To know how I grew to become the dessert fanatic I’m at this time, you’d have to fulfill my mom, who’s at all times within the temper for one thing candy. All through my childhood, she made it a mission to introduce my sisters and me to no matter confection she felt like consuming on a given day. She introduced house bins of tender madeleines, ethereal cream puffs, and slices of Opera cake, amongst many different scrumptious sweets. My favourite, nonetheless, was (and stays) mille-feuille, the traditional French dessert that sometimes consists of three layers of crisp, delicate puff pastry stacked with vanilla pastry cream and is topped with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. I beloved the cake a lot that, for my birthday annually, my mother skipped the usual yellow cake with chocolate frosting and obtained me a big mille-feuille as a substitute. I’m unsure when this household custom began, however to this present day, it’s nonetheless my big day dessert of alternative. 

Sadly, it may be tough to discover a actually nice mille-feuille with shatteringly crisp pastry and velvety pastry cream, even in New York Metropolis. The reality is that the dessert doesn’t retailer properly—even when a talented chef makes and serves it, it doesn’t maintain up for lengthy, and as a rule, the cake is delicate by the point it’s made its technique to a buyer. Which is why I’ve taken to creating my very own at house: It appears to be the one means I can assure that the mille-feuille I’m consuming can be crisp and recent, with no soggy bottoms in sight. Although mille-feuille might look difficult to arrange, it’s a lot simpler while you break the pastry down into its two essential elements: the puff pastry and the pastry cream. Right here’s easy methods to make a stellar one at house.

Getting the Pastry Proper for Mille-Feuille

“Mille-feuille” means a thousand leaves, and refers back to the ultra-thin sheets of pastry which can be created while you put together puff pastry. The method entails layering butter and dough collectively, then folding and rolling it over a number of instances to “laminate” the dough. Because the dough bakes, the butter melts, creating pockets of steam that elevate the pastry and create its signature layers.

You may definitely make your personal puff pastry from scratch, however I like to recommend saving your self the time right here by shopping for store-bought dough as a substitute. Since this dessert comprises little greater than puff pastry and pastry cream, it’s value on the lookout for a good-quality dough that’s made with butter (like Dufour Traditional Puff Pastry), which can be way more flavorful than pastry that’s made with palm, soybean, and/or vegetable oil.

Past buying the proper of pastry, it’s additionally important to bake it correctly. For mille-feuille, we wish pastry that’s crisp, flaky, and lightweight, but in addition sturdy sufficient to hold the burden of the pastry cream. We additionally need flat, constant layers of puff pastry, which could be tough as a result of the dough is supposed to, properly, puff. The answer is to dock the dough throughout with a fork, then sandwich it between two rimmed baking sheets. As a result of my puff pastry nonetheless tended to rise even with the docking and the sandwiching, I like to recommend weighing down the highest baking sheet with two kilos of dried beans, which assist preserve the dough as flat as potential.

For the Finest Filling, Make a Correct Pastry Cream

I wish to be clear: I’m all for shortcuts that ship an amazing consequence with considerably much less effort. That is why I simply beneficial you purchase the puff pastry. I can’t be making the identical advice for the pastry cream. There’s a time and place for custard combine or powder, and now shouldn’t be that point. As soon as once more, as a result of this dessert is, at its core, so easy and consists of simply puff pastry and pastry cream, you need each elements to be the perfect, and also you merely cannot obtain that with boxed custard.

The important thing to creating an amazing pastry cream is to cook dinner it adequately by permitting it to bubble for a full minute—not doing so out of worry of scrambling the eggs might be one of many largest pastry cream errors individuals make. This minute of cooking not solely thickens the custard by gelatinizing the cornstarch, but it surely additionally deactivates amylase, a strong enzyme within the egg yolks that may break down starch molecules and switch your pastry cream into an unappetizing puddle after it sits.

As for scrambling the eggs, don’t have any worry: The milk dilutes the egg proteins, making it harder for them to bond to one another as you whisk your pastry cream on the range. That does not imply the eggs cannot scramble, however with light warmth and fixed whisking across the total pot, it should not occur. Lastly, I like to recommend utilizing an actual vanilla bean or vanilla paste right here if potential, as its taste is way more strong than extract, but when vanilla extract is all you could have, that can be advantageous.

The best way to Slice Mille-Feuille

Alternating layers of crackly-crisp pastry and delicate and spreadable pastry cream can current an issue when it comes time to slice it, and whereas a smushed and crushed plate of what was mille-feuille will nonetheless be scrumptious, loads of its visible influence can be misplaced. Let’s keep away from that!

Calm confidence is the key to neatly portioning a complete slab of mille-feuille. Your greatest guess is to make use of a serrated knife, as its many tooth will make straightforward work of sawing via the numerous layers of puff pastry with out compressing them down into the pastry cream under and triggering a full-blown structural collapse. Be certain to slip the serrated knife backwards and forwards the place you wish to reduce whereas utilizing your free hand to stabilize the pastry; it is essential to not press down onerous onto the pastry as you slice, otherwise you threat squishing it. As soon as you’ve got made your means via to the underside, gently however firmly press the knife right down to separate the underside layer of puff pastry from the remainder of the cake. For the cleanest cuts, dip your knife in sizzling water and wipe it dry between every portioning every slice.

There can be a scrumptious reward for you on the finish of all that slicing: a chunk of celebration-worthy mille-feuille. (Value noting: It’ll even be glorious when you have nothing to have a good time.)