It is Strawberry season here in France. The sweetest for now coming from the Perigord in the centre of France, and in a few weeks time the Normandy production bringing up the rear .
When you love strawberries as much as this family does, it's good to find different ways to eat them. Most often that is just in a bowl with a little sugar. Sometimes though the occasion calls for something a little more spectacular - and that is the time to produce a strawberry mille feuilles. The combination of caramelised puff pastry, fragrant crème patissière and fresh strawberries is just divine.
To make enough for four people you will need:
200g or 6 oz of fresh strawberries
100g or 3 oz of good quality puff pastry
20cl of milk
5 tablespoons of sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon flour
a little amaretto liqueur to flavour the cream (optional)
How you prefer your pastry depends on how you wish to present the dessert. In my humble experience, slicing a large mille feuilles to serve is practically suicidal. As you press down to cut through the pastry layers, you find cream and fruit squirting out the sides, it's a mess!
I prefer to prepare individual mille feuilles, that I am sure will arrive in each plate looking impeccable. (The quantity of pastry in the recipe is for this individual serving manner.)
For this, I roll out the pastry and cut into strips measuring approx 6" x 1". I sprinkle sugar over each strip, pressing it lightly into the pastry, then bake in a hot oven for about 15 mins. As the pastry rises, the sugar caramelises. Yum!
Meanwhile back at the ranch, I prepare the crème patissière for the filling. In a deep bowl beat together the egg yolks, sugar and flour. Boil the milk in a pan, and add to the egg mix. Return to the heat in the pan and stir continually until thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
If you wish to obtain a creamier, or amaretto perfumed version of this cream, then use a little more flour. Once the cream is cool and firm, add some beaten fresh cream and a little amaretto. Believe me, this is a decision you will not regret!
Now you simply need to cut the strawberries in to slices and toss in a little sugar.
Assemble your mille feuilles by layering pastry, cream and fruit in whichever order makes you happy.
As usual, serve with a smile and a bow to your ever-growing number of fans. Sometimes it's easy to make everyone happy!
Bon appetit!
photos thanks to aufeminin and google images
0 comments:
Post a Comment