Mille-Feuille with Crème Pâtissière

Ingredients

• 500 g puff pastry
• Crème pâtissière:
• 2 cups water
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 8 tablespoons powdered milk
• 2 tablespoons custard powder
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Icing sugar for dusting
• This recipe for mille-feuille with crème pâtissière is from chef and friend of Shou Tabkhin Al-Youm:
• Nicol Maawad
• Click Nicol's name to visit her profile on our site
• For Nicol’s reliable sugar-paste recipe see How to make sugar paste at home
• For more of Nicol’s superb desserts see The classic tart recipe

Method

1. Put all the crème pâtissière ingredients except the butter into a saucepan over low heat and stir. When the cream reaches the desired thickness, add the tablespoon of butter, stir, and remove the custard from the heat.
2. Let the crème pâtissière cool completely before use; then beat it with an electric mixer.
3. Roll out the puff pastry on parchment paper and cut to the desired shapes. Dock the pastry lightly with a fork so it won’t puff excessively while baking.
4. Place another sheet of parchment and an empty baking tray on top to weigh the pastry down during baking so it doesn’t puff up.
5. Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes on the middle rack until the pastry turns golden.
   Timers: 30 min
6. At this stage, dust with icing sugar and brown the edges if needed.
7. Fill the mille-feuille with the beaten crème pâtissière. Pipe or spread cream between the layers and decorate the top layer with icing, powdered sugar, or as you prefer.