Napoleon Pastry Dessert | Mille Feuille Pastry

Napoleon, Mille Feuille - French and Italian Layered Puff Pastry Desserts #pastrycream #pastries

5 from 13 votes

Napoleon Pastry Dessert | Mille Feuille Pastry

Napoleon or Mille Feuille is a super delicious dessert with layers of puff pastry and pastry cream filling. This unique dessert is creamy, airy, crispy, and flaky, with decadent flavors in every bite.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Course: Dessert, sweets

Cuisine: British, French, Italian, Russian

Servings:

Calories: 799kcal

Author: Kushi

Equipment

1 Bowl
1 Baking sheet

Ingredients

For the puff pastry layers

1 Puff pastry sheet
2 tablespoon Sugar
1 Egg (use milk or cream for vegetarian version)
⅓ cup Strawberry jam

For vanilla buttercream or pastry cream

1 ½ sticks Unsalted butter ( ¾ cup)
¾ cup Vegetable shortening
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3 cups Confectioners sugar
4 tablespoon Heavy cream

Instructions

Prepare pastry cream or buttercream

In a large mixing bowl, add unsalted butter, shortening, and salt. Using a handheld mixer (or a stand mixer), cream them together for about 2 minutes.
1 ½ sticks Unsalted butter ( ¾ cup), ¾ cup Vegetable shortening, ¼ teaspoon Salt
Then add vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and continue mixing for another 2 minutes.
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 3 cups Confectioners sugar
Drizzle in heavy cream and continue whisking (for 3 minutes) until it is stiff and creamy.
4 tablespoon Heavy cream
Vanilla buttercream is now ready. Keep it refrigerated until further use. It stays well for up to a week when refrigerated in an air-tight container.

Bake Puff Pastry Sheets

Thaw the pastry sheet as per package instructions. Transfer this to a well-floured working surface and roll it into a 9 by 12 inch rectangle using a rolling pin.
1 Puff pastry sheet
Cut them into 9, 3-inch by 4-inch rectangles. Transfer the 9-puff pastry pieces to a greased baking sheet.
Using a fork, poke holes in the puff pastry. This ensures that the pastry does not puff excessively.
Apply egg wash on the top surface of each cut pastry and sprinkle sugar over it. Freeze this for about 5 minutes,
1 Egg, 2 tablespoon Sugar
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
After 5 minutes of freezing, bake these for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool them completely on a wire wrack before assembly.

Arrange Mill Feuille Pastry or Napoleon dessert

For each Napoleon we need three puff pastry pieces (3 by 4-inch rectangles) to form a 3-layered final product.
Place the lower puff pastry sheet on a working surface. Spread some buttercream on top and create a level surface using a spatula.
Add about a teaspoon of strawberry jam on top of the buttercream.
⅓ cup Strawberry jam
Now take the second piece of puff pastry. Apply buttercream on one side and level it with a spatula. Now place this pastry such that the buttercream side is down and is used to sandwich the strawberry jam that we added.
Apply a layer of buttercream on top of the second piece of pastry, and then add some strawberry jam.
Now apply buttercream to one side of the third puff pastry piece, and use this buttercream end to create a sandwich of strawberry jam between the middle and topmost puff pastry layer. This completes the assembly of the first Napoleon!
Repeat until you have assembled the remaining two Napoleons.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

During the baking process, if you notice that the pastry sheets are puffing excessively, use a toothpick or a sharp knife to poke holes through the puffed-up surface. This releases any steam and flattens the pastry to some extent.
You can use any jam, substitute it with some fresh (or caramelized) berries, or skip it. You can prepare this ahead of time, as it will stay fresh and crispy for up to a day.
You can store this dessert at room temperature; however, if it is warm outside, I recommend refrigerating it until you are ready to serve. For best taste, eat it as soon as it is assembled.
During or after the assembly of Napoleons, if you feel that the buttercream is soft, you can freeze the Napoleons for about 5-10 minutes or until you are ready to serve.

Nutrition