Ah, Mille-Feuille—also known as the Napoleon—is an elegant French pastry with layers of crisp puff pastry and creamy custard, perfect for a special treat 🍰✨
🇫🇷 Mille-Feuille (Classic)
⏱️ Time
- Prep: 30 min
- Bake: 20–25 min
- Chill: 1–2 hours
- Total: ~2 hours
🛒 Ingredients
Puff Pastry
- 1 sheet puff pastry (store-bought is fine)
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional Topping
- Powdered sugar
- Melted chocolate for drizzle
🔥 Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Roll out puff pastry to fit a baking sheet. Prick all over with a fork.
- Bake 20–25 minutes until golden and crisp. Let cool.
- Make pastry cream:
- Heat milk in a saucepan until just boiling.
- In a bowl, whisk sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch until smooth.
- Slowly pour hot milk into egg mixture while whisking.
- Return to saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened.
- Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cool completely.
- Assemble:
- Layer 1: puff pastry
- Layer 2: pastry cream
- Repeat layers (usually 3 layers of pastry, 2 layers of cream)
- Top with powdered sugar or a chocolate drizzle. Chill 1–2 hours before serving.
🌟 Tips & Variations
- Fruit twist: Add fresh berries between layers.
- Chocolate pastry cream: Stir in 2 tbsp melted chocolate.
- Icing decoration: Pipe alternating white and chocolate icing lines and drag a toothpick for a classic finish.
- Make ahead: Assemble and chill; cut with a serrated knife to prevent squishing.
This is delicate, creamy, and crisp, a real showstopper for dessert lovers 😋
I can also give a simpler, no-bake “easy mille-feuille” using store-bought puff pastry and ready-made custard if you want a quicker version. Do you want that?
