Meaning “one thousand petals” after its many thin layers, we can’t blame you if you’ve ever felt intimidated by the towering millefeuille. While the elements of this spectacular dessert seem complicated at first glance, you can make each ahead of time and assemble them all on a day of your choosing, stress-free.
Ingredients
Pastry
Rosemary and sweet vermouth crème pâtissière
Blueberry sauce
Method
1.For crème pâtissière, bring 400ml of the cream, rosemary, vanilla, white chocolate and half the sugar to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring frequently, over medium heat until chocolate melts (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat and stand for 20 minutes to infuse. Using a hand whisk, whisk yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl until creamy, add flours and whisk until smooth and combined. Strain cream mixture into egg mixture followed by vermouth; whisk until combined. Transfer to a non-stick large saucepan, bring to a simmer over low-medium heat, whisking continuously until thickened (6-8 minutes). Pass through a fine sieve into a bowl, cover with a cartouche, and refrigerate until firm (1-2 hours).
2.Preheat oven to 200˚C. Meanwhile, cut six, 6cm x 12cm rectangles from puff pastry. Transfer to a large oven tray lined with baking paper and cover with another sheet of baking paper; top with a heavy oven tray and bake, rotating tray halfway through cooking or until pastry is golden brown (20-25 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Using a serrated knife, halve each baked puff rectangle horizontally. You will use three halved baked puff pastry sheets per millefeuille.
3.Meanwhile, for blueberry sauce, place ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened and syrupy (12-15 minutes); cool to room temperature.
4.Place a quarter of crème pâtissière in a large bowl. Warm remaining 300ml cream in a small saucepan over medium heat (2-3 minutes). Meanwhile, soften gelatine in a bowl of cold water (3-5 minutes). Squeeze excess water from gelatine and add to warmed cream, stirring to dissolve. Add to the quarter of crème pâtissière and whisk to combine; fold in remaining crème pâtissière. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle and refrigerate until firm and set (1 hour).
5.To assemble, pipe crème pâtissière onto eight of the pastry layers and top with blueberries. Stack two layers on top of one another, then sandwich with tops. Dust generously with icing sugar and top with rosemary flowers. Transfer to plates and spoon sauce around the plate.
We prefer Carême all-butter puff pastry, which comes in pre-rolled 375gm sheets. Pastry layers can be baked a day ahead. Crème pâtissière can be made a day ahead up until the end of step 1.
Notes
