You want to impress your friends at dinner with a fancy French desert? I got the perfect recipe for you!
For a 8 individual mille-feuilles, you’ll need:
- 250g of flour
- 5g of salt
- 125mL of water
- 180g of butter
- 1 egg
For the custard, you’ll need:
- 250mL of whole milk
- 100g of sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 40g of cornstarch
- 30g of butter
For the crème Chantilly, you’ll need:
- 100mL of liquid cream
- 15g of powdered sugar
For the puff pastry, start by mixing the flour, water and salt until it forms a dough. Add your egg, and knead your dough until you get a nice and elastic ball with a smooth surface. Cover your dough with a wet cloth, and let it rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. While it is resting, take the rest of your butter, form a 17cmx17cm square, (I suggest using baking sheets) and put it in the fridge so it stays cold. Then, degas your dough, and roll it down until you get a rectangle with length twice as long as the side of your square of butter, and with the same width. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Now, it's time for the "hard" part. Start by encasing your butter in your dough, then do what is called a double turn: roll out your dough in one direction, until it is 7mm thick. The, fold both ends of your dough until they meet at the middle, and fold it one more time. It should somehow look like a wallet. Let your dough rest in the fridge for 20min, so the butter doesn't melt, and repeat this operation 3 more times.
Finally, preheat your oven at 200°C, and roll out your dough one last time until it's roughly 4mm thick. Bake it between two baking trays for 15 minutes, and you're finally done with your puff pastry, congratulations! Now, wait for it to cool down, and cut it in 3 even pieces.
For the custard, bring the milk to a simmer, and, while it's heating, mix the eggs with the sugar and the cornstarch. Then, poor half of the hot milk on the eggs, whisk well and poor your mixture back in your saucepan. Keep on mixing until you get a thick consistency. Turn off the heat, add the cold butter and poor it on a flat plate. Then, let it cool down in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Once your custard is cold, put it in a piping bag, and alternate one layer of custard between each layer of puff pastry.
For the crème Chantilly , beat the cream and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Then, put it in a piping bag, and decorate your mille-feuilles with LOTS of crème Chantilly . Enjoy!