Classic French Napoleon & Introducing our NEW blogging partner (#MurrayBakes) - Oct 25th, 2016

I am Ann Marie aka Murray. First things first… a little about me: I am married to my darling hubby, Ted. I have a grown daughter, Sadie. My husband and I live in Pickering, Ontario with our lovely chocolate lab, Riley Girl. I am an full-time National Operations Manager for a major retailer. I love baking, music, rum, comedy, wildlife photography, and rum while baking. I love to have fun and enjoy life as much as I can. Baking is not a chore to me. It truly is a passion.
I love the creative process- (Operations Manager to the end lol ) and I love, love, love the completed project.
Cheers to all and Happy Baking!
My first official blog post will include my recipe for Classic French Napoleons (Mille-feuille). I have watched countless videos and read many to learn all about puff pastry. It is very laborious and time consuming, but OMG it’s frigging delicious. Of course you can always buy the butter puff pastry from your local grocer too. I, of course, will do that the next time, but I wanted to attempt puff pastry.
The puff pastry recipe I used was from Martha Stewart. Get the recipe here. This recipe makes 2 pounds of puff pastry.
- One (17.3 oz) package puff pastry, thawed OR 1 pound of Martha Stewart Puff Pastry Recipe
- FOR PASTRY CREAM:
- 4 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- pinch of vanilla powder (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, diced
- FOR ICING/GLAZE:
- 1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons milk, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch until well-combined. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, heat milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt until simmering.
- Slowly add heated milk mixture to the egg yolks, ½ cup at a time, whisking constantly and vigorously to ensure the egg yolks do not curdle. Once the milk mixture has been completely incorporated into the egg mixture, return the mixture back to the saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in diced butter.
- Transfer pastry cream to a heat-proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight. (Make sure the plastic wrap is touching the surface of the pastry cream so it doesn't form a skin)
- Next, prepare the puff pastry. Cut a piece of parchment paper as large as the baking sheet you will be using. Lightly flour the parchment paper.
- Place both sheets of thawed puff pastry on top of one another on the piece of parchment paper. Roll them out into a 12x12 inch square. Using a pizza wheel, cut the square into three 12x4 inch strips.
- Prick the strips all over their surface with a fork. Transfer the puff pastry strips, with the parchment paper, onto baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the pastry strips for 10 minutes. Then, place a baking sheet directly on top of them and bake for an additional 6 minutes. After that, remove the baking sheet and bake for 6 more minutes, or until pastry strips are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Now, prepare the glaze. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, corn syrup, and melted butter. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach a consistency that is pour able, but still thick. Transfer ¼ of the glaze to a separate bowl and whisk in cocoa powder to create the chocolate glaze. Spoon the chocolate glaze into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Alternatively, you can use a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
- Take one of the cooled pastry strips and flip it over. Pour white glaze over the surface of the strip, spreading it evenly with an offset spatula. Pipe lines of chocolate glaze lengthwise across the pastry strip. Drag a toothpick horizontally across the chocolate glaze to create a pattern. Alternate the direction you drag the toothpick in each line.
- Remove chilled pastry cream from fridge.
- Spread half of the pastry cream evenly over one puff pastry strip. Top with the second puff pastry strip, pressing gently to adhere. Spread the remaining pastry cream over this strip. Then, top with the glazed puff pastry strip.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour to let it set before slicing and serving. To store, keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The mille feuille gets soggy with time.
Recipe adapted from Peanut Butter and Julie.
Thanks for reading my very first blog post! I welcome your comments! See you soon, and until then keep on baking!
#MurrayBakes
Great first blog Murray! You are in great hands with those two for sure. Enjoy blogging
love all 3 of you artists! Xo