Almost 8 years living in Anglo-Saxon countries and still having difficulties with local food. Every time I go to the butcher I wonder why they have all those different  kind of sausages… I read somewhere that in the United Kingdom alone there are believed to be over 470 different types of sausages… and I guess my local butcher sells them all! Needless to say I have never  tried one of them.  This probably being a wrong attitude but we – Italians – stick to our traditions (above all when it comes to cooking) and most of the time we look for our beloved ‘girello di vitello’ (a.k.a. rump veal cut or silverside cut?!) for some recipes.

Feel quite ashamed but only a few days ago I finally got the difference between a rump steak and a rib-eye steak! And I finally realise how much I love this one that rib-eye and fries (I don’t care if medium-rare fillet and salad sounds more ladylike!) will start to be my ‘usual’ next time I’ll have the chance to go to my favourite steak house in town – Goodman in Maddox Street ! 

Same story when I go to the Deli and I see, next to a thousand cured hams of any kind, this debatable ox tongue.  No idea what’s that for.

Millefoglie with Soft Pastry Cream and Chocolate

Not sure why I started from sausage but the point is: I am still looking for a fragrant and ‘thousand layers’ puff pastry.  I know I should make my own one, but honestly knowing that at Le Cordon Bleu they buy puff pastry already made doesn’t help at all! The thing is it’s necessary to allot-a-lot-of time to complete all the rolls and turns that it’s much worth it to find a good shop-bought puff pastry.Next time I will go for SARL Francois Pâte Feuilletée directly from Paris. I promise.

Anyhow, for this recipe I used Puff Pastry from Waitrose which was good but still not perfect.

If you buy puff pastry already made, this recipe is very quick, simple and delicious.

250 gr shop-bought puff pastry

icing sugar dusting

Filling Cream:

For the cream chantilly:

165 ml whipping cream

3 tbsp. icing sugar

For the pastry cream:

250 ml whole milk

1/2 vanilla pod

75 gr egg yolks

45 gr sugar

15 gr flour

15 gr cornflour

—

80 gr grated chocolate.

Method

First of all, if your puff pastry was frozen move it to the refrigerator the day before you need it.

Turn your oven on at 205°.

Then, dust the work surface with flour to avoid sticking and roll the puff pastry to a rectangle as thin as possible.

I used my pasta machine to have it very thin. It was about 2/3 millimetres.

Prick it thoroughly.

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.

I used a round pastry cutter to have this round shape, but it can be cut in any shape preferred.

Lay your puff pastry rounds onto the tray and transfer it to the oven to bake until lightly golden.

I put a grill on top of my puff pastry to avoid it lifting too much while baking.

Baking Puff Pastry

Reduce the temperature to 190° and bake it for 2 minute more to dry it out.Remove the tray and allow the pastry to cool down at room temperature.

Filling Cream:

Prepare the PASTRY CREAM as usual:

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean.

In a saucepan, combine milk, vanilla seeds, and half of the sugar (23 gr for this redipe).

Warm the mixture up.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale.

Sieve the flour and cornflour together and add this to the yolks mixture until mixed.

Pour a bit of the warm milk onto the mixture and then return everything to the pan, all together. Cook it and bring to bubbling, whisking very fast to prevent scorching.

Keep whisking for 1 minute more to cook the starch out.

Remove from heat and spread it onto a cool tray to cool down.

Cover with cling film pressing directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent  a skin from forming.

This is your Pastry Cream. Leave it to rest.

Now, work the whipping cream.

Add the icing sugar to the whipping cream and whip it in a cold bowl to have your crème Chantilly.

(To have it firmer, it’s a good idea to place the whipping bowl on top of another bowl with iced water, to have it cooler).

When the pastry cream has cooled down,  knock it back again until completely smooth. You may want to us your kitchen aid.

Then, add the crème Chantilly to the pastry cream by inclusions, mixing with a spatula and going bottom-up.

At the end, add the grated dark chocolate or any kind of chocolate drops.

The best way to lay the filling cream onto the puff pasty is using a piping bag fitted with a 10-mm plain tip.

When you are ready to assembly it, place one piece of puff pastry to a clean surface and pipe the filling cream on top of it to completely cover it.

Place a second piece of puff pastry upside down on top, press it down lightly to secure it in place and cover it with filling cream again.

Millefoglie

Place the last layer of puff pastry upside down (this way the smooth side is facing upward) and press it down again. Dust it with icing sugar before serving it.

Categories: After Meal time Recipes, Italy, Sweets, Sweets, after meal easy recipes

Tags: Basics,, Dinner Desserts,, Easy Recipe,, Pastry Cream,, Puff Pastry,