange the cut strawberries in half as decoration.

Good realization and good tasting …